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Sligo Town
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Sligo Town is
situated on the banks of the Garavogue River, connecting Lough Gill
to the sea. The town is surrounded by mountains- Benbulben and
Truskmore to the north, Knocknaera to the west and the Ox mountains
to the south. Sligo is a gateway town to the West and North West of
Ireland and is renowned for its superb shopping, great restaurants
and bars and vibrant nightlife.
Sligo Town has a
number of fine golf courses on its doorstep including the County
Sligo Golf Club at Rosses Point (6km), the scenic links course at
Strandhill (8km) and the parkland course at the Castle Dargan Golf
Resort (10km). There are fine beaches at Strandhill and at Rosses
point- the former is mainly a surfing beach, while the blue flag
beaches at Rosses Point are ideal for swimming, walking and kite
surfing. The Yeats
Society was founded in Sligo in 1958 in order to commemorate and
honour the memory of W.B. Yeats, and to promote appreciation of his
poetry and other writings. The Society operates from the Yeats
Memorial Building in the centre of Sligo overlooking the river. The
building is the administrative centre of the Society and houses the
Yeats Photographic Exhibition , the Yeats Art Gallery, and a Café.
The society holds two major events during the year - the Yeats
International Summer School, held each year at the end of July and
beginning of August, and the Yeats Winter School, held in January or
in early February. William Butler Yeats is buried in Drumcliffe
graveyard just 9km north of Sligo.
The Sligo International Choral Festival, founded in 1988 by
local businessmen Joe Kelly and John Ryan, is now regarded as the
20th largest festival of its kind in the 32 counties and the largest
annual cultural event in the North-West of Ireland.
Sligo Abbey was built in 1253 by Maurice FitzGerald and originally
housed Dominican monks. It is the only remaining authentic medieval
building in Sligo Town. It provides an intriguing experience for
visitors as they wind their way through the haunting remains. They
include 15th century cloister arches containing finely carved
stonework, the ruins of the nave, aisle, transept and tower.
The Sligo County
Museum is located in Stephen Street and contains a fascinating
collection of exhibits detailing Sligo's rich stone-age history,
including a large firkin of 100-year-old bog butter. The main
attraction of this former presbytery is the Yeats Memorial Room. It
displays many of the poet’s personal items, such as letters,
photographs, and the flag used to cover his coffin when he was
buried nearby at Drumcliff. Also proudly displayed here is Yeats’
Nobel Peace Prize for Literature, awarded in 1923.
With over 5,000 recorded archeological sites County Sligo has
one of the richest concentrations of prehistoric monuments in
Western Europe. A number of these sites are a short distance from
Sligo Town. The Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery is jut 5km to the
west. Carrowmore is the second largest cemetery of megalithic tombs
in Europe and is among Ireland's oldest. In such a fantastic
location, visitors to Carrowmore can enjoy the beautiful scenery of
the area as well as the magnificent archaeological finds.
Archaeologists have found over 65 tombs, stone circles, passage
graves and standing stones. The site is thought to be over 700 years
older than the spectacular Newgrange, which was built in 3200BC. On
top of nearby Knocknarea mountain is Queen Maeve's Cairn a neolithic
passage tomb. This large cairn is 55 metres wide by 10 metres high. |
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Sligo Town Holiday Homes - County Sligo, Ireland