Sligo is the county town of County Sligo in the Republic of Ireland. Sligo is not a city, although there is a campaign to incorporate it as such. By Irish standards, it is a large town in the west of Ireland, however, it is mistakenly thought of, and intentionally promoted as a city. The town is a borough and has a charter and mayor. It is the second biggest urban area in Connacht (after Galway).
Sligo's Irish name - meaning "the place of shells" - comes from the fact that there was an abundance of shellfish in the river and its estuary. The river (now known as the Garavogue) was originally also called the Sligeach. 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 of the "Shelly River", around the coast to the river at Ballysadare Bay was rich in marine resources and was a prime reason for large settlement of the region during the prehistoric period.
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 Hunger. 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"
The Dominican Abbey in Sligo is the only medieval building left standing in the town. It was founded by the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, Maurice Fitzgerald in 1253 but 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 alter and cloisters remain.
It is said that the picturesque Coney Island (coinín meaning rabbits in Irish) in Sligo bay gives its name to Coney Island in New York city. It was a Sligoman, Captain Peter O'Connor, who named New York's Coney Island after the island that lay one mile from his Sligo home. Captain O'Connor was master of the schooner Arethusa, which plied between Sligo and New York 200 years ago.
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. 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 Benbulben which W. B. Yeats often wrote about and is said to be the resting place of Diarmuid and Grainne. It should be noted that hillwalkers are not encouraged to walk on some parts of this mountain due to access issues. There is also a smaller mountain called Knocknarea located 3 miles west of the town. Knocknarea is famous for the stone cairn located at the summit. According to folklore the cairn is said to be the resting place of Queen Maeve (or Medb in Irish), who ruled Connacht.