Thomas Newenham Deane in 1879. Records show that John Wesley, one of the founders of the Methodist movement, preached in Roscrea on 26 June 1750. Roscrea was one of the main settlements in the ancient and medieval Munster kingdom of Éile (commonly anglicised as Ely) and was briefly a diocesan see in the 12th century, before the superior power of the O'Briens ensured that the Roscrea was incorporated into the diocese of Killaloe. King John I of England (reigned 1199–1216) is credited with having erected a castle at Roscrea in 1213, of which a circular tower and some sections of wall are still extant; such castles were built as part of a policy to consolidate the Norman conquest of the midlands. In 1209 King John's officials established twelve shires or counties in Leinster and Munster, one of which was Tipperary, covering areas of English settlement such as Roscrea. Within county Tipperary there were fourteen baronies; Roscrea was the chief town in the barony of Ikerrin; baronies became obsolete after the Local Government Act (1898), which set up county and borough/town councils. From the mid-14th century (particularly after the Black Death) and 15th century native Irish influence the areas outside of the English Pale revived, strengthened by the intermarrying of the Norman aristocracy with the native Irish aristocracy. The building of a castle at Roscrea was the subject of dispute between the king's representatives and the bishops of Killaloe until 1280, as the castle was built on church land without the bishop's permission. Though the castle was built as a royal castle, it was often in the hands of the Butlers as they controlled the surrounding lands and was close to Nenagh, where the Butlers had one of their principal castles. The castle was rebuilt in stone between 1276 and 1281, probably as part of King Edward I's orders to secure safe storage and transport of mined silver from the Silvermines to the west of Nenagh. Large-scale mining of silver ceased at the Silvermines in the early 14th century following disputes with local people and as a result of Gaelic resurgence in the area. The later rectangular gate house, known as Ormonde Castle, was built by James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond sometime before 1450[15] and still stands today. There are also references to a gaol in Roscrea Castle during the period c. 1280–1315. There is no surviving reference to the