County Sligo is one of the most beautiful and often praised counties in Ireland. Indeed, this same landscape provided the inspiration for much of the poetry of William Butler Yeats, who won the Nobel prize for Literature in 1923, while his brother, Jack himself a world renowned painter, captured the beauty of Sligo on canvas.

The following is an outline of the many sights and places of interest to be enjoyed in this enchanting corner of Ireland.


The Landscape
Sligo is world renowned for its breath-taking mountain views, wealth of secluded lakes and abundance of unpolluted coastal beaches.

Mountains
In the West of the County, the Ox mountains form a background to the coastal plain, while North of Sligo town the landscape is dominated by steep sided and flat topped limestone hills. The loaf shaped Benbulben is the most famous and beneath its shadows lies Drumcliffe, the burial place of W.B.Yeats. A few miles west of Sligo town is the hill of Knocknarea. The mound of stones on top of this elevation is reputed to be the burial place of the legendary Queen Maedbh.


Lakes
Lough Gill is surrounded by wooded hills: Glencar has in the shadows of the Dartry Mountains and has a 15m waterfall close to the lake shore. In the south and east of the County Loughs Arrow, Gara, and Talt rival one another for their beautiful and peaceful surroundings.

Beaches
Sligo is blessed with a number of long sandy beaches and golden strands notably at Culleenamore, Dunmoran, Enniscrone, Mullaghmore, Rosses Point and Strandhill, all of which are pollution free.





The Heritage of County Sligo
County Sligo has a rich heritage extending back over 6000 years. Some of the more important attractions include:-

Sligo Abbey
This Abbey survives from medieval times. It was built by Maurice Fitzgerald for the Dominicans in 1252. In 1414 a candle left burning carelessly resulted in a fire which caused extensive damage to the building. It was further damaged in the 1641 Rebellion and the friars driven out. Legend says that worshippers saved the Abbey's silver bell which was thrown into Lough Gill and only those free from sin can hear it peal. The distinctive features of the Abbey include its cloisters and a beautifully carved altar, the only example of a sculpted altar to survive in an Irish monastic church.

Ancient Burial Sites and Tombs
County Sligo possesses some of the most important ancient burial sites and tombs, not only in Ireland, but also in Europe.

Carrowmore
Carrowmore, on the outskirts of Sligo town, is Ireland's largest prehistoric cemetery. It is also one of the oldest. The earliest of the graves at Carrowmore pre-date those at Newgrange by up to seven centuries. There are more than sixty tombs in all, mainly small passage graves or dolmens, most of which have the customary stone kerbs. The tombs at Carrowmore are actually older than the Pyramids of Egypt.

Creevykeel Court Cairn
Creevykeel, near the village of Cliffoney, is one of the most extensive court tombs in the Country and dates back to 3000-4000 b.c.. The open oval shaped court is delineated by upright stones with an entrance on the East. During a Harvard excavation in 1935 several finds were uncovered, including decorated Neolithic pottery, leaf shaped arrowheads, hollow scrapers and polished stone axes.

Carrowkeel Megalithic Cemetery
This 5,000 year old cemetery is located in the Bricklieve mountains, and is easily reached by branching off in the village of Castlebaldwin. There are fourteen cairns in all, consisting of both passage and Court tombs.

Lough Gara Crannogs
Lough Gara, in the south of the County, is noted for it's wealth of 'crannogs' or lake dwellings. These were artificially constructed islands on which human habitations were built in the late Bronze age and down to medieval times.

Overlooking it, three miles from Gurteen, stands the well preserved ruin of Moygara Castle, the former seat of the O'Gara clan.

Lissadell House
Lissadell House in North Sligo is a Grecian Revival mansion built in the 1830's. It is famous for it's association with historical and literary figures. Home to the Gore-Booth family, the house also features in the writings of W.B Yeats.

Parke's Castle
On the north-east shore of Lough Gill, just across the Sligo border in County Leitrim stands Parke's Castle, a 17th century fortified manor house which has an interpretative centre and a tea room.


Sligo Town
Sligo town is situated at the mouth of the Garavogue river. It is the second largest town in Connacht. It grew up around a fort which acted as a gateway between Connacht and Ulster. The town has many historic and literary connections, including a Memorial Building which is dedicated to the life and works of the world famous poet and playwright, W.B. Yeats.

It can also boast of a wealth of lively public houses, restaurants to suit all tastes and many shops and stores selling a wide variety of goods.

Sligo town is an ideal base for exploring the surrounding countryside. After one visit it will be obvious why Sligo is widely known as "the land of hearts desire".


FOR MORE INFORMATION ON SLIGO AND THE SURROUNDING AREA, CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW:

http://www.sligotourism.ie/sligo.html