Roscrea, meaning Ros Cré or "Wood of Cré", is part of the county of North Tipperary, Ireland and was involved in the traditional industries like woolen manufacturing, distilling and tanning. Today, the little town is involved in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and meat processing. The history of this town remains vague but a tower known as the Round Tower that once stood about 80 feet dates to the 10th century, and the earliest recording of the Franciscan order dates to 1470. It was the Great Famine in Ireland that led to a downturn in Roscrea hailing in one of the darkest and troublesome hours for the town. During this time, population fell drastically.
When the Great Famine entered Ireland, Roscrea was not immune to its terrible effects and many people died of misery, starvation and disease. During this time, homeless people were admitted to the workhouse that was constructed in Roscrea as part of the Poor Law Union and this was followed by more sick people who were struck by the famine. A fever hospital was then constructed in the area and a mass graveyard was located behind the workhouse to house the dead. As Roscrea modernized, the workhouse and the hospital were converted into a home for the aged but this was closed around 1985-1986, and then demolished sometime in 1991 by the Mid-Western Health Board.
The story goes that people categorized the Great Famine, also known as the Irish Potato Famine, as equivalent to the Black Death because of the pain and terror that befell the people. Many died and many more left Roscrea to escape diseases and starvation. The hospital housed many dying children and their pain was felt throughout. It is not known how many mass graves were created to house the dead. Local stories speak of the ghosts of the children roaming the hospital long after death and many of the locals feared entering the hospital and began to attach an ominous note to the hospital as a place of death. A report indicated that while working on the sewer pipes, the local government also uncovered the mass graves of some 50 children, all skulls and bones, which fell into the ditch they constructed. Many locals claim that whispers can be heard in the late hours of the night when the Black Death Hospital of Roscrea was around so much so that local legend claimed the ghosts would lure the innocent to their death so they had company for the afterlife.
Today, what remains in the affected area is the Scart Famine Memorial Garden to commemorate those who died during the Great Famine. The Irish government takes a lot of pain to remember the one million who died during this time and the Roscrea local authorities have left the stone doorway arch of 1842 for the workhouse standing in memory of the many men, women and children who died untimely as a result of this horrific famine. It is not known if the locals continue to see the ghosts of the many children who died since the buildings are no longer there but there are Irish ghosts mostly identified as the famine ghosts whose sightings have been noted in many of the traumatized areas of the country.