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In the east of the county is STROKESTOWN , a gem of a planned town whose reason for existence is Strokestown Park House, once the centre of the second biggest estate in Roscommon after Rockingham. The enormously wide main street - reputedly the result of an ambition on the part of an early owner to have the widest street in Europe - ends abruptly in a castellated wall with three Gothic arches, behind which lies Strokestown Park House. The St John's Heritage Centre (May-Sept Mon-Fri 9.30am-1pm & 2-3.30pm, Sat & Sun 2-6pm; GBP2/?2.54) is located in the elegant St John's church, designed in 1819 in imitation of a medieval chapter house by the fashionable English architect John Nash (who never visited Ireland). There's material on the Ireland of the Heroes, with a focus on the Rathcroghan monuments and also on the epic Tain Bo Cuailnge . A genealogical service is available using records to trace Roscommon families back to the seventeenth century. Accommodation is thin on the ground in Strokestown. Try B&B at Martin's (tel 078/33247; GBP33-40/?41.90-50.79), centrally located near the heritage centre; Mrs Clyne's Lakeshore Lodge (tel 078/33966; GBP33-40/?41.90-50.79), or Mrs Cox's Church View House (tel 078/33047; GBP33-40/?41.90-50.79) both of which are two miles away in the townland of Clooneen.
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