Roscrea (Ros Cre, "Crea's Wood"), a small country town with some industry, lies in southern central Ireland at the junction of the N7, N62 and R421. It is a good base for walking and climbing in the Slieve Bloom Mountains.
The town grew up around a monastery founded by St Cronan in the seventh century.
Near Roscrea's Romanesque St Cronan's Church, in Castle Street, are the ruins of Roscrea Castle (13th C; National Monument), with massive curtain walls, several towers and an elaborate system of staircases and passages leading to the various defensive stations. The holes in the walls for the chains of the drawbridge can be seen from the street.
17mi/27km north of Nenagh, at Lorrha, are three churches (all National Monuments) - a ruined Dominican church with interesting details (13th C, with later alterations); the remains of an Augustinian church (15th C); and, to the south, another church, still in use, with sculptured decoration on the doorway, including a pelican (symbol of self-sacrificing love).
2mi/3km east of the town of Roscrea, near the golf course, stands the ruined church (12th-13th C.; National Monument), with a finely decorated west doorway and chancel arch, of Monaincha Abbey, founded in the seventh century on an island in an area of bogland.
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St Cronan Church
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