County Roscommon

Contae Ros Comáin

"Ancient realm of Connacht kings and resilient pastoral plains."

Estimated Emigrants 180,000+

Peak Migration Eras 1846–1880

Primary US Destinations New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Rhode Island

County Roscommon Historical Heritage & Diaspora

County Roscommon is a landlocked pastoral county bordered by the River Shannon and Lough Key. It is home to Strokestown Park House, site of the National Famine Museum, which preserves the most complete collection of landlord-tenant eviction and assisted-emigration documents in the world.

In 1847, Strokestown’s landlord Major Denis Mahon organized the forced assisted passage of 1,490 tenants aboard notorious coffin ships to Quebec, where nearly half perished at sea or at the Grosse Île quarantine station. The remaining survivors subsequently made their way south into the United States.

Roscommon families became prominent builders, merchants, and civic figures in Chicago and New York. Leading Roscommon surnames include Kelly, McDermott, Fallon, Beirne, Flanagan, and Cunnane.

Historical Migration Journey

County Roscommon Emigration Timeline (1845 – 1920)

1845 – 1852 · The Great Hunger (An Gorta Mór)

Catastrophic Potato Blight & Transatlantic Coffin Ships

Successive failures of the potato crop decimated tenant farming communities. Facing ruthless landlord clearances and starvation, over one million people fled across the Atlantic. Families boarded cramped wooden sailing barques from ports like Cobh, Derry, and Galway, arriving at Boston Harbor and Castle Garden, New York.

1880 – 1900 · The Industrial & Mining Surge

Chain Migration, Coal Valleys, and Urban Labor Solidarity

Younger siblings and children emigrated through prepaid tickets and diaspora remittances sent home from America. Immigrants fueled the industrial expansion of the United States—mining anthracite in Pennsylvania, digging copper in Butte, Montana, and operating textile mills across New England while establishing the first labor unions.

1920s · Independence, Irish Free State & Civic Leadership

War of Independence Remittances and Second-Generation Rise

American diaspora communities raised millions of dollars (via Éamon de Valera's 1919 US tour) to support Irish independence. Second and third-generation Irish-Americans ascended into the heights of US jurisprudence, municipal leadership, journalism, and cultural institutions.