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FAMOUS ROSCOMMON PEOPLE
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 Turlough O’Carolan was born near Nobber, Co.
Meath in 1670. His parents moved near to Carrick-on-Shannon in 1675.
He had a natural gift for music and poetry but had he not lost his
sight when 17 years from an attack of smallpox, it is doubtful if
he would ever have won fame as a harper and composer. Around this
time he attracted the attention of Madam MacDermott Roe of Alderford
House near Ballyfarnon. She became his patroness and lifelong friend
and provided him with a good horse and a servant. Thus in 1693 he
commenced his profession of an itinerant harper or bard. It was
during his travels that he composed all of the two hundred airs
which have immortalized his fame, including ‘Fairy Queens’, ‘Planxty
Reynolds’, ‘Carolan’s Concerto’, ‘Carolan’s Farewell’ and many more.
Most of the tunes composed by O’Carolan from 1694 to 1737 were in
honour of his patrons. He was received by rich and poor, native
and foreigner alike, with honour and hospitality, he well repaid
them with songs and airs dedicated to his patrons. Thus the names
of Peyton, Kelly, MacDermott Roe, O’Reilly and O’Rourke were immortalized
by him in song.
Between the years of 1693 and 1710 he had many love
affairs, notably a Bridget Cruise and Margaret Brown and songs were
composed in their honour. However in 1720 he married Mary Maguire
of Co. Fermanagh with whom he had seven children. After his marriage
he occupied a small farm near Mohill in Co. Leitrim. His wife died
in 1733 and he never fully recovered from the bereavement.
He returned to the home of his friend and patron, Mrs.
MacDermott Roe, where he died on the 25th March 1738
in his sixty eighth year. Shortly before his death he called for
his harp and with feeble fingers composed his last tune, ‘O’Carolan’s
Farewell to Music’. By all accounts O’Carolan’s funeral was a memorable
event. The wake lasted four days and was attended by clergymen,
gentlemen and a vast number of country people - all assembled to
pay their respects to their favourite bard. O’Carolan was buried
in the east end of the old church of Kilronan adjoining the vault
of the MacDermots. The late Lady Louisa Tenison got the cemetery
enclosed, and had an Irish-designed gate surmounted by a central
cross erected. Over the arch of the gateway is the inscription:
"Within this churchyard lie the remains of Carolan, the last
of the Irish bards, who departed this life March 25th,
1738. R.I.P"
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The famous Roscommon hangwoman applied her trade at
Roscommon Jail in the latter half of the 18th century.
Definitive historical facts about the early life of Lady Betty are
scant but many stories and myths are available to us. It was said
that she was a native of Kerry and a woman of some education. However
her husband and children died and she and her only remaining son
were evicted and forced to take to the road, not knowing what awful
fate lay ahead. Her heart had long been broken and her feelings
long since dead, when she arrived with her son in Roscommon town.
They found shelter in a wreck of a cottage and survived by begging.
The years passed and eventually her son emigrated to find a better
life. Many years passed without any news of her only son and she
became a lonely, bitter woman.
One night, so the story goes, a well-dressed stranger
called to her door and asked if he could take shelter for the night.
As the wealthy stranger slept she decided to kill and rob him. Gleefully
going through the man’s belongings she discovered to her horror
that he was her son who had returned to her having made his fortune.
She was so grief stricken that she ran into the street proclaiming
that she had killed her son. She was arrested and was sentenced
to be executed. On the day of her execution, the executioner took
ill and she escaped the gallows by turning hangwoman, volunteering
to execute the remaining prisoners. When the hangman died shortly
afterwards Lady Betty was offered a salary and secure lodgings in
the jail to carry out the many executions taking place at that time.
She had apparently found her true vocation.
Her name became a legend and small children cringed
at the sound of her name. She was never short of work particularly
in the year of the 1798 rising and when she retired she continued
to live in the jail where she died, peacefully, in 1807.
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 William Percy French was born in 1854 at his
family ancestral home at Cloonyquin, Co. Roscommon. He was one of
a family of nine and second eldest son. He loved his childhood days
and often spoke with great affection about his days in Cloonyquin.
His literary ability was evident from boyhood when he became editor
of the family magazine entitled ‘The Tulsk Morning Howl’. He received
his early education from the family tutor at Cloonyquin. He later
attended school in England and in 1872 entered Trinity College,
Dublin as a student of engineering. It was while still at Trinity
College that he began his career as an entertainer performing at
private parties. As well as graduating as an engineer he began to
develop his remarkable talent for song, writing, dramatics, playing
the banjo and painting.
After graduating as an engineer, Percy was for a time
an apprentice with Midland Great Western Railway. In 1881 he got
the offer of a post as Surveyor of Drains and Engineer to the Board
of Works in Cavan. The seven years that followed brought him in
contact with the country people he loved and it was during this
time that he wrote some of his best songs: "Come back Paddy
Reilly", "Phil the Fluter’s Ball" and "The Mountains
of Mourne". His country ramblings also inspired him to paint
landscapes and the wide open landscapes of his native Roscommon
and the vivid sunsets of his Cavan years are themes in many of his
watercolours.
He married Ethne Armitage Moor in 1890 in Dublin. In
1891 a daughter was born but tragically both mother and baby died.
Percy was devastated. It is said that the haunting poignant song
"Gortnamona" was inspired by this tragedy:
"Long, long ago in the woods of Gortnamona,
I thought the wind was sighing round the blackthorn tree
But oh it was the banshee that was crying, crying,
crying
And I knew my love was dying far across the sea"
Around this time he met a Dublin musician, Houston
Collins, and together they produced a successful musical comedy.
It was then that he took his decisive step into a new life as a
professional entertainer. He launched his famous solo performances
which consisted of a medley of songs, recitations, stories and sketches.
Percy loved his native country and found inspiration for most of
his songs in Irish life and people. In the ‘Emigrants Letter’ he
captured the desolation and heartbreak of two young lads who were
watching the coast of Ireland recede as the transatlantic liner
sailed for Quebec. Percy overheard one of them say ‘ye know Mick
they’ll be cutting the corn in Creeshlough the day’.
Percy French remarried in 1894 and had three daughters.
In 1900 he left for London to widen his theatrical field but the
slightest encouragement brought him back to tour in Ireland. In
1910 he toured Canada, the USA and the West Indies with Houston
Collins. In 1920 on his way back to London after a tour of Scotland
he became seriously ill and died at the home of his Cousin in Formby,
Lancashire. He is buried in St. Luke’s Cemetery in Formby.
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 Douglas Hyde (An
Craoibhin Aoibhinn) was born in 1860, third son of Rev. Arthur
Hyde of Kilmactranny, Canon of Elphin and Rector of Tibohine, who
resided at the Glebe House, Frenchpark. He lived at Frenchpark from
the age of seven until the age of twenty. As a boy he was educated
at home by his father. Irish was commonly spoken in the Frenchpark
area at the time and he soon became proficient in the language.
From the age of seventeen he began to write prose, poetry and plays
in Irish and English. Fearing the imminent demise of the Irish language
and loss of its wealth of oral folktales and songs he began collecting
this material which he later published in his popular bilingual
anthologies such as "Beside the Fire" (1890) and "Love
Songs of Connaught" (1893).
He entered Trinity College, Dublin in 1880. An excellent
student he won many prizes for his academic prowess including the
gold medal for Modern Literature in 1884. He was closely associated
with Lady Gregory, W.B. Yeats, and others who were interested in
the Gaelic revival. He was one of the seven co-founders of the Gaelic
League (Conradh na Gaeilge) and was elected as its first
president, a post he held until 1915. His linguistic ability was
enormous - he was proficient in German, Hebrew, Latin, Greek and
French in addition to Irish.
In 1889 Hyde married a woman of German extraction,
Lucy Kurtz, by whom he had two daughters. She accompanied him on
his tour of America in 1906, when he collected almost £12,000 to
aid the promotion of the language. When the National University
of Ireland was established in 1908, he was appointed Professor of
Modern Irish, a post which he held until his retirement in 1932.
In 1937 the new constitution was enacted and the office of President
created. The president was to be a man above party politics and
Dr. Douglas Hyde was an obvious choice. He accepted the office as
an honour without any hesitation and was elected without opposition
on 6th May 1938.
Dr. Hyde held office at Aras an Uachtarain for seven
years and when his presidential period ended in 1945 he lived in
retirement at the Phoenix Park in a house made available, re-named
Ratra after his old home. On 12th July, 1949 at the age
of 89, he died. He was given a state funeral to Portahard where
he is buried in the family burial ground.
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William Augustine Byrne, Veterinary Surgeon, Classical
Scholar, Poet, Wit, Nationalist and Sportsman, was born in Araghty
in the parish of Athleague in 1863. His parents, Patrick and Anne
(nee Quinn) were of strong farming stock. Young Willie received
his early education in the local national school. Following the
untimely death of his father, he and his two brothers went to Dublin
to continue their education, paid for by an uncle, Thomas Mulry
who had made his fortune in America. After some years, Willie returned
to live with his aunt, Mrs. Carty, at Ballydooley. He returned to
Dublin, to Glasnevin Agricultural College and from there went to
London where he enrolled in the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
In three successive years, he took first place at the different
examinations, having graduated in the shortest time possible in
1889. His professional abilities were apparent from the fact that
he was appointed Resident Surgeon at the College, being the first
surgeon appointed to this distinguished position direct from his
college course. He remained in this post for about one year, when
he returned to his native county to set up in private practice in
the Athleague/Roscommon area.
Willie resided at Castlestrange House and conducted
his growing practice from there. He very soon became the finest
and best known veterinary surgeon in Ireland and indeed Great Britain.
He served as a member of the Council of the College of Veterinary
Surgeons in London for four years from 1900 to 1904 and was a life
long member of the Board of Governors of the Irish Veterinary College
in Dublin. In sporting circles he was a well-known personality.
He took a prominent part in the promotion of local race meetings,
Point to Point and other sporting fixtures. After some years in
practice he decided to employ an assistant and his unusual choice
of a woman is still talked about by the people of Athleague and
its environs. Aleen Isabel Cust was the first woman to qualify as
a veterinary surgeon in Ireland or England. She was born in Ireland
of an aristocratic English family. In 1894, she abandoned her family
and went to Edinburgh where she completed the full veterinary course
by 1900. However the RCVS refused to admit her to any of their examinations
on the grounds that to do so would be illegal. This minor consideration
obviously did not deter William Augustine Byrne and she worked with
him in Athleague and later in her own practice in Ballygar and as
a veterinary inspector for Co. Galway for many years. In 1919 the
English parliament passed The Sex Disqualification Bill and the
way was now clear for Aleen. Under the new laws she applied to the
RCVS in October 1922 for permission to take the final examination
of a four-year diploma course in veterinary medicine and was finally
registered with the RCVS at the age of 54.
Willie Byrne died in 1910 at the age of only 46. His
funeral was the largest seen for many years. In fact it was reported
that by the time the hearse reached the railway bridge in Roscommon
the cortege stretched back for at least two miles. He is buried
in the family plot in the churchyard at the rear of the Church of
Ireland. A monument was erected to him in The Square in Roscommon
town. The inscription on this fine Celtic Cross reads: ‘To the memory
of William A. Byrne, MRCVS, Castlestrange, Roscommon, who died 17th
April 1910, aged 46 years, whose remains are interred in the Church
cemetery. Sacred Heart of Jesus have mercy on him. R.I.P. Erected
by a few friends in affectionate remembrance’.
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Roscommon (Ros Comain) - the gentle height of Coman - was
celebrated in early Christian days for its great seat of learning
under the famous Abbot Coman, whose name and fame was widespread.
Coman’s Abbey was situated around the site of the present Church
of Ireland. His father’s name was Faelchu and he is said to have
been a disciple of St. Finnian . Coman was the first bishop of the
See of Roscommon, which maintained its diocesan status up to 1152
when it was joined to Ard-Carne, Drumcliff and Elphin under the
title of Elphin Diocese. St. Coman was the author of a monastic
rule known as the "Law of Coman", a code of great ecclesiastical
and general penitentiary importance which was held in great veneration
and preached for many centuries after his death. It was founded
on the Rule of St. Augustine; hence the monks attached to the Abbey
of Roscommon were known as Canons Regular of the Order of St. Augustine.
His name is kept alive in the many buildings and places in the county
town which bear his name - St. Coman’s Church of Ireland, St. Coman’s
Cemetery, St. Coman’s Club, St. Coman’s Well.
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 James Matthew Dillon was born in 1902 in Dublin,
but his family had long associations with Ballaghaderreen in north
Roscommon. His grandfather John Blake Dillon was born in Dillon
House on the Market Square in 1814. He was a member of the Young
Irelanders and co-founded "The Nation" newspaper in 1842.
His father John Dillon was also active in politics and became leader
of the Irish Parliamentary Party. He retired from politics in 1918
and took over the family business in Ballaghaderreen until his death
in 1927. James Dillon studied at University College Galway and at
Kings Inns and was called to the bar in 1931. He studied Business
Methods in London and Chicago before returning to manage the family
business in Ballaghaderreen. Business, law and farming could not
completely fill his life and so he gravitated towards politics.
He was elected T.D. for West Donegal in 1932. Between 1938 and 1969
James Dillon was T.D. for Monaghan. Shortly after his election in
1938, he was unanimously elected deputy leader of Fine Gael under
William T. Cosgrave. The outbreak of the Second World War and Fine
Gael’s acceptance of de Valera’s policy of neutrality brought about
Dillon’s resignation from Fine Gael in 1942. As an independent T.D.
he was appointed Minister for Agriculture in the Interparty Government
1948 - 1951. He was an outstanding Minister for Agriculture and
is remembered for the land drainage and reclamation schemes which
he initiated. He also instituted the Inland Fisheries Trust. His
aim was to make both resources, land and water, productive for the
people of Ireland. He was an outstanding orator and his rhetoric
in the Dail was in a class of its own. He passionately believed,
and frequently reminded all other members of the Dail, that they
were the servants of Parliament and of the people. He died in 1986
and was mourned by all.
The Dillon family business in Ballaghaderreen closed
in 1985 and the land was sold to Roscommon County Council. Dillon
House has now been restored and houses a Branch Library and the
offices of the Border, Midland and Western Regional Assembly.
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 MacDermot was
chieftain of Moylurg, a Celtic Kingdom in North Roscommon. He had
a beautiful daughter, Úna Bhán, - so named because of her long blonde
hair. His neighbour was Tomás Láidir Costello, a good and sincere
man, handsome and strong.
Úna Bhán and Tomás Láidir fell in love and wished to marry but MacDermot
would not allow the marriage because he believed Tomás Láidir was
not good enough for his daughter.
Tomás Láidir was banished from the area and MacDermot had Úna Bhán
confined on Castle Island, Lough Key, then called "The Rock",
which was located in the centre of MacDermot territory.
Úna Bhán went into a deep melancholy and
was dying of grief. Tomás Láidir, hearing of the situation went
to see her, and when he left, vowed that if MacDermot did not send
a message for him to return before he reached the river, he would
never go back. The messenger was sent, but did not reach Tomás Láidir
until after he had crossed the river. Being a man of honour Tomás
Láidir was unable to break his vow and did not return.
Úna Bhán died of a broken heart and was
buried on Trinity Island. In his grief Tomás Láidir used to swim
to the island every night to keep vigil at her grave. Eventually
he got pneumonia, and realising that he was dying requested that
MacDermot allow him to be buried beside Úna Bhán. His request was
granted and thus the two lovers were belatedly united.
Tradition says that two trees grew up
over their graves, entwining together to form a Lovers Knot, standing
guard over the site.
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