In a Word ... Roscommon

Life is so full of surprises. Not all of them pleasant ones, either. It is only now, all these weeks later, that I am able to look squarely in the eye – so to speak – the discovery that our county’s GAA board has been using the wrong sheep in the Roscommon county crest. You would imagine that, on such a sensitive matter where all Roscommon people are concerned, due diligence would have applied, rigorously, to such an important symbol.

How all those non-Rossies have laughed at the story! How they guffawed! Many, even, have taken cruel advantage to proclaim how it underlined the abusive slogan, that slur thrown at us and not least in GAA grounds, that we are “sheep stealers!” Such slander. The crest should have included the head of our very own breed of sheep, one that is unique to the county, and not the interloper which has been featured to date on our GAA county crest, however it got there. (It wasn’t stolen!) “The rogue black and white headed sheep,” as it has been described.

Not many people know this, but the Roscommon Sheep is utterly unique. (A bit like Roscommon people). It is one of only two native Irish breeds of sheep, the other being the Cladóir. The Irish Rare Breeds Society has been working hard to preserve the breed, which has a beautiful white face and a wavy, heavy fleece. Ah yes, the soft deep pile.

The Irish Rare Breeds Society might also turn its attention to the preservation of Roscommon people too, as we are also a very rare breed. In 1841 there were 252,118 of us. Now there’s 70,259, up 9 per cent since the 2016 census – yes – but you can never get enough of a good thing.

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Roscommon GAA has agreed to remove the black sheep from our county crest and replace it with one of our own. There it will take its place above the glorious county motto “Constans Hiberniae Cor”, for “Steadfast Irish Heart”. Yep, that’s us Rossies.

Our county is also known as “the heart of Ireland”. In another publication, some years ago, I wrote about this fact of Roscommon being the heart of Ireland, to which one correspondent replied: “... this calls for a bypass”.

I tell you, nothing is sacred any more.

Roscommon, from Gaeilge Ros (wood) Comáin (of St Coman).

inaword@irishtimes.com