Roscrea

Market town in County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, 52 km/32 mi north of Cashel; population (2002) 5,500. Clothing, fabric, and pharmaceuticals are manufactured. It is a centre for climbing and walking in the Slieve Bloom Mountains. Roscrea developed around a monastery founded in the 7th century by St Cronan.

Features Within the ruins of the 13th-century Roscrea Castle is Damer House, an 18th-century Georgian mansion which houses a collection of furniture and paintings.

The 8th-century illuminated manuscript known as the Book of Dimma (Trinity College Library, Dublin) was produced in the first monastery in Roscrea. The ruins of St Cronan's abbey, a 12th-century Augustinian priory on the site of the original monastery, include a Romanesque doorway and a round tower. Roscrea also has the ruins of a 15th-century Franciscan friary.

The 12th-century St Cronan's Cross, which has been heavily restored, stands in the grounds of the modern Protestant church. There is a large modern Trappist monastery in Roscrea, with a school and agricultural college attached.

The ruins of Mona Incha abbey, 3 km/2 mi east of Roscrea, include a 12th-century church and cross. In the Timoney Hills, 8 km/5 mi south of Roscrea, are 300 standing stones, of which eight form a stone circle.