Sligo Town

County Sligo is situated on the West coast of Ireland and is within the province of Connaught. Sligo is widely regarded as one of Ireland's most beautiful counties and it's breathtaking mountain views, crystal clear lakes and long sandy beaches are famous the world over.

Although Sligo is a city, having a charter and two cathedrals, it is locally, and affectionately, known as Sligo Town.The name Sligo is thought to mean 'shelly place', although some say that it might derive from 'Sli' meaning route. This was always an area abounding in shellfish of all kinds, and bucket loads of shells were removed when foundations for the town's buildings were laid. Equally, from earliest times Sligo was a strategic point in the North West, and remains so today, so either root would be valid. Famine Memorial, Quay Street Car Park Our tour of Sligo starts at the bottom of Quay St by the Garavogue River, once known as the Sligo River, and always full of swans, often with their young in tow, still wearing their juvenile fawn plumage. Here in the car park, stands a memorial commemorating both those who died during the famine years which so devastated Sligo, culminating in the Great Famine of 1845, and those who emigrated to escape. Many left from these Quays, including one ill-fated ship which sank just outside Sligo Bay with the loss of all on board.

Described by many as Italian Renaissance, the foundation stone was laid by Sligo's Mayor in 1865. It stands on the site of an earlier Cromwellian fort, one which during the conflicts of 1689 Patrick Sarsfied captured for the deposed King James II, and so strengthened that it was the last western garrison to surrender when William and Mary finally defeated the Jacobites in 1690. The Assembly Rooms in the City Hall were once the theatre in which the Yeats brothers would have seen plays performed. Also in City Hall is the register of those on whom Sligo has conferred its greatest honour - the Freedom of the City. Amongst others they include cardinals, bishops, professors, and also Countess Markievicz, honoured in 1917. At the top of Quay St is Henry Lyons department store, one of the best traditional Irish shop fronts in Sligo.

Wine Street, named for the wine vaults once maintained close to this corner, with its shops and new Gaity cinema complex. Opposite this is the Methodist Chuch built cl830, replacing the earlier Wesleyan Chapel on Bridge St. dating from 1775 (around which time John Wesley himself visited Sligo regularly). On the right hand side of the street is The Sligo Champion' office, Sligo's newspaper founded in 1836 and still published weekly. The Editor, in his first ever Leader page declared that the newspaper would not be used as a 'vehicle for slander'! At the end of Wine St, where doctors, dentists and lawyers have their practices in what were once elegant town houses, on the corner with Adelaide St. stands a large house, premises of McCanny & Co Solicitors. This was the headquarters of Sligo's largest shipping enterprise in the late 1800's, where Yeats' Grandfather Pollexfen trained his telescope on his ships entering and leaving Sligo from the glassed-in crow's nest atop the building John Street.

The Church of Ireland Cathedral of St John the Baptist, designed in 1730 by the German architect Cassels who also designed Leinster House. It was refurbished in 1812 and 1883. Here Yeats' mother married John Yeats, a young barrister, in September 1863. A brass memorial to her is on the wall near the pulpit. Yeats' grandfather Pollexfen supervised the building of his own tomb in the churchyard. The Cathedral has other literary associations, notably Bram Stoker. His Mother, was born Charlotte Townley in Sligo Town. She witnessed the horrors of the cholera epidemic in 1832. Perhaps the tales in her memoirs sparked her son's imagination and led to the birth of'Dracula'!

Next to St John's is the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, built in 1874 when Laurence Gillooley was Bishop. Sligo is part of the Diocese of Elphin whose first Bishop, Saint Asicus was consecrated by St Patrick himself, and the Cathedral has a replica of the Saint discovered in a London bric-a-brac shop! Described as Renaissance Romanesque, Sean 0’Faolain humorously described it as 'Hiberno-Romanesque' - its particular style being typical of so many churches built in the years following Catholic Emancipation. Over the road from the Cathedral is the Gillooley Memorial Hall which has a stage, a gallery and a large auditorium. On the hill opposite is the splendid former Bishop's Palace.

Hawkswell Theatre & Tourist Office. The Theatre was named after a play by Yeats, the name coming originally from Tubber Scanavin,the Hawk's Well near Coolaney. The North West Tourist Office next door has a bureau de change, visitor information, accommodation advice, guide books, maps and a souvenir shop. The Genealogical Service Offices are also here.

Presbyterian Church, The Friary in Church St. is the Presbyterian Church, built in 1828. At the old Holy Cross Dominican Church a small courtyard is situated and on the left the apse contains original stained glass of. Nearby is the new church known locally as The Friary, and the High St.

Old Market St. where lived Peter O'Connor who advertised ships sailing from Sligo to America in 1846, the start of the Big Exodus.

Teeling St, named for the 24 year old hero of Carricknagat Battle at Collooney in 1798. Aide-de-camp to General Humbert, after the French surrender, Bartholomew Teeling was handed over to the English during an exchange of officers, after which he was court-martialled and publicly hanged like a criminal outside Arbour Hill Prison, wearing his French uniform.

Designed by Rawson Carroll who also built Classiebawn Castle at Mullaghmore, this striking building was erected in 1878, and has been recently renovated. Opposite is the brass plaque of 'Argue and Phibbs', a remarkably named firm of lawyers who once practiced there!

The Sligo County Prison (not open to the public) was officially closed in June 1956, after serving as a prison here since 1818, although there were a number of earlier prisons and correctional institutes in various locations around Sligo Town.

The first prison and session house was built in Sligo in the late 17th century on the site of the present courthouse, though by 1766 this had been demolished and replaced by similar structures at Correction Street (now known as High Street) and Back Lane (now known as West Gardens).
Some years later a House of Correction was built behind the Police Barrack on the Albert Line (now called the Garda Barracks on Pearce Road).
Construction of the County Gaol we are visiting today started in 1818, with completion in 1823. The County Gaol was built to the shape of a polygon with the Govenors house located in the centre, and cost £30,000 or 38,090 Euro, the contractor for the project was Mr John Lynn.
The County Gaol, which was built to hold 200 inmates, had its own hospital wing, surgery, dispensary, cookhouse,furnace,clothing store and a school all housed within its walls.
In 1879 gas was introduced into the gaol, enabling the cells to be heated by hot water pipes, earning it the occasional name of the Cranmore Hotel.

The inmates diet consisted of potatoes and Indian meal bread. Hard labour for male prisoners was enforced by the Treadmill, a crude form of punishment designed by a Mr Cubitt of Ipswich in 1817 and housed in the execution block when it was opened in 1823. The Treadmill was used to pump water for the prisoners sanitation and for other purposes.Hard labour for the male prisoners also included picking oakum, breaking stones and chopping wood. Industrial Labour within the prison included shoemaking, tailoring, tinsmith work, carpentry, glazing, painting and gardening. Female prisoners were employed at sewing, washing and knitting.

The last public hanging in Sligo took place at Sligo Gaol shortly after 8am on the morning of Monday 19th August 1861, when Mathew Phibbs, aged 26 with an address at Market Street in Ballymote, County Sligo was hanged in front of the County Gaol for the murders of William Callaghan aged 91 and his wife Fanny aged 62 and a young servant girl Anne Mooney on January 8th 1861.

In the 20th century the prison was completely self-sufficient. Producing its own vegetables, which was sold on to Sligo townsfolk on Saturday mornings, from stalls manned by the prison inmates themselves. However the prison wardens handled the money on the stalls, though it wasn't unknown for a prison warden to turn a blind eye to a few woodbines being handed to the prisoners by the townsfolk. The prison finally closed in June 1956 due to the ever-falling crime rate. Today the prison and its grounds are used for storage purposes by Sligo County Council.

Sligo Castle
Sligo Castle was built in a commanding position on the corner of Teeling Street and Abbey Street, one of the main crossing points of old. If you look up on the wall of Foley's public house you will see a painting of what the old Sligo Castle may have looked like along with a brief history.

A castle was built here in 1245 and a Dominican friary was founded in 1295. In 1310 a new castle was built and a new town laid out by Richard III de Burgo, the Red Earl of Ulster. This castle was destroyed in 1315 by the O'Donnells. The O'Connor's in Sligo then had effective control of the town throughout the 14th century. In the 15th and 16th centuries the town's prosperity owed much to the proximity of the herring shoals.
The later war's of the 16th century, principally between the O'Neills and the O'Donnells against Queen Elizabeth I, devastated the town. However, after 1603 and the end of the war's the settlement began to prosper once again. In 1641 the town and friary were sacked

by the Parliamentarian, Sir Frederick Hamilton. In 1645 the town was captured by the Cromwellian - Sir Charles Coote II. In 1689 it was seized by Williamite rebels under Lord Kingston, but was retaken by Patrick Sarsfield for King James.
Continue towards our next point of interest by turning right and then walking along Castle Street, the same direction as the traffic, for 100 metres or so, until you reach a statue in the middle of the road, The Lady Erin Monument.

This Dominican Abbey, the only medieval building left standing in Sligo, was founded by the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, Maurice Fitzgerald in 1253, who already had a castle in Castle St., no trace of which remains. Accidentally destroyed by fire in 1414, it was rebuilt in its present form. When Sir Frederick Hamilton's soldiers sacked Sligo in 1642, killing, pillaging and burning, the Abbey was also torched and everything valuable in it destroyed, including ornaments, vestments and items which the townspeople had brought to the friars for safekeeping. (5 of his cavalry, on their way back to Manorhamilton after this raid, galloped to their deaths over the cliffs above Glencar.) Still intact amongst the ruins of the Abbey are the High Altar, and the pulpit projecting from one of the cloister walls. Take time to visit the Abbey, and see the remains of this beautiful building in detail. Castle Street - 0*Connell Street Returning along Abbey St, cross into Castle St,the start of the main shopping centre. Here on the left is Mary's of Sligo, once home of Edward Doherty, who led the chase after John Wilkes Booth, President Lincoln's assassin.

Almost next door is 'Morgan', birth place of Shane Filan from the band Westlife. Further on Lady Erin, the memorial to the Uprisings of 1798, stands in the middle of the road at the foot of Market St. At the end, R into O'Connell Street, Sligo's main thoroughfare, once called Knox Street. On the left, Hargadon's pub interior was used as the model for a set at The Abbey Theatre, Dublin as a classic Irish pub. Beyond, also on the left, is Mullaney's, another beautiful traditional shop front. At the far end of the street stands the red brick Post Office.

During the 1820's Sligo Town's brewing and distilling industries were thriving, with no less than five different breweries and distilleries operating from within Sligo Town.

Today Sligo has no brewing or distilling industry and the only reminder we have is the building which was once the The Lough Gill Brewery is now occupied by The Rehabilitation Institute on Kempten Parade, just off Bridge Street.

Formerly known as the Victoria Bridge but renamed for the first President of Ireland, Douglas Hyde. Yeats Building The Yeats Building, red-bricked with a timbered upper storey stands on the corner of the bridge. Once the Royal Bank, it was presented to the Yeats Society by the AlB in 1973. Today it is the headquarters of the Yeats International Summer School and houses the Yeats Society Library, The Sligo Art Gallery and a photographic collection ofYeats and his family. Opposite, across the river, is Barton Smith's, originally founded in 1788 and still selling everything for the 'hunting, shooting, fishing' enthusiast.
Rockwood Parade this new river-side walk with its shops and cafes, where the swans drift on the river. Across the footbridge, in the Stephen Street car park is a monument to a former Govenor of Chile and Viceroy of Peru, Ambrose O'Higgins, a native of Sligo. It also commemorates his son Bernardo, the first President of Chile. At the end of the Parade either turn left onto Bridge Street, rejoining the commentary at the County Museum and Library Stephen Street, or for a fuller tour, cross onto JFK Parade. JFK Parade This riverside street, renamed after the assassination of that American President was formerly Corcoran's Mall, named for the developer Thomas Corcoran who, around 1800, built extensively here and in Thomas St, demolishing the north and west sides of Sligo Abbey to utilize the stone - a scandalous concept today. His relative, General Corcoran, a hero of the American Civil War, and another free thinker, was court-martialled for refusing to parade his troops before the Prince of Wales.

At the end of the Parade the new Riverside Hotel was the site of the former Martin Distillery, once managed by Andrew Jameson, son of the famous Dublin distilling family. Sligo Distillery's 'water of life' was a favourite with many, but most notably King George III. The Mall Cross'

Is possibly the shortest river in Ireland. On the far bank lies the lovely old Georgian Rectory of Calry Church and to the right, Sligo Grammar School, a leading school (now co-educational) which has occupied these grounds since 1752, although the establishment itself is much older. A boarding and day school, it is rightly proud of its academic, sporting and other achievements, with the greater proportion of its leavers going on to third level education. Rugby-mad, in 2003 the school won both the Senior and Junior Connaught Cups for that sport. The footbridge leads left onto The Mall beside Calry Church, which serves the School as well as its own Parish. Opposite is the old Masonic Lodge, and next door The Model Arts & Niland Gallery. Built in 1859 and dynamically reworked in 2000, the gallery houses works byjackYeats (who professed that he never painted a picture without 'putting a thought of Sligo in rt'), and 70 other Irish painters, exhibitions by contemporary artists, studios and a cafe and bookshop. There is an ancient manuscript which states that Saint Patrick met two fishermen here and asked them for a salmon, the fishermen explained that there were no salmon here in the winter months, however they cast their nets into the river and to their surprise found a large salmon from their nets, which they presented to Saint Patrick. In return Saint Patrick is said to have blessed the river and imparted to it the privilege of yielding salmon all the year round.

The street of banks and business, Stephen St is also home to The Museum and Library, housed in the old Congregational Church and its Manse, built in 1851. The Yeats Memorial Museum, containing different editions of the poet's works and other letters and written material concerning him, opened here in 1958, its inspiration coming from Nora Niland, Librarian at the time. The Lending Library is also here, with the reference library on nearby Bridge St. Yeats Statue Further along, outside the Ulster Bank, is a memorial to the poet WB Yeats. This building was 'bombed to ruins' during the Civil War, but was rebuilt. When receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature from the King of Sweden in 1924, Yeats commented that the Stockholm Royal Palace reminded him of the Ulster Bank in Sligo. In 1989, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his death, the townspeople erected this statue, by artist Rowan Gillespie, of the poet 'wrapt in his words', in this, the obvious place. Around the corner, in Holborn St another very different famous figure is remembered. This was the home of Spike Milligan! Down Markievicz Road, named in memory of Constance Gore-Booth, later Countess Markievicz, who was a leading figure in the Easter Risings of 1916 and was later elected to the English Parliament, we find Connolly's Pub, a ! pub which feels as if time has passed it by - a drop of old Ireland.

This is the largest cemetery of megalithic tombs in Ireland and is also among the country's oldest. Over 60 tombs have been located by archaeologists. Tthe oldest pre-date Newgrange by some 700 years. The tombs are spread out over 3.8 sq km (1.5sq mi) in the shadow of the Knocknarea to the east, over a number of fields and townlands, most of them situated near the road. Carrowmore's placement on a low-lying gravel ridge contrasts to the hilltop situation of other cemeteries; each mounment stands on its own little eminence.

Nearly 100 ancient monuments were originally present on this extensive site. Academic vandalism in Victorian times and modern gravel quarrying have left only about 65 sites, but the atmosphere of the area remains quite extraordinary. The majority of tombs are a mixture of small passage-tombs and dolmens, usually surrounded by a stone kerb and constructed with the large rounded granite boulders of the area. On this site there are several examples of what appear to be stone circles but which are, in fact, the kerbing stones of cairns which have disappeared. Some, however, are considered transitional forms between the heavy kerbs of cairns and the true free-standing stone circles.

One of the largest tombs is Listoghil, a large stone cairn (between 35-41m - 115-134ft) with carvings on its sill and capstone. This site is typical of the group, a type which spread west and north from the Boyne Valley, via Loughcrew and Carrowkeel.

A very early version of the passage-tomb, in a cruciform shape, it's one of the largest surviving monuments of the Carrowmore cemetery. In this tomb the Dowth lozenge layout of four central pillars is repeated. Its probable construction date (3825 BC) controversially proposes that these tombs in western and eastern Ireland were not initiated by Brittany's megalith builders at all, but instead were developed independently by an already existing indigenous Neolithic population.

Dated about 4600 BC, contains the remains of a passage-tomb which may be the earliest in the country. Such an early date, however, is controversial. This tomb is one of the smallest complete sites in the cemetery and produced the remains of over 65 fragments of antler pins, including seven pieces with mushroom-shaped heads, as well as over 30 kilos of cremated human bone.

A megalithic polygonal chamber of five 1.3m (4.2ft) tall stones supporting a large capstone and with two additional stones at the entrance. It stood at the centre of a 13m (42ft) circle of 31 boulders, and appears to have had no mound covering it originally.
Only the boulder kerb of Site 26 remains. The tomb proper was demolished when Later Bronze Age or Early Iron Age peoples reorganised the site as a ritual enclosure about 680 to 490 BC. Swedish excavations at Carrowmore from 1977 to 1979 suggested that the small, simple tombs, were probably very early burial-places of immigrant farming families.

A series of some 15 cairns rest on 4 fingers of limestone outcroppings dramatically situated in the Bricklieve mountains approximately 20 miles SE of Sligo town on the N4. Thismegalithic site has the highest elevation of all the known clusters of such sites in Ireland (average 300m). County Sligo boasts 38-40% of all Ireland's megalithic remains principally derived from two sites, Carrowmore(100 tombs) in the lowlands just east of Knocknarea Mt. and Carrowkeel/Keshcorran(20 tombs). The view from the cairns is quite impressive. Ox mountains to the West, Knocknarea with its 'unopened' cairn Miosgan Meadhbha(Queen Maeve's cairn), to the NW, Keelogboy Mountain to the NE and Lough Arrow to your immediate East. None of Carrowkeel's surviving cairns exhibit any traces of the famous Atlantic Megalithic ornamentation found as you travel ESE across the countryside towards Newgrange. This apparent lack of artwork suggests the complex maybe older than any other site.

From the plans we can distinguish the classical Irish cruciform shaped passage grave , i.e. an orthostat lined passageway leading to a minimum of 3 recesses, usually at right angles to each other. One of the cairns, F, has 5 recesses and a standing stone. Three very differently structured cairns, B,H and E prove to be very interesting. H is an undifferentiated type, with no right angled recesses and a curiously curved passageway that bends three quarters of the way in. Before the excavation at Knowth in County Meath was carried out, Cairn H was the only discovered 'allee coudee' as the French would call these tombs. The western passage at Knowth is a similiar example with a very long straight passage and then that distinctive bend towards the end chamber.

This large and imposing monument is considered by many to be the finest example of a central court tomb in Ireland, It occupies a magnificent position on top of a limestone ridge overlooking Lough Gill and is surrounded by a panorama of mountain scenery.However, a forest plantation has obscured the views. It is built with rough, fissured limestones slabs, few of which exceed 1m height. It consists of an oval shaped court, 15m in length, with a pair of twin galleries at the east end and a single galleryopposite these at the west end, which give a total length of 30m. An entrance passage links the court to the edge of the remaining kerb stones and is located on the south side of the monument. Each gallery is divided by jambs into two chambers.

A massively impressive monument today after restoration, Creevykeel was an obscure site when first recorded as an antiquity in the OS Name Book of 1909. The record of that time describes the site as "three ancient graves situated about 100yards SE of Mrs. McGown's shop", as can be seen from the photo above, there was much more to Creevykeel than was apparent at that time. An excavation by Hencken in1939 revealed a huge Court Cairn containing a large gallery and three subsidiary chambers.

The cairn is trapezoidal and is about 21m across the "front" at the SE, the length is uncertain as the "rear" of the cairn at the NW has been destroyed, but surviving revetment indicates it was at least 48m long. The cairn was retained by dry stone revetment which was built directly on the ground surface, virtually all of this has gone, but in some places surviving sections still reach up to about 1.5m high. There are two short sections, one at the NE, and also one midway along the southern side, where there are double walls of revetment separated by about 1m. In addition to these small sections, the entire SE "front" end of the cairn has double walls 4m apart, almost as though the front of the cairn had been lengthened by the addition of an extension. There are also short (2-3m), runs of upright slabs set outside of the revetment on the north and south sides, their significance is unclear.

The entrance to the court is an orthostat-lined, paved passage, 1m wide and 4.5m long, set in the middle of the slightly concave SE end of the cairn. The court itself is a 15m x 9m oval also lined with orthostats, these stones are not set in socket holes, like the revetment they rest directly on the ground surface. Both the court and passage orthostats have dry stone inter-fill in places, a technique which is also seen in the walls of gallery chambers themselves. The court lining stones vary in height, averaging 1m, but become tallest as they approach the gallery entrance, reaching a height of 2m, they may also have had increased height around the entrance passage. A gap of 3.5m was found in the court lining stones at the south, and another smaller gap had been made at the north when a kiln was built there in early Christian times. Near the centre of the court space was a large shallow sand-filled pit delimited by bands of stones.

The gallery is entered between two huge jamb stones which bear the massive re-erected lintel stone, the area in front of the entrance was paved. The gallery is about 9m long and is divided into two chambers by a second pair of jamb stones, the front chamber runs for about 4.5m and the rear about 3.5m. The gallery width is about 3m, but it tapers in towards the rear where it ends at the huge back slab. The back stone is gabled, as are the intermediate jamb stones, all shaped to support the original corbelled roof of the chamber, traces of this corbelling can still be seen at the rear of the chamber.

Past the gallery to the NW are the remains of three subsidiary chambers with lateral entrances, two on the north, and one on the south side of the cairn. The northern chambers are heavily damaged so their original structure is unknown, but the southern chamber fared much better. This chamber has a short well defined entrance passage about 2m long and 1m wide opening into an orthostat lined chamber measuring 2.5m x 2m.

The cairn has undergone extensive restoration, the entire rear cairn section, much of the northern chambers, and NE cairn corner are all reconstructions, the southern gap in the court wall has also been closed. Interestingly, the restorers chose to retain the early Christian gap in the court wall and the kiln remains.

Finds from the site included undecorated Neolithic pottery, decorated Early Bronze Age pottery, stone tools, a stone bead, and two clay balls. Given the complexity of the monument, there was surprisingly little evidence of funerary activity, this was limited to small pieces of cremated bone found in pits in both gallery chambers.

Today Creevykeel is an atmospheric and very accessible monument to visit, it is only metres from the main Bundoran to Sligo road and has ample parking. This is not without its downside however, as during the summer months you must be prepared to share the site with a steady stream of totally uninterested tourists.

As you approach across the field you realise that an enormous amount of material has been robbed away and you begin to wonder just how big this thing once was.Although in an area rich in passage tombs this monument is somewhat of an oddity as it lies on the valley floor - one of several large cairns in Ireland to occupy a lowland position. No one has really been able to explain their place in the megalithic-passage-tomb-world-view-scheme-of-things yet.

During the legendary (mythical) battle of Moytira one side noticed that they were fighting people they had killed or wounded already. They sent someone to follow the enemy who saw them dipping the fallen into a well. To stop them from doing this they made a large pile of stones over the well: Heapstown Cairn.

Once you reach the summit of Knocknarea the size of this monster cairn hits you. It is obviously big. The ruins of the orbital passage tombs make this a centre to be compared with Newgrange (County Meath) and Knowth (County Meath), which also had smaller mounds built around it. Obviously, this also points to Maeve's Cairn being a passage tomb too, but as it's never been opened up nobody know for sure. As the name suggests this cairn is rumoured to be the burial place of Queen Maeve.

There are two huge stones set diametrically opposite each other at the base of the cairn. One of these looks like a placed flag stone, but the other is a wonderful proto-altar type block - to me it is this stone that is the special thing up here. It is said that a line drawn through these two stones passes over the nearby mountain of Croghan, which has a curious rock-cut passage grave on its peak, which yielded a Carbon 14 date of around 5000bc.Knocknarea dominates the landscape of its peninsula gloriously. The local council are trying to encourage a new tradition of ADDING stones to the tomb instead.The real interest is on top of Maeve's Tomb, where there is another small cairn. From the top you can also see words spelt out in the heathland all around the Tomb with rocks from it, presumably for good luck or in remembrance of those passed. Okay, so this does involve taking stones from the Tomb, but it was very touching to see nevertheless.

Serene and beautiful place of Pilgrimage going back to Penal days and beyond to Pagan times. The main Pilgrimage day is Garland Sunday - last Sunday in July.

From the top of Dooney Rock one can view beautiful Lough Gill in its entirety! Dooney Rock has of course, been made famous by W.B. Yeats in his poem:
'The Fiddler of Dooney'

In his poem ' The Stolen Child ' Yeats refers to Slish Wood as Sleuth Wood - ' WHERE dips the rocky highland Of Sleuth Wood in the lake '

Once a House of The Wynnes of Hazelwood, now St. Angela's College. Established by the Ursuline Order in 1950 as a centre of 3rd. level education.

This crest was adopted by Sligo County Council in 1980. The design on the black shield, which shows an open book on which there is a Celtic Cross and a red rose, represents collectively the literary and cultural history of Sligo. These refer to such early works as the Books of Ballymote and Lecan, while the rose was a significant theme in the poetry of W.B.Yeats. The escallop shells sprinkled on the shield refer to the origin of the word Sligeach -- "a place abounding in shells". The boar's head refers to the "wild boar of Benbulben" in the Diarmuid and Gráinne myth. The colour scheme of the crest incorporates the Sligo GAA colours of black and white.

The present Borough Council of Sligo coat of arms, which is based on a much older one, was formally adopted in 1953 by the Corporation. A tower on the left represents the ruined tower of Sligo Abbey; the tree is symbolic of the dense woodland formerly in the area in which the town now stands; the hare symbolizes the abundant natural wildlife found in local brushwood, and the escallop shells come from the Irish word Sligeach, which means "place abounding in shells". A shell appears close to the hind leg of the hare in the crest. The colours used are blue, gold and green. Hazelwood, on the northern shore of Lough Gill, attracts thousands of visitors each year.

As a writer Yeats made his debut in 1885, when he published his first poems in The Dublin University Review. In 1887 the family returned to Bedford Park, and Yeats devoted himself to writing. He visited Mme Blavatsky, the famous occultist, and joined the Esoteric Section of the Theosophical Society, but was later asked to resign. In 1889 Yeats met his great love, Maud Gonne (1866-1953), an actress and Irish revolutionary who became a major landmark in his life and imagination. However, she married in 1903 Major John MacBride, and this episode inspired Yeats's poem "No Second Troy".

Yeats was interested in folktales as a part of an exploration of national heritage and for the revival of Celtic identity. His study with George Russell and Douglas Hyde of Irish legends and tales was published in 1888 under the title Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry. Yeats assembled for children a less detailed version, Irish Fairy Tales, which appeared in 1892. The Wanderings Of Oisin And Other Poems (1889), took its subject from Irish mythology.

In 1896 Yeats returned to live permanently in his home country. He reformed the Irish Literary Society, and then the National Literary Society in Dublin, which aimed to promote the New Irish Library. In 1897 he met Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory, with whom he founded the Irish Literary Theatre. Yeats worked as a director of the theatre to the end of his life, writing several plays for it. His most famous dramas were Cathleen Ni Houlihan (1902) and The Land Of Heart's Desire (1894).

In early 1917 Yeats bought Thoor Ballyle, a derelict Norman stone tower near Coole Park. After restoring it, the tower became his summer home and a central symbol in his later poetry. In 1917 he married Georgie Hyde-Lee. During their honeymoon Yeats's wife demonstrated her gift for automatic writing. Their collaborative notebooks formed the basis of A Vision (1925), a book of marriage therapy spiced with occultism.

In 1932 Yeats founded the Irish Academy of Letters and in 1933 he was briefly involved with the fascist Blueshirts in Dublin. In his final years Yeats worked on the last version of A Vision, which attempted to present a theory of the variation of human personality, and published The Oxford Book Of Verse (1936) and New Poems (1938).

For anyone interested in Irish history and heritage, North Sligo has much to offer. Here one can literally trace the dramatic tendrils of our nation, from prehistoric mythology to modern times, in a setting both pristine and majestic. In its lofty mountains, its winding rivers, its jagged coastline, God has created here a land largely unspoiled by time or man. Leaving Sligo town on the N15 we crest Tully Hill. Suddenly we see the Dartry mountain range spread before us in all its grandeur. The mighty prow of 'bare Benbulben's head,' made famous by the poet W.B.Yeats, defines the landscape here. In the shadow of this unique mountain stretch the rolling hills and valleys of an enchanted land. This is the 'Yeats' country', a panorama rich in history, folklore and mythology. Rathcormac Let us stop here in the village of Rathcormac to admire a magnificent bronze memorial to Countess Markievicz. The Countess was born Constance Gore Booth in nearby Lissadell where she spent her early years. An active suffragette she gave her first public speech to promote women's rights at nearby Drumcliffe. She is best known for the prominent part she played in the Easter Rising of 1916, for which she was sentenced to death, a sentence commuted to life imprisonment solely because of her gender. Constance took the Dublin seat in the elections of 1918 and became the first woman ever elected to the House of Commons in England.At the formation of the first Irish Dail she was appointed Minister of Labour thus becoming the first woman Cabinet Minister in the world! Drumcliffe Continuing northwards our next stop is Drumcliffe Visitor's Centre. In the adjacent churchyard the mortal remains of the poet William Butler Yeats lie at peace in the Sligo soil that inspired much of his work. But that is very recent history.The remains of a round tower and high cross here tell us that this was an early Christian site of major significance founded by St. Colmcille in A.D. 575. St Colmcille is remembered too for his part in the 'Battle of the Books': Colmcille copied a book while a guest of St. Finian's.When Finian requested that the copy be returned to him, as well as the book, Colmcille refused.The dispute was brought to the High King of Ireland for adjudication. Colmcille again refused to abide by the king's famous edict, 'To every cow its calf and to every book its copy'. In consequence, in 561 AD, the High King and Colmcille engaged in battle at Culdreimhne on the slopes of Benbulben. Aided by an angel, Colmcille won. Thousands of men were slain and the king forced to concede the copy of the psalter to Colmcille. Innishmurray Refreshed by our sojourn in Jill Barber's cafe at the Drumcliffe Visitor's Centre, we head northwards once again. To our left, on the western side of the county, rocky cliffs defy the Atlantic gales. Here, the restless ocean tumbles onto miles of rugged shoreline. Nestled within these waves - just a few miles offshore - lies the mystical island of Innishmurray. St. Molaise founded a Christian Monastery here in the 6th century, the remains of which remain remarkably intact. On this island of gale, stone and fire we enter a shadow-land race ofTuatha de Dannan, reside.At the door of the fort theceremonial rites of passage we still perform today. 'Daoine Mhaith' come and go in their revelries and travels. The worldly wise may mock at such foolish beliefs but EdwinaGleniff Horseshoe Ashley, wife of Lord Mountbatten, did not. She often visitedAs we enter the secret mountain-ringed valley of the Gleniff and left messages at this enchanted place. Within livingHorseshoe, we see on our left the remains of an old barytes memory offerings of poteen were left here in thanksgiving ormill, representing the last vestige of any industry Gleniff once supplication. Did our ancestors gather here long ago with thehad. Used in the manufacture of glass, paints, china, wallpaper sorcerers of the Tuatha de Danann or maybe with Druidand pre-Xray barium meals, barytes was mined here until the priests? We may never know. Old people know the doormiddle of the 20th century. In 1928 a railroad ran from here where the Sidhe come and go, but the 'Fairy Rock' is silentto Mullaghmore, built with the intention of shipping the and enigmatic, guarding its secrets,product out through Mullaghmore harbour. Gleniff s industrial past is long gone and now the hills are a haven of Mullaghmore's rugged seacoast supported a lifestyle nowpeace and quiet. gone. In less prosperous times these rocks and inlets wereDriving around the horseshoe our eyes are drawn to an seaside gardens. Leac na Meala, Pollachurry, Dreimire Bui,arched cave 1,200 feet up the mountain.This is said to be the Cromadach, the old people knew these places intimately forlast hiding place of Diarmuid and Grainne, in their perpetual it was here that sea foods, edible seaweeds and fish could beflight from Fionn mac Cumhaill leader of the warrior Fianna. found in abundance. They depended on that knowledge, forGrainne, daughter of the High King Cormac Mac Airt, was there were no supermarkets and even less money!married to Fionn at Tara in County Meath. At the wedding feast the fickle Grainne fell in love with the younger warrior CreevykeelDiarmuid, and persuaded him to elope with her. Next day,

The purple heather is the cloak, the vengeful Fionn set out in pursuit of his former comrade God gave the bogland brownin arms and his faithless bride. Fionn's pursuit was relentless But man has made a pall of smokebut the hunted couple eluded their pursuers for many years.

Derelehan plateau Leaving the Gleniff valley we turn left along the mountain road towards Sligo, into the Derelehan hinterland. Have your camera ready, as the views of BenWiskin and Benbulben are spectacular at this close range. It was here, on the slopes of Benbulben that the warrior Diarmuid met his end. While sleeping in the Gleniff cave we have just seen, the couple were awakened one night by the baying of hounds hunting boar on the slopes of Benbulben. Next day, Diarmuid was preparing to face the boar when word came that Fionn and the Fianna were being slaughtered by it. Grainne was distraught, and begged him not to go, reminding him of the prophecy that he would meet his death by the great boar of Benbulben. Despite her entreaties, Diarmuid's warrior instinct prevailed and he went out to meet his fate. After a fierce struggle the animal charged, ripping open his stomach. With his last ounce of strength, Diarmuid stabbed the enraged boar through the navel, killing it. Fionn, coming on Diarmuid in the pangs of death, felt sorry for him but could not bring himself to save his unfaithful comrade, and thus ended his fabled pursuit of the lovers. Our brief tour of North Sligo is over. Let us hope that this sweep of beautiful countryside may long remain unspoiled, and that the words of one English visitor a hundred years ago will be as valid tomorrow as they were then and are now: The charm of the place lies in its simplicity and the tranquil delight of doing nothing if one so chooses.'

Sligo is a glorious patchwork - of pasture land rollingJohn Benson, a native of Collooney, who also built the from the Ox to the Bricklieve and Curlew mountains, of lakesCatholic Church in 1847. The mills (largely dismantled) and rivers, of townlands and forts, of ruined castles andbehind Innisfree Crystal, built in 1838 provided a living for abbeys; a patchwork peopled with present inhabitants, butmany, and were later converted to produce woollen goods. also with the figures of those who lived, loved and foughtThe hotel, Markree Castle lies nearby, still home of the here long ago. And it is full of fable, that dream-like dimensionCooper family who have lived there since Cromwellian times where history and legend intertwine inextricably and forever,when the land was given to Edward Cooper in lieu of pay. In Let us go on a day tour and explore some of it.1832 another Edward Cooper founded an Observatory there which received worldwide acclaim for many years. Strandhill, Coney Island and Carrowmore We start at Strandhill, winding through pretty roads underBallymote the shadow of Knocknarea, an ever-present reminder ofLeaving Collooney we head south for Ballymote, passing near ancient times, whose cairn is visible for miles. 24m high, it isAnnaghmore and Templehouse, ancestral homes of two of believed to be that of Queen Maeve of Connaught. Also onSligo's oldest families, the O'Haras and Percevals. Ballymote top of the hill are the remains of a cashel, an important fortis a traditional market town which once had more pubs per in its day. In clear weather a walk to the top of the hill iscapita than any place in Ireland. Granted the right to hold Fair rewarded with fabulous views across the whole of Sligo andDays twice a year in 1604, prosperity really came to the town its beautiful coastline. Beneath lies Coney Island, accessiblein the mid 1700's when the Earl of Shelbourne introduced at low tide across the sand. St Patrick is said to have visitedlinen production into the area. The Castle was built in 1300 the island, dug a well and installed his wishing chair on theby Richard de Burgo.Red Earl of Ulster. Its walls are 3m thick western side. Drink at the well for 9 days and you may sit incontaining I m passages leading to 6 great towers. The the great rock chair and make a wish - but only once a year!marked walk beside the castle tells us more of its history. One of only 3 silver and lead mines in Ireland was found here.The Book of Ballymote, a 502 page manuscript about Sligo's Resuming our journey, we come to Carrowmore and find thehistory and families, compiled by monks in the castle in 1391 largest Megalithic burial ground in Ireland, where one of thewas sold in 1522 for 140 milk cows. The original is now in tombs is possibly the oldest building in the world - thousandsDublin, but a replica of the book, one of only 6 ever made, of years older than the Egyptian pyramids,can be seen in The Coach House Hotel in the town.

A Bridewell or house of correction was built here in 1813, which later became the Courthouse. Ballysadare Here at the mouth of Ballysadare Bay. the Ballysadare RiverGurteen & Lough Gara -famous for its salmon fishing - enters the sea. The CooperWe pass near to Killavil and Mount Irwin where the old family of Markree constructed the lift on the falls toAbbey was founded by Edmund O'Gara in 1320, and introduce salmon to these rivers in the 18th century,flourished until the monks were slaughtered at their prayers Nothing in the little town now hints at the devastationby Cromwell's troops. It is said that the pure in heart can still caused here by the cholera in 1832 when scarcely enoughhear them chanting their unfinished office amidst the ruins. people were left alive to bury the dead. Recovery was helpedSo we come to Gurteen where Michael Coleman's life and by the building of the mills in 1833, which later thrived underwork are celebrated. 'Master of the fiddle', Coleman had a the ownership of Middleton and Pollexfen, the poet Yeats'lasting influence on traditional music in South Sligo. and the relatives, whose 'Avena' flour became well known. It is saidColeman Centre ensures that his legacy endures. Further on, that while Dublin was still lit by gas, Ballysadare was ablazeoverlooking Lough Gara, the massive 6 towered Moygara with water-driven electricity. The derelict mills are on theCastle, burned in 1581, was one of the finest examples of a right as we enter the village,castellated building in Sligo. More that 300 crannog sites were found in the lake 50 years ago, some small islands, some Collooneyjust mounds. They were man-made platforms for dwellings Turn left over the bridge and we soon arrive in Collooney,and many were occupied as early as 1000 BC. passing the monument to Teeling, aide-de-camp to General Humbert. During the Year of the French, the decisive battle ofKesh Carricknagat took place here, in which Teeling fought withThe name Kesh Corann comes from the legendary harper, great valour. After the French surrender, which brought theCorann, who - it is said - was rewarded for his musical skill revolution to an end, officers were exchanged, but thiswith this land. There is a cairn on the summit, and caves can romantic hero of the 1798 Rising was treated like a commonbe seen 150m up the cliffs from the road beneath. Diarmuid criminal and ignominiously hanged outside Arbour Hilland Grainne, eloping together on the night of her marriage to Prison, still wearing his French uniform. He was just 24.Fionn Mac Cumhaill are said to have sheltered here during Collooney, once the junction for 3 railways still has a prettytheir desperate flight from her husband and the Fianna. little station where the Dublin train stops.The castle, erectedCormac Mac Art, King of Ireland, born at the foot of Kesh in 1225, was the first stone and mortar stronghold built inCorann, was stolen (while his mother was drawing water Connaught, and this leafy town was the scene of many battlesfrom a nearby well,) by a wolf who mothered the infant for a between the King of Connaught and his rivals. The place wasyear in the caves, until he was finally found - a story made sold to Joshua Cooper in 1727 for £ 16.945 5s 6d. Themore plausible by the fact that some of the caves are said to Protestant Church was built in 1720. and later enlarged by Sirpenetrate for miles. Each year the Lughnasa Festival to continued on pace 73

West Sligo, encompassing the ridge of the Ox Mountains and the stretch of lowland coastline running beneath them, is uniquely beautiful country with wild and rugged stretches of shore, fabulous beaches, lonely hill top lakes, renowned rivers, and some of the best blanket peat bog in Europe. Its views can be breathtaking, its scenery inspiring, and its history, as always, recounts man's struggle with man, God and the elements. Let us take a day tour that will reveal some of the secrets of this landscape. Ballysadare We start our tour at the top of Ballysadare Bay where the river cascades into the sea. Overlooking the waterfall are the remains of a church built to St Fechin in the 7th Century. Apparently he also had a salmon fishery and a watermill here even in those distant days. The river is still full of salmon, up to 2,000 fish being caught on a rod and line each year. Ballysadare has often been a place of explosions, with the mills (now derelict through disuse) destroyed that way in 1856, and the bridge much later, after which the river had to be crossed by planks. Happily both were restored in due season, although the mills later fell into disuse. Now we cross the bridge and turn right onto the N59. Coolaney & Knocknashee Taking the Coolaney turn, we climb into the Ox Moutains to this quiet little village. A local tale relates that a long-dead MacDonagh Chief gave two neighbouring areas to his daughters, Oonagh and Annie as dowries, hence the confusing names Collooney and Coolaney.

Approaching the village we pass the strangely shaped Hawk's Rock close to the Hawk's Well -Tubber Scanavin. Yeats named a play after the well, and the theatre in Sligo Town has very fittingly taken the same name. Leaving the village we follow signs for Gillighan's World at Knocknashee, or Mullinabreena, the Hill of the Fairy Palace which stands alone.A large Bronze Age fort once covered the hilltop. Children especially will enjoy stopping to visit the fairies who now inhabit the hill, and the views from the top are beautiful. Below lie the ruins of Court Abbey, built by the O'Haras in the 14th century. Nearby is the source of the famous salmon river, the Moy. Tubbercurry & Banada Abbey Sligo's second largest town lies at the foot of the Ox Mountains, and every April hosts theWestern Drama Festival, and every July the South Sligo Summer School for Traditional Irish Music. The earliest historical reference to the town is 1397 when the O'Connors built a fortress here. For centuries Tubbercurry thrived, and in 1853 was further enhanced by the coming of a Bianconi Car operator, which allowed regular travel to Ballina. These wonderful horse-drawn open traps seated about 10 passengers back to back in two rows facingPassing a ruined O'Dowd castle, we leave Enniscrone and outwards. In 1895 the railway line opened, but was closed income to Kilglass Protestant Church behind which is the old 1975Abbey, believed to be the burial site of Duald MacFirbis of Lecan Castle. Historians of the O'Dowds, the MacFirbis No hint remains today that the town was all but destroyedfamily were scholars for 4 centuries, their home a centre of during a reprisal raid by the Black &Tans in September 1920.learing and culture. They compiled 3 major manuscripts on The main street burnt for days and it is said the gutters ranthe history of Sligo. with petrol, porter, whiskey, melted soap and candle grease. 2 miles north-east of the town lies Achonry and the smallestEaskey Cathedral in Ireland. Built in 1820, and designed for 250This small village lies on the river of the same name. which people, it is now restored and in use again,means'full of fish', famous for its salmon and trout.These days Leaving Tubbercurry we turn towards the

Ox Mountains Easkey is even more famous for its surf, and has a Surf School again and soon come to quiet Banada. Hard to believe that inand Information Centre in the village.The Protestant Church the 1850's the main coach road passed through here and thewas burnt (along with many others along this coast) during thriving community had a pub, 2 butchers, 2 coopers, 2the uprising of 1798, and was rebuilt in 1820 at a cost of weavers, a shoemaker a blacksmith, a corn mill, a pound and£1,238 15s 4d with a grant from the Board of First Fruits. a kiln! The 5 arch bridge was built around 1800, but the AbbeyDown by the sea are the remains of Rosslea Castle, and the dates from 1423. It was once home of the Jones family, butold pier, a popular spot for fishermen. On the way out of the when 2 sons and 3 daughters of the house embraced thevillage we pass the Split Rock. It is said that Fionn Mac church they gave the Abbey and its contents, including a silverCumhaill, idling in the Ox Mountains challenged a comrade to chalice made in 1641, to the Sisters of Charity,throw a stone to the sea, which he did. Fionn's stone fell short, and in rage he split it with his sword. It is also said that Lough Talt & Lough Easkeyif someone walks through the split 3 times, the rock will close At the foot of Crummus peak, Lough Talt is a beautiful place,on them! and on calm days when the water reflects the surrounding3 miles on, the road follows a sharp right-hand bend, near a mountain, it is truly magical. A favourite spot for troutdistinctive modern water tower. We turn left instead, down fishermen, and equally popular amongst walkers for the pathBallykillcash Hill to the coast road. At the top of this hill, on winding around the shore - a 4 mile circuit,clear day, the views are spectacular, with the Sligo coast and Now we retrace our steps for 2 miles to Mullaney's Cross,much of Donegal laid out before us. turn left, then left again signed to Lough Easkey. A few miles up this winding road we pass Mass Hill where mass was saidAughris Head during the time of the Penal Laws. Here the Shaking Rock isAlong this beautiful stretch of coastline we can see the newly to be found, a massive boulder high above the road which caninstalled Wind Farm in the Ox Mountains, and for be rocked by a touch of the hand, but which, miraculously, hasornithologists this area is a paradise, with many species of never fallen. Sharing the road with mountain sheep we comeseabird - gulls, shags, curlews, storm petrels, kittiwakes, to Lough Easkey, a solitary place whose wide open skies andfulmars and guillemots. Aughris Head can offer a wild and peat bog has a spare beauty. This lake is also popular withrugged cliff walk, a lovely beach with stunning views, and a pub anglers who fish for trout and salmon. Leaving the Lough, andclose to the water. Round the corner, Dunmoran Strand is passing the remains of an old hunting lodge, we descendyet another lovely beach. Dolphins are often to be seen towards the coastal plain, fabulous views of the sea stretchingleaping and tossing all along this coast, and seals can also be before us.spotted, their heads sticking up like little periscopes. Enniscrone or InishcroneSkreen and Ladies' Brae Reaching the N59 just past Dromore West we turn left andTurning inland we come to Skreen, its name probably deriving then left again to visit Culkins Emigration Museum (openfrom the latin for shrine. Adamnan, the saint who was summer only) which recounts the aftermath of the 1845biographer of St Columba, founded the church here in the Famine when so many were forced to leave the country in7th Century, and his well is at the base of a pillar to the right order to survive. On this site once stood Daniel Culkin'sof the road. The Protestant Church, founded in 1704 is Shipping and Emigration Agency - the way to a new world,particularly noted for its graveyard monuments, most of Back on the N59 we immediately pass the old workhouse,which were made by the local Diamond family, originally from now privately owned, and continue to Enniscrone, a littleItaly. In the Rectory here the famous 19th century scientist seaside holiday town famous for its sunsets. The 3 mileStokes was born. Close by. near the remains of Ardnaglas beach, including the 'valley of the diamonds' stretchescastle, the last wolf in Ireland was killed by a wolfhound, a invitingly into the distance, its great sand dunes forming partbeautifully carved stone marks the event! of the widely acclaimed golf course. Also renowned areWe turn towards Knockalongy, the highest peak in the Ox Kilcullen's Seaweed Baths, as popular now as they were whenrange, to take the scenic drive over the mountains known as they opened in 1912!Ladies' Brae. The road winds along the side of the hill and In the main street a large black pig (The huge creature madesuddenly offers panoramic views over the Sligo coastline - on by local sculptor Cillian Rogers) recalls a tale - A huge boara clear day, a truly wonderful sight, revealing all the magic of ran amok in Donegal, devouring women and children,this county, beloved not only by the poet Yeats but by so Pursued, it fled south, disappearing into the sea in Sligo andmany who came before him and all those who have come later emerging on Enniscrone beach. It was finally slain atsince. nearby Mackduff,and being too big to bury was covered withTaking the next left turn after this viewing point, the road a pile of stones which remain to this day.brings us to Beltra, a short distance from Ballysadare, which ends our tour.

Although Sligo is a city, having a charter and two cathedrals, it is locally, and affectionately, known as Sligo Town. The name Sligo is thought to mean 'shelly place', although some say that it might derive from 'Sli' meaning route, as from earliest times Sligo was strategically placed. This was always an area abounding in shellfish of all kinds, and bucket loads of shells were removed when foundations for the town's buildings were laid. Equally, from earliest times Sligo was a strategic point in the North West, and remains so today,so either root would be valid.

Famine Memorial, Quay Street Car Park
Our tour of Sligo starts at the bottom of Quay St by the Garavogue River, once known as the Sligo River, and always full of swans, often with their young in tow, still wearing their juvenile fawn plumage. Here in the car park, stands a memorial commemorating both those who died during the famine years which so devastated Sligo, culminating in the Great Famine of 1845, and those who emigrated to escape. Many left from these Quays, including one ill-fated ship which sank just outside Sligo Bay with the loss of all on board.

Quay Street
Up Quay St past the VEC, a third level educational establishment, opposite which is The City Hall. Described by many as Italian Renaissance in style, the foundation stone was laid by Sligo's Mayor, William Abbott Woods in 1865 before a large crowd and with the band of the Sligo Rifles playing. It stands on the site of an earlier Cromwellian fort, one which during the conflicts of 1689 Patrick Sarsfied captured for the deposed King James II, and so strengthened that it was the last western garrison to surrender when William and Mary finally defeated the Jacobites in 1690. The Assembly Rooms in the City Hall were once the theatre in which the Yeats brothers would have seen plays performed. Also in City Hall is the register of those on whom Sligo has conferred its greatest honour - the Freedom of the City. Amongst others they include cardinals, bishops, professors, and also Countess Markievicz, honoured in 1917. At the top of Quay St is Henry Lyons department store dating from 1845, one of the best traditional Irish shop fronts in Sligo.

Wine Street
R into Wine St (named for the wine vaults once maintained close to this corner) with its shops and new
Gaiety cinema complex. Opposite this is the Methodist Chuch built c1830, replacing the earlier Wesleyan
Chapel on Bridge St. dating from 1775 (around which time John Wesley himself visited Sligo regularly). At the end of Wine St, where doctors, dentists and lawyers have their practices in what were once elegant town houses, on the corner with Adelaide St. stands a large house, premises of McCanny & Co Solicitors. This was the headquarters of Sligo's largest shipping enterprise in the late 1800's, where Yeats' Grandfather Pollexfen trained his telescope on his ships entering and leaving Sligo from the glassed-in crow's nest top the building.

John Street , The Two Cathedrals
L into Adelaide St, L into Dunnes Car Park, through the main car park and R into the alley leading to John St. Opposite is the Church of Ireland Cathedral of St John the Baptist, designed in 1730 by the German architect Cassels who also designed Leinster House. It was refurbished in 1812 and 1883. Here Yeats' mother married John Yeats, a young barrister, in September 1863. A brass memorial to her is on the wall near the pulpit. Yeats' grandfather Pollexfen supervised the building of his own tomb in the churchyard. The Cathedral has other literary associations, notably Bram Stoker. His Mother, born Charlotte Townley in Sligo Town, witnessed the horrors of the cholera epidemic in 1832. Perhaps the tales in her memoirs sparked her son's imagination and led to the birth of 'Dracula'! Next to St John's is the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, built in 874 when Laurence Gillooley was Bishop. Sligo is part of the Diocese of Elphin whose first Bishop, Saint Asicus was consecrated by St Patrick himself, the Cathedral has a replica of the Saint discovered in a London brica-brac shop! Described as Renaissance Romanesque, Sean O'Faolain humorously described it as 'Hiberno-Romanesque' - its particular style being typical of so many churches built in the years following Catholic Emancipation. Over the road from the RC Cathedral is the Gillooley Memorial Hall which has a stage, a gallery and a large auditorium. On the hill opposite is the splendid former Bishop's Palace.

Hawkswell Theatre & Tourist Office
L out of the RC Cathedral onto Temple St, to the Hawkswell Theatre, which is open all year offering all kinds of cultural entertainment. The Theatre was named after a play by Yeats, the name coming originally from Tubber Scanavin, the Hawk's Well near Coolaney. The North West Tourist Office, beside the theatre, visitor information, accommodation advice, guide books, maps and a souvenir shop. The Genealogical Service Offices are also based here.

Presbyterian Church, The Friary
L down The Lungy and R into Church St. Here is the Presbyterian Church, built in 1828. At the junction with Harmony Hill pause for a moment to admire the view down to O'Connell St and Benbulben. R into Dominic St, at the top of which stands a small courtyard on the left containing the apse and stained glass of the old Holy Cross Dominican Church. Walk through here to the new church known locally as The Friary, and the High St. R then L into Old Market St. where lived Peter O'Connor who advertised ships sailing from Sligo to America in 1846, the start of the Big Exodus. On into Teeling St, named for the 24 year old hero of Carricknagat Battle at Collooney in 1798. Aide-de-camp to General Humbert, after the French surrender, Bartholomew Teeling was handed over to the English during an exchange of officers, after which he was court-martialled and publicly hanged like a criminal outside Arbour Hill Prison, wearing his French uniform.

The Courthouse
Designed by Rawson Carroll who also built Classiebawn Castle at Mullaghmore, this striking building was erected in 1878, and has been recently renovated. Opposite is the brass plaque of 'Argue and Phibbs', a remarkably named firm of lawyers who once practiced there!

Sligo Abbey
R into Abbey St. This Dominican Abbey, the only medieval building left standing in Sligo, was founded by the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, Maurice Fitzgerald in 1253, who already had a castle in Castle St., no trace of which remains. Accidentally destroyed by fire in 1414, it was rebuilt in its present form. When Sir Frederick Hamilton's soldiers sacked Sligo in 1642, killing, pillaging and burning, the Abbey was also torched. Everything valuable in it destroyed, including ornaments, vestments and items which the townspeople had brought to the friars for safekeeping. (5 of his cavalry, returning to Manorhamilton after this raid, galloped to their deaths over the cliffs above Glencar.) Stonework from the buildings started being removed in the 18th C and in 1760 the community of friars moved elsewhere. Still intact amongst the ruins of the Abbey are the High Altar, and the pulpit projecting from one of the cloister walls. Take time to visit the Abbey, and see the remains of this beautiful building in detail.

Castle Street - O'Connell Street
Returning along Abbey St, cross into Castle St (once the site of Sligo Castle) the start of the main shopping centre. Here on the left is Mary's of Sligo, once home of Edward Doherty, who led the chase after John Wilkes Booth, President Lincoln's assassin. Almost next door is 'Morgan', birth place of Shane Filan from the band Westlife. Further on Lady Erin, the memorial to the Uprisings of 1798, stands in the middle of the road at Market Cross below Market St. Straight along Grattan St. past EJ's on the R where in 1914 Angelo DiLucia and his lover murdered his wife while she slept. At the end, R into O'Connell Street, Sligo's main thoroughfare, once called Knox Street. On the left, Hargadon's pub interior was used as the model for a set at The Abbey Theatre, Dublin as a classic Irish pub. Beyond, also on the left, is Mullaney's, another beautiful traditional shop front. At the far end of the street, once called Fish Corner, stands the red brick Post Office built in 1901. R onto Hyde Bridge, formerly Victoria Bridge but renamed for the first President of Ireland, Douglas Hyde.

Yeats Building
The Yeats Building, red-bricked with a timbered upper storey stands on the corner of the bridge. Once the Royal Bank, it was presented to the Yeats Society by the AIB in 1973. Today it is the headquarters of the Yeats International Summer School and houses the Yeats Society Library, The Sligo Art Gallery and a photographic collection of Yeats and his family. Opposite, across the river, is Barton Smith's, originally founded in 1788 and still selling everything for the 'hunting, shooting, fishing' enthusiast.

Rockwood Parade
R onto this new river-side walk with its shops and cafes, where the swans drift on the river. Across the footbridge, in the Stephen Street car park is a monument to a former Governor of Chile and Viceroy of Peru, Ambrose O'Higgins, a native of Sligo. It also commemorates his son Bernardo, the first President of Chile. At the end of the Parade either turn left onto Bridge Street, rejoining the commentary at the County Museum and Library Stephen Street, or for a fuller tour, cross onto JFK Parade.

JFK Parade
This riverside street, renamed after the assassination of that American President was formerly Linenhall Street and then Corcoran's Mall, named for the developer Thomas Corcoran who, around 1800, built extensively here and in Thomas St, demolishing the north and west sides of Sligo Abbey to utilize the stone - a scandalous concept today. His relative, General Corcoran, a hero of the American Civil War, and another free thinker, was court-martialled for refusing to parade his troops before the Prince of ales. At the end of the Parade the Riverside Hotel was the site of the former Martin Distillery, once managed by Andrew Jameson, son of the famous Dublin distilling family. Sligo Distillery's 'water of life' was a favourite with many, but most notably King George III.

The Mall
Cross The Garavogue River on the new footbridge by the hotel. On the far bank lies the lovely old Georgian Rectory of Calry Church and to the right, Sligo Grammar School, a leading school (now co-educational) which has occupied these grounds since 1752, although the establishment itself is much older. A boarding and day school, it is rightly proud of its academic, sporting and other achievements, with the greater proportion of its leavers going on to third level education. The footbridge leads left onto The Mall beside Calry Anglican Church, which serves the School as well as its own Parish. In 1885 a hydraulic engine replaced manual labour to work the organ! Opposite is the old Masonic Lodge, and next door The Model Arts & Niland Gallery. Built in 1859 as a "model school" and dynamically reworked in 2000, the gallery houses works by Jack Yeats (who professed that he never painted a picture without 'putting a thought of Sligo in it'), and 70 other Irish painters, exhibitions by contemporary artists, studios and the Atrium Cafe. It is well worth a visit and a browse. At the end of The Mall, cross into Stephen St.

The County Museum and Library
The street of banks and business, Stephen St is also home to The Museum and Library, housed in the old Congregational Church and its Manse, built in 1851. The Yeats Memorial Museum, containing different editions of the poet's works and other letters and written material concerning him, opened here in 1958, its inspiration coming from Nora Niland, Librarian at the time. The Lending Library is also here, with the reference library on nearby Bridge St.

Yeats Statue
Further along, outside the Ulster Bank, is a memorial to the poet WB Yeats. This building was 'bombed to ruins' during the Civil War, but was rebuilt. When receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature from the King of Sweden in 1924, Yeats commented that the Stockholm Royal Palace reminded him of the Ulster Bank in Sligo. In 1989, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his death, the townspeople erected this statue, by artist Rowan Gillespie, of the poet 'wrapt in his words', in this, the obvious place. Around the corner, in Holborn St another very different famous figure is remembered. This was the home of Spike Milligan! Spike had strong links with Ireland through his father, Leo, who was born on Holborn St. in Sligo. His grandfather William Milligan was an army sergeant based in Sligo and was well-known locally as an entertainer. The family moved to London in the late 1890s when Leo Milligan was eight or nine. Spike's daughter, Jane, visited the Milligan house in October 2004 during the making of a television documentary about her father's life and Sligo Borough Council erected a plaque on the house where Leo Milligan was born in 1890. Down Markievicz Road, named in memory of Constance Gore-Booth, later Countess Markievicz, who was a leading figure in the Easter Risings of 1916 and was later elected to the English Parliament, we find Connolly's Pub, a pub which feels as if time has passed it by - a drop of old Ireland. A good place to end our tour!

Latest

News

Wintery

Views

Fernlea

Photos

Lough

Gill

Sligo

Town

Family

Tree

Fernlea

Links

Online

Album

Home

Page