King House

About

King House is the big white Georgian mansion on Military Road, built for the King family in the early eighteenth century and unusual in Ireland for standing in the middle of a town rather than out on a demesne. The family moved to Rockingham, on the shore of Lough Key, and from the nineteenth century the house became a barracks and the depot of the Connaught Rangers, then an Irish Army barracks, then a merchant's store. Roscommon County Council saved it from demolition in the late 1980s and still runs it. A guided tour covers four centuries, from Gaelic Ireland and the Kings to the Rangers and the jail cells, and the house also holds the Boyle Civic Art Collection, gifts from Mary McAleese's presidency, and a small exhibition on Maureen O'Sullivan, the Hollywood actress who was born a few yards away. Tours run from Easter Saturday to Halloween; outside that window the house takes pre-booked groups only, but the courtyard, tea rooms and craft shop stay open.

Highlights

• ✓Guided tours through 400 years of local and national history
• ✓Connaught Rangers museum and the old jail cells
• ✓Boyle Civic Art Collection and the Mary McAleese collection
• ✓Fully wheelchair accessible, with a lift between floors

Tips

• →Closed on Mondays in April, May, September and October; open bank holidays
• →Between Halloween and Easter, tours are for pre-booked groups only
• →Parking at the house is free, on-street or in the car park behind it

Best Season