King House - Georgian Mansion & Military Barracks

BOYLE, COUNTY ROSCOMMON
Our View
King House is a beautifully restored Georgian mansion that was built in 1730 as the seat of the King family - a powerful, landowning dynasty. After its first life as a home, King House became a military barracks to the Connaught Rangers from 1788-1922. At the end of the Civil War in 1923, the barracks passed into the control of newly formed Irish Free State Army. Following many years as a merchants store, King House was saved from demolition in the late 1980s and restored to its former Georgian style by Roscommon County Council. The house is now open to the public as a museum. It houses the Connaught Rangers Museum and the Boyle Civic Art Collection. A multi-disciplinary programme of arts events takes place between April and September, including elements of The Boyle Arts Festival.
Facilities – at a glance
Refreshments
Fully accessible
Features
- Parking onsite
- Parking nearby
- Cafe
- Fully accessible
- Facilities: Lift to all areas, ramps, wide doors, parking
- Accessible toilets
- Opening Times: Open Apr-Sep, Tue-Sat 11 (last admission 5). Also open Etr wknd, BH Sun & Mon during season. Pre-booked groups welcome all year round
Also in the Area
About The area
Discover County Roscommon
County Roscommon, with the River Suck on its western border, and the River Shannon joining a series of loughs on its eastern border, is very popular with anglers. Roscommon is a small country town with some attractive Georgian and Victorian shops in the centre, and a huge ruined castle standing in a field on the northern outskirts. Roscommon Castle dates from the 13th century, with Tudor mullions added in the 16th century. The quarrelsome O’Kelly and O’Conor clans seized it periodically, but its last definitive remodelling took place at the hands of Cromwellian troops, and its drum towers now stand broken and hollow around a rectangle of neatly mown turf. During the 18th century Roscommon employed the notorious Lady Betty as its hangwoman for some 30 years. Apparently, she was the only hangwoman in Irish history.
Strokesdown Park is a major attraction; an 18th-century Palladian mansion owned by the Mahon family for centuries until it was sold in 1979. The stable block contains the Famine Museum, which details one of the most shocking episodes of Irish history; the death by starvation of some one million Irish people between 1845 and 1852.
Nearby Stays
Places to Stay
Dining Nearby
Restaurants and Pubs
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