County Sligo Contae Shligigh
Motto: Land of Heart's Desire
Location
Statistics
Province:	Connacht
County seat:	Sligo
Code:	SO
Area:	1,837 km2 (709 sq mi)
Population (2006)	60,894[1]
Website: www.sligococo.ie

County Sligo (Irish: Contae Shligigh) is one of the traditional counties of Ireland and is located within the province of Connacht. It was named after the town of Sligo (Irish: Sligeach).

Sligo is the 22nd largest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and 25th 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.

[edit] Geography

Sligo is bordered to the west by Mayo, to the south by Roscommon, and the east by Leitrim.

[edit] Towns and villages in County Sligo

The county town is Sligo (population: 17,892 ^[9]), which is home to the Institute of Technology, Sligo.

• Achonry, Aclare
• Ballaghnatrillick, Ballinafad, Ballintogher, Ballymote, Ballysadare, Beltra
• Carney, Castlebaldwin, Cliffony, Cloonacool
• Collooney, Coolaney,
• Dromore West, Drumcliffe
• Easky, Enniscrone
• Geevagh, Grange, Gurteen/Gorteen
• Kilglass, Keash
• Monasteraden, Mullaghmore
• Riverstown, Rosses Point
• Skreen, Strandhill
• Tourlestrane, Tubbercurry

[edit] Music tradition

A view of the Sligo countryside and Ben Bulben seen in the background.

County Sligo has a long history of traditional music. The south of the county is particularly noted with such musical luminaries as Mary O'Hara, 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 9km west of Sligo, hosts the Strandhill Guitar Festival[1] each year, featuring a wide variety of guitar music and musicians.

[edit] Cultural riches/Literary inspiration

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. 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.

[edit] See also

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

[edit] External links

• Collection of Sligo Landscape Photographs
• Sligo County Council
• Sligo Borough Council
• Map of Sligo
• Sligoheritage.com
• Sligo Rovers F.C.
• County Sligo travel guide from Wikitravel
• History of Sligo, County and Town By William Gregory Wood-Martin

[edit] References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: County Sligo

v • d • e Counties of Ireland Connacht Galway (Galway City) · Leitrim · Mayo · Roscommon · Sligo Munster Clare · Cork (Cork City) · Kerry · Limerick (Limerick City) · Tipperary (North Tipperary • South Tipperary) · Waterford (Waterford City) Leinster Carlow · Dublin (Dublin City • Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown • Fingal • South Dublin) · Kildare · Kilkenny · Laois · Longford · Louth · Meath · Offaly · Westmeath · Wexford · Wicklow Ulster Cavan · Donegal · Monaghan · Antrim · Armagh · Down · Fermanagh · Derry · Tyrone Italics denote non-administrative counties. Parentheses () denote eponymous cities or non-traditional counties.

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