Roscam Church and Round Tower stand on the site of an earlier 5th century monastery. The monastery was associated with St Odran, brother of St Ciaran of Clonmacnoise. Little is know about the history of this site but the earlier monastery was destroyed by Vikings in 807AD. The round tower is about 10 metres in height but there is some debate as to whether it was ever actually completed. Holes that appear in the stonework all around the tower were believed to have supported wooden scaffolding and the fact that they weren’t filled in suggests that it was never finished. A very ruinous 15th century church stands beside the tower and closer towards the stony beach is a beautiful ancient graveyard. Some of the burials in the graveyard are said to date from the original 5th century monastery, the graveyard is also home to two ballaun stones. Legend states that one of the ballaun stones was where St Patrick washed his hands, with the other indentations on the stone were caused by his knees. Local folklore also states that Roscam was where duels took place outside of Galway during medieval times.
Roscam is a beautiful peaceful site in a very picturesque setting overlooking Oranmore Bay, certainly worth a visit on the route back east out of Galway city.

GPS: 53.26421, -8.98494