Sligo Totally Explained

Everything about Sligo totally explained

|rural pop = 1,510 |census yr = 2006 |web = www.sligoborough.ie }} Sligo ("sly-go", Irish ), is the county town of County Sligo in the Republic of Ireland. The town is a borough and has a charter and a town mayor. It is the second largest urban area in Connacht (after Galway). It is home to the Sligo Institute of Technology.

History

Sligo's Irish name "Sligeach" - meaning shelly place - 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. The river (now known as the Garavogue) was originally also called the Sligeach. Sligo town's first roundabout was constructed around a megalithic tomb (Abbeyquarter North, in Garavogue Villas ). Maurice Fitzgerald, the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland is generally credited with the establishment of the medieval town of Sligo, building the Castle of Sligo in 1245. Sligo was burned with regularity throughout the medieval 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"; meaning 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 Connaught 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 is sent from 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 Connaught, “judging that the aptest place be in Sligo, for the County of Sligo…” Sligo Abbey, the Dominican Friary, is the only medieval building left standing in the town. 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 remain.
   Between 1847 and 1851 over 30,000 people emigrated through the port of Sligo. On the Quays, overlooking the Garavogue River, is a memorial sculpture to those people. 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'm 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." The poet W. B. Yeats is associated with Sligo. Much of his writing is descriptive of the area around Sligo town. In particular "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" is a reference to a small, uninhabited island on Lough Gill, which is a lake adjacent to the town. (The poet was likely thinking of Beezies Island, a bigger island in the lake close to the mouth of the Garavogue and a popular place to row to in the nineteen hundreds.) Yeats, who spent much of his youth in Sligo and its environs, died in 1939 and is buried in the graveyard in Drumcliffe, County Sligo.
   Sligo town is encircled by two mountain ranges, namely Dartry Mountains to the north and the Ox Mountains to the south. The Dartry range includes the famous Benbulbin which W. B. Yeats often wrote about and is said to be the resting place of Diarmuid and Grainne.
   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.

Transport

The primary arteries of Sligo's road network are: the N4 road to Dublin (which is motorway on some stretches, dual-carriageway in others); the N15 (known as the Bundoran Road) to Lifford County Donegal; and the N16 (the Enniskillen road) which runs through Manorhamilton, County Leitrim to the border at Blacklion, County Cavan/Belcoo, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.
   The section of the N4 road between Sligo and Collooney, extending about 15 kilometers outside Sligo, is made up of dual carriageway. The first phase of this road was completed in 1999, bypassing the towns of Collooney and Ballysadare. An extension to this road was completed in 2005, known as The Sligo Inner Relief Road. It stretches from Carraroe in the south of Sligo to Hughes Bridge, a four lane crossing of the river at its narrowest bridging point. This bridge was opened on 8 December 1988.
   The Sligo County Council ‘Traffic & Transportation Plan’ identified the pedestrianisation of Sligo’s core streets as a priority following the opening of the Sligo Inner Relief Road. O'Connell Street - the main street in the town - was pedestrianised on 15 August 2006.
   Sligo acquired rail links to Dublin in 1862, with the opening of the Sligo railway station on 3 December of that year. 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's 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. Iarnród Éireann, Ireland's national railway operator, runs inter-city rail services between Sligo and Dublin, stopping at Collooney, Ballymote, Boyle, Carrick-On-Shannon, Dromod, Longford, Edgeworthstown (Mostrim), Mullingar, Enfield, Kilcock (on some services), Maynooth (on some services), Leixlip Louisa Bridge ((on some services), Drumcondra (on some services) and Dublin Connolly.
   Sligo Town and County Sligo are served by Sligo Airport, 8 kilometres (5 miles) from Sligo town and close to Strandhill village, served by Aer Arann, which operates flights to Dublin and to Manchester in the United Kingdom.
   Sligo port handles relatively small ships up to .
   There is also a bus service provided by Bus Éireann (known as the Sligo City Service) that operates two different routes in the town, the Sligo Central City Service and the Sligo Western City Service. There are two other routes operating in the town, which operate between the town and Strandhill and Rosses Point respectively .

Development

Like many urban areas in western parts of Ireland, Sligo suffered for many years from a lack of development. However this has improved in some sectors in the past decade. The Quayside Shopping Centre opened in 2005 and Johnston's Court Shopping Centre opened in 2007. Some new development has occurred along the river Garavogue, most notably the regeneration of J.F.K. Parade, Kempten Promenade and the Crozon Promenade, The Riverside and Rockwood Parade, consisting of houses, bars and a number of apartments as well two new footbridges over the river itself. Work began on Rockwood Parade in 1992, and the footbridge there was opened in 1996. The most recent addition to the riverside is the regeneration and redesign of the former Silver Swan Hotel, overlooking the River Garavogue.

Media

There are three local newspapers in Sligo. The Sligo Weekender is published on Tuesday while The Sligo Champion and The Sligo Post are both published on Wednesday.
The locality is serviced by the local radio station, Ocean FM. With studios located in Collooney in Co Sligo and also in Donegal town the station broadcasts into counties Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo.

Twin cities

� Crozon, Bretagne, France � Kempten im Allgäu, Bavaria, Germany (1990) � Tallahassee, Florida, United States of AmericaFurther Information

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