County Sligo Contae Shligigh
Coat of arms
Motto: Land of Heart's Desire
Country	Ireland
Province	Connacht
Dáil Éireann	Sligo-North Leitrim
EU Parliament	North-West
County seat	Sligo
Government
• Type	County Council
Area
• Total	1,837 km2 (709 sq mi)
Area rank	22nd
Population (2011)	65,270
• Rank	26th
Car plates	SO
Website	www.sligococo.ie

County Sligo (Irish: Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the town of Sligo. Sligo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 65,270 according to the 2011 census. An archaeological recovery suggests the county may have been one of the earliest places of human settlement in Ireland.^[1]

Geography and political subdivisions[link]

Sligo countryside and Ben Bulben seen in the background.

Sligo is the 22nd largest of Ireland's 32 counties in area and 26th largest in terms of population.^[2] It is the fourth largest of Connacht's 5 counties in size and third largest in terms of population.

Towns and villages[link]

Local government and politics[link]

Sligo County Council is the governing body for the county. It is divided into five Local Electoral Areas (LEAs) Ballymote, Dromore, Sligo-Drumcliffe, Sligo-Strandhill and Tubbercurry. There are 25 members elected to Sligo County Council.

Sligo is part of the Sligo-North Leitrim constituency and has three representatives (TD's) in Dáil Éireann, Tony McLoughlin (FG), John Perry (FG) and Michael Colreavy (SF). It also has two representatives to Seanad Éireann, Marc MacSharry and Geraldine Feeney.

History[link]

The county was formed in 1585. Its boundaries broadly reflect the contemporary Ó Conchobhair Sligigh lordship of Irish: Íochtar Connacht (Lower Connacht). The megalithic cemetery of Carrowmore is located in County Sligo. It forms part of a huge complex of Stone Age remains connecting Carrowkeel in South Sligo to the Ox Mountains, to the Cuil Irra Peninsula, where Queen Maeve's tomb dominates the skyline from the crest of Knocknarea Mountain.

Culture[link]

The poet and Nobel laureate William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) spent much of his childhood in northern Sligo and the county's landscapes (particularly the Isle of Innisfree, in Lough Gill) were the inspiration for much of his poetry. Yeats said, "the place that has really influenced my life most is Sligo." He is buried in North County Sligo, "Under Ben Bulben", in Drumcliffe.

Music[link]

County Sligo has a long history of traditional music. The south of the county is particularly noted with such musical luminaries as James Morrison, Michael Coleman, Paddy Killoran, Fred Finn, Peter Horan, Joe O'Dowd, Jim Donoghue, Martin Wynne, Oisín Mac Diarmada (of Téada), tin-whistle player Carmel Gunning and the band Dervish. The county has many traditional music festivals and one of the most well known is the Queen Maeve International Summer School, a traditional Irish Music summer school of music and dance which is held annually in August in Sligo Town. On the more contemporary music scene there are Westlife, Tabby Callaghan and The Conway Sisters who are from Sligo. Strandhill, about 9 km west of Sligo, hosts the Strandhill Guitar Festival [1] each year, featuring a wide variety of guitar music and musicians.

People[link]

See also[link]

• List of abbeys and priories in the Republic of Ireland (County Sligo)
• List of Sligo people
• Sligo GAA
• Sligo Rovers F.C.
• High Sheriff of Sligo

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: County Sligo

• Collection of Sligo Landscape Photographs
• Sligo County Council
• Sligo Borough Council
• Map of Sligo
• Sligoheritage.com
• County Sligo travel guide from Wikitravel
• History of Sligo, County and Town By William Gregory Wood-Martin
• Song, "Beautiful Sligo" sung by Michael McGloin,YouTube Video, with images.
• Texts on Wikisource:
  • "Sligo. A maritime county of the Province of Connaught, Ireland". New International Encyclopedia. 1905. 
  • "Sligo, a county of Ireland". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. 
  • "Sligo". Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921. 

v t e Counties of Ireland The counties are listed per province Connacht Galway Leitrim Mayo Roscommon Sligo Munster Clare Cork Kerry Limerick Tipperary (North Tipperary · South Tipperary) Waterford Leinster Carlow Dublin (Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown · Fingal · South Dublin) Kildare Kilkenny Laois Longford Louth Meath Offaly Westmeath Wexford Wicklow Ulster Antrim† Armagh† Cavan Donegal Down† Fermanagh† Londonderry† Monaghan Tyrone† Italics denote non-administrative counties. Brackets denote non-traditional counties. †denotes non-administrative counties of Northern Ireland

v t e Places in County Sligo County town: Sligo Achonry Aclare Aughris Ballaghnatrillick Ballinafad Ballintogher Ballymote Ballynary Ballysadare Banada Beltra Bunninadden Carney Carrickbanagher Carrowhubbock South Castlebaldwin Cliffoney Cloonacool Collooney Coolaney Dromore West Drumcliff Easky Enniscrone Geevagh Grange Gorteen Kilglass Killeenduff Kilmactigue Keash Monasteraden Mullaghmore Rathcormack Riverstown Rosses Point Rathbraughan Skreen Sligo Strandhill Toorlestraun Tubbercurry Tullavilla List of townlands in County Sligo Category:Mountains and hills of County Sligo Category:Rivers of County Sligo Category:Geography of County Sligo

Coordinates: 54°15′N 8°40′W / 54.25°N 8.667°W / 54.25; -8.667

Sligo Sligeach
—  Town  —
File:Sligo montage.pdfClockwise from centre: The Model gallery, Sligo riverfront from bridge street, The Glasshouse building, W.B. Yeats statue on Hyde Bridge, Sunset at Strandhill beach, Rockwood viewed from JFK parade, Sligo Town hall
Sligo Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 54°16′00″N 8°29′00″W / 54.2667°N 8.4833°W / 54.2667; -8.4833Coordinates: 54°16′00″N 8°29′00″W / 54.2667°N 8.4833°W / 54.2667; -8.4833
Country	Ireland
Province	Connacht
County	County Sligo
Dáil Éireann	Sligo–North Leitrim
EU Parliament	North–West
Area[1]
• Total	12.9 km2 (5.0 sq mi)
Elevation	13 m (43 ft)
Irish Grid Reference	G685354
Dialing code	+353 71
Website	www.sligoborough.ie

Sligo (Irish: Sligeach, meaning "shelly place" — English pronunciation: /ˈslaɪɡoʊ/ SLY-goh, Irish pronunciation: [ˈɕlʲɪɟəx]) is the county town and the most populous urban area in County Sligo, Ireland. With a population of 19,452 in 2011, it is the largest town by population in Northwestern Ireland and the second-largest in the province of Connacht. Sligo is a major economic, educational, administrative and cultural centre of Ireland's Border Region , a region of over 500,000 people which comprises the counties of Sligo, Donegal, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan and Louth.^[2]

Sligo is a major commercial port on the west coast of Ireland and the country's most northerly on the Atlantic Ocean. In recent years, Sligo and its surrounding suburbs have experienced significant economic and population growth; over the last decade, Sligo was the fastest-growing settlement in the Border Region. The town is a also one of Ireland's most important tourist destinations, owing mainly to the renowned natural beauty of the surrounding countryside and its literary and cultural associations, which include significant ties to writer Spike Milligan and Nobel Prize-winning poet W.B. Yeats.

History[link]

Sligo's Irish name Sligeach - meaning shelly place - allegedly originates in the abundance of shellfish found in the river and its estuary, and from the extensive 'shell middens' or Stone Age food preparation areas in the vicinity.^{[3] [4]} The river (now known as the Garavogue 'rough river' ) was also called the Sligeach.^[4][5] The Ordnance Survey letters of 1836 state that "cart loads of shells were found underground in many places within the town where houses now stand". At that time shells were constantly being dug up during the construction of foundations for buildings. This whole area, from the river estuary at Sligo, around the coast to the river at Ballysadare Bay, is rich in marine resources which were utilised as far back as the Mesolithic period.

The significance of Sligo in the Early Neolithic period is demonstrated by the abundance of ancient sites close by, not least Carrowmore, on the Cuil Irra peninsula, 3 km (1.9 mi) from the town. The NRA excavation for the N4 Sligo Inner Relief Road in 2002 revealed an early Neolithic causewayed enclosure (c. 4000 B.C.) overlooking the town. It would have been enclosed by a ditch and palisade, and was perhaps an area of commerce and ritual. According to Edward Danagher, who excavated there, 'Magheraboy demonstrates the early Neolithic settlement of this area of Sligo, while the longevity of the activity on the site indicates a stable and successful population during the final centuries of the fifth millennium and the first centuries of the fourth millennium BC'.^[6] Sligo town's first roundabout was constructed around a megalithic tomb (Abbeyquarter North, in Garavogue Villas ^[7]). Maurice Fitzgerald, the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, is generally credited with the establishment of the mediaeval town of Sligo, building the Castle of Sligo in 1245. Sligo was burned several times during the mediaeval period. In 1257, Geoffry O'Donnell, chief of Tirconnell, marched on Sligo and burned the town. The annalists refer to this Sligo as a sradbhaile ('street settlement'): a village or town not defended by an enclosure or wall, and consisting of one street. By the mid 15th century the town and port had grown in importance. Amongst the earliest preserved specimens of written English in Connacht is a receipt for 20 marks, dated August 1430, paid by Saunder Lynche and Davy Botyller, to Henry Blake and Walter Blake, customers of "ye King and John Rede, controller of ye porte of Galvy and of Slego". Over a century later an order was sent by the Elizabethan Government to Sir Nicholas Malby, Knight, willing him to establish "apt and safe" places for the keeping of the Assizes & Sessions, with walls of lime & stone, in each county of Connacht, "judging that the aptest place be in Sligo, for the County of Sligo…"^[8] Sligo Abbey, the Dominican Friary, is the only mediaeval building left standing in the town (Bram Stoker, whose mother came from Sligo, has cited ghost stories about the abbey as part of the inspiration for his infamous novel, Dracula). The abbey was founded by Fitzgerald in 1253 but was accidentally destroyed by fire in 1414, and was rebuilt in its present form. When Frederick Hamilton’s soldiers sacked Sligo Town in 1642, the Abbey was burned and everything valuable in it was destroyed. Much of the structure, including the choir, carved altar and cloisters remains.

Between 1847 and 1851 over 30,000 people emigrated through the port of Sligo.^[9] On the Quays, overlooking the Garavogue River, is a sculpted memorial to the emigrants. This is one of a suite of three sculptures commissioned by the Sligo Famine Commemoration Committee to honour the victims of the Great Famine. A plaque in the background, headed 'Letter to America, January 2, 1850' tells one family's sad story: "I am now, I may say, alone in the world. All my brothers and sisters are dead and children but yourself... We are all ejected out of Mr. Enright's ground... The times was so bad and all Ireland in such a state of poverty that no person could pay rent. My only hope now rests with you, as I am without one shilling and as I said before I must either beg or go to the poorhouse... I remain your affectionate father, Owen Larkin. Be sure answer this by return of post."

Sligo town recently highlighted its connections with Goon Show star and writer Spike Milligan by unveiling a plaque at the former Milligan family home at Number 5 Holborn Street.

Climate[link]

Like most of Ireland, Sligo's climate is characterised by high levels of precipitation and a low level of annual temperature range. However, due to the town's position in Sligo Bay, it has comparatively lower levels of rainfall and warmer year-round temperatures than many other settlements on the west coast, such as Galway or Limerick, despite its northerly location.

Media[link]

An aerial view of Sligo.

There are three local newspapers in Sligo: the Sligo Weekender - out every Tuesday, the Northwest Express -out every Thursday and The Sligo Champion - out every Wednesday. The area has a local radio station, Ocean FM, which also broadcasts to Counties Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo. Sligo is also served by the West youth radio station I102-104FM.

Education[link]

Sligo has 6 secondary schools (one of which is located outside the borough boundary) and 42 primary schools (one of which is located outside the borough boundary). St Angela's College and Institute of Technology, Sligo are third-level colleges located in or near the town.

Transport[link]

The main roads to Sligo are the N4 to Dublin, the N17 to Galway, the N15 to Lifford, County Donegal; and the N16 to Blacklion, County Cavan, and continues as the A4 road (Northern Ireland) to Enniskillen. The section of the N4 road between Sligo and Collooney is a dual carriageway. The first phase of this road was completed in January 1998, bypassing the towns of Collooney and Ballysadare. An extension to this road was completed in September 2005, and is known as the Sligo Inner Relief Road.

O'Connell Street - the main street in the town - was pedestrianised on 15 August 2006. Plans for the proposed redevelopment and paving of this street were publicly unveiled on 23 July 2008 in The Sligo Champion. The newspaper later revealed that people were not in favour of the pedestrianisation of the street. The street was reopened to traffic in December 2009.

Sligo has a certain amount of cycleways in proximity to the town and various road traffic calming measures have been installed helping to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

Sligo acquired a rail link to Dublin on 3 December 1862, with the opening of Sligo railway station.^[10] Connections to Enniskillen and the north followed in 1881 and Limerick and the south in 1895. The line to Enniskillen closed in 1957 and passenger services to Galway-Ennis-Limerick closed in 1963. For many years CIE kept the latter line open for freight traffic, and although it is now disused, it forms part of the Western Rail Corridor redevelopment project. In 1966 Sligo railway station was renamed Mac Diarmada Station after Irish rebel Seán Mac Diarmada from County Leitrim.^[11] Iarnród Éireann, Ireland's national railway operator, runs inter-city rail services between Sligo and Dublin Connolly. The Dublin-Sligo railway line has a two hourly service frequency, which timetable is available at Official site - Timetables, bookings and operations

Sligo Town and County Sligo are served by Sligo Airport, 8 km (5.0 mi) from Sligo town and close to Strandhill village, though no scheduled flights currently operate out of the airport.

Bus Éireann operates four bus routes in the town: one serves the town centre and the other the west of the town. The other two routes run from the town to Strandhill and Rosses Point respectively.^[12]. Route 66, connects Sligo via Manorhamilton to Enniskillen and is popular for shopping trips.

Feda ODonnell offers routes to and from Gweedore to the west of Ireland, including Sligo and Galway, via Ballyshannon.

Irish Rail Official site - Timetables, bookings and operations

Shopping[link]

Sligo has a variety of independent retail stores and has seen new shopping malls constructed in the town. The main shopping streets are Wine Street, O'Connell Street, Gratton Street, Stephen Street, High Street, Market Street and Castle Street.

Development[link]

Like many towns in the west of Ireland, Sligo suffered for many years from a lack of development, mainly^{[citation needed]} due to its relative isolation. However this has improved in most sectors in the past decade.

Development has occurred along the river Garavogue with the regeneration of J.F.K. Parade (2000), Rockwood Parade (1993–1997), and The Riverside (1997–2006), as well as two new footbridges over the river, one on Rockwood Parade (1996) and one on The Riverside (1999).

Twinning[link]

Sligo is twinned with the following places:

• Crozon, Brittany, France
• Illapel, Choapa Province, Chile
• Kempten im Allgäu, Bavaria, Germany
• Tallahassee, Florida, United States^[13]

Gallery[link]

• Images of Sligo
• 

  Yeats' statue outside the Ulster Bank

• 

  The choir of Sligo Abbey

• 

  The Sligo Famine Memorial on the Quays

• 

  Clock tower of the Roman Catholic Cathedral

• 

  The Roman Catholic Cathedral

• 

  Sligo Borough Council

• 

  The Court House

• 

  Sligo Post Office in 1996

• 

  Sligo St. John's Church of Ireland Cathedral

See also[link]

• Development of Sligo
• List of Sligo people
• List of towns and villages in Ireland
• Sligo Jail
• Sligo Rovers F.C.
• Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sligo

Wikisource has the text of a 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article about Sligo.

• Official site - Sligo Borough Council
• Sligo Cathedral Group (Church of Ireland)
• Sligo Heritage
• Sligo Town and the surrounding area
• Sligo Methodist Church
• Sligo Presbyterian Church
• Sligo Town on the Net
• CraicTunes.ie - Traditional & Contemporary Music Downloads from Sligo
• Sligo travel guide from Wikitravel
•  "Sligo. The capital of County Sligo, Ireland". New International Encyclopedia. 1905. 

v t e Places in County Sligo County town: Sligo Achonry Aclare Aughris Ballaghnatrillick Ballinafad Ballintogher Ballymote Ballynary Ballysadare Banada Beltra Bunninadden Carney Carrickbanagher Carrowhubbock South Castlebaldwin Cliffoney Cloonacool Collooney Coolaney Dromore West Drumcliff Easky Enniscrone Geevagh Grange Gorteen Kilglass Killeenduff Kilmactigue Keash Monasteraden Mullaghmore Rathcormack Riverstown Rosses Point Rathbraughan Skreen Sligo Strandhill Toorlestraun Tubbercurry Tullavilla List of townlands in County Sligo Category:Mountains and hills of County Sligo Category:Rivers of County Sligo Category:Geography of County Sligo