Elphin, County Roscommon
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Elphin, County Roscommon Ail Finn
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| Coordinates: 53°51′N 8°12′W / 53.85°N 8.2°WCoordinates: 53°51′N 8°12′W / 53.85°N 8.2°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Connacht |
| County | County Roscommon |
| Elevation | 83 m (272 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Urban | 950 |
| • Rural | 711 |
| Time zone | WET (UTC+0) |
| • Summer (DST) | IST (WEST) (UTC-1) |
| Irish Grid Reference | M868889 |
Elphin, ' (Irish: Ail Finn), is a small town in'north County Roscommon, Ireland. It forms the southern tip of a triangle with Boyle 18 km (11 mi) and Carrick-on-Shannon 14 km (9 mi) to the north west and north east respectively. It is at the junction of the R368 and R369 regional roads. Ireland West Airport Knock is 50 km (31 mi) west of Elphin - approximately 40 minutes by road.
Elphin has historically been an important market town and the diocesan centre for the Diocese of Elphin. St Patrick is believed to have visited Elphin, consecrated its first church and ordained its first bishop, Asicus (subsequently the patron saint of Elphin). Information supporting the visitation of St Patrick is to be found in two important memorials of early Irish hagiography, the Vita Tripartita of St Patrick, and the "Patrician Documents" in the Book of Armagh. On his missionary tour through Connacht in 434 or 435, St Patrick came to the territory of Corcoghlan, present day Elphin. The chief of that territory, a noble Druid named Ono, gave land and afterwards his castle or fort to St Patrick to found a church and monastery. The place, which had hitherto been called Emlagh-Ono (a derivation of its owners name) received the designation of Ail Finn, which means "rock of the clear spring". It derives from a story of St Patrick raising a large stone from a well opened by him in the land of Ono and placed on its margin. A copious stream of crystal water flowed from the well and continues to flow through Elphin to this day.St Patrick built a church called Tempull Phadruig (Patrick's church) and established an Episcopal See in Elphin. St Asicus remained as bishop of Elphin. St Patrick also founded an episcopal monastery or college at Elphin, believed to be one of the first monasteries founded by him. In pre-Reformation times, Elphin was host to a large number of religious orders and was a religious centre of international significance. This is supported by the appearance of Elphin in a number of pan-European maps in the Middle Ages.
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