Brideswell () is a village located in the south of

County Roscommon "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Connacht , subdi ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It lies 11km from the Centre of Athlone and 60km from Tuam Town.

Education

Brideswell National School is the local national (primary) school, and caters for children from junior infants to sixth class. As of early 2020, there were approximately 50 pupils enrolled in the school. Saint Brigid's holy well is located next to the school.

Facilities

There are two

public houses A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

in the village. A post office, which was located at the Eskerbane end of the village, is now closed. Adjacent to the post office there is a

Gaelic handball Gaelic handball (known in Ireland simply as handball; ga, liathróid láimhe) is a sport where players hit a ball with a hand or fist against a wall in such a way as to make a shot the opposition cannot return, and that may be played with two ( ...

alley, which has fallen into disrepair and is now rarely used. O'Connell's shop has closed down in recent years.

Sport

The nearest sports club to the village is Cam Celtic soccer club, which plays its home matches in the local community centre. The local

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

team is St Brigid's GAA. Handball is also played in the handball alley in nearby Curraghboy. Gerald "Gerry" O'Malley (1928–2016) was a

Gaelic footballer Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

who played as a centre-back for the

Roscommon senior football team The Roscommon county football team represents Roscommon in men's Gaelic football and is governed by Roscommon GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the A ...

. There is a memorial to O'Malley in the area.

Pattern

The pattern (derived from the word 'patron' referring to a

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

) is an annual event held in the village involving a

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

ceremony. This is followed by a festival in the village for the remainder of the day. The event is dedicated to

St. Brigid Saint Brigid of Kildare or Brigid of Ireland ( ga, Naomh Bríd; la, Brigida; 525) is the patroness saint (or 'mother saint') of Ireland, and one of its three national saints along with Patrick and Columba. According to medieval Irish hagiogr ...

and has been held annually (in July) since the mid 20th century.

References

Towns and villages in County Roscommon {{Roscommon-geo-stub