18* 



SLIGO. 



SLIGO. 



690 



Climate, Soil, and Produce. The climate is very variable, affected 

 by frequent rains, and high winds from the Atlantic, but ou the whole 

 mild and healthy. Thin mossy and sandy soils, or both intermixed, 

 varied with a light gravelly loam, prevail in the district north from 

 Sligo. Improving as they approach the plain of Sligo, they there 

 pass into a deep rich loam, forming the finest land in the county. 

 South from Sligo, along the valleys of the Arrow and Owenmore, and 

 as far as the Curlew Mountains, are extensive tracks of productive 

 land and rich pasturage, interspersed with occasional patches of bog. 

 On the shores of Lough Gara the soil is excellent both for tillage and 

 grazing, but towards the Ox Mountains the land along the southern 

 border is inferior. The district lying between the Ox Mountains and 

 the aea consists, to a great extent, of moor and deep moss, with a 

 broad belt of cultivated land along the shores of Killala Bay and the 

 Atlantic. Oats, potatoes, and a considerable quantity of wheat are 

 raised. The occupations are mainly agricultural, and tillage is chiefly 

 practised. Of late the introduction of an improved system of culture 

 has been attempted, by the amalgamation of farms, and the employ- 

 ment of skilled agriculturists from other parts of the kingdom. In 

 1853 the number of acres under crop was 96,728, of which 1404 

 acres grew wheat ; 42,308 acres oats; 2747 acres barley, bere, rye, peas 

 and beans; 26,563 acres potatoes; 5128 acres turnips; 1761 acres 

 mangel-wurzel, carrots, vetches, and other green crops ; 695 acres flax ; 

 and 16,117 acre* were in meadow and clover. Of plantations there 

 were 7360 acres in 1841, yielding oak, ash, elm, beech, fir, mixed 

 timber, and fruit. In 1852, on 13,992 holdings, there were 7251 

 horses, 731 moles and asses, 83,819 bead of cattle, 36,009 sheep, 

 17,612 pigs 2242 goats, and 182,467 head of poultry. 



A eomidrrable number of the population are employed in fishing. 

 The Sligo fishery district comprises 103 miles of maritime boundary, 

 extending from Ballina Bridge to Abbey Point. In 1853 it had 216 

 registered revels, employing 1269 men and boys. Coarse linens and 

 woollen* are manufactured in the county. 



Diriiioni and Tmtnt. The county is chiefly in the diocese* of 

 Acbonry and Elphin, with small portions in those of Killala and 

 Ardagh. It is divided into six baronies, Carberry, Coolarin, Corran, 

 Leyny, Tireragh, and Tireril; and contain* 41 parishes. The prin- 

 cipal town* are Sligo, Ardnaree, a suburb of Ballina in Mayo, and 

 Tobercurry. SLIGO and TOBEBCURRT are noticed under their respec- 

 tive titles, and Ardnaree under that of BALLINA. The following 

 towns and Tillage* may be noticed here ; the populations are those 

 of 1861 : 



BmUfmote, population 906, a market-town, is situated at the j unction 

 of several road*, 14 mile* 8. by W. from Sligo. The parish church of 

 Emlyfadd is a good building in the early English style, with a hand- 

 some tower and spire. There are chapel* for Roman Catholics and 

 WeaUyan Methodists, a court-house, diipensary, constabulary barrack, 

 and bridewell. The place ha* a small manufacture of linen. Fire 

 annual fair* are held. The town i* the re*t of quarter and petty 

 sections. Clove by it are the remain* of a Franciscan friary, in which 

 was composed the ' Psalter of Hallymote ; ' also the ruin* of a castle 

 built in the year 1300 by Richard de Burgo. The mini consist of 

 walls 60 feet high, with parapet and towers. 



BaUytadtr*, population 670, i* a small town 5 miles & by W. from 

 Sligo, at the bead of Ardnaglav Harbour, on both rides of the Owen- 

 more River, which here form* a very fine cascade. Several large flour- 

 and oatmeal-mills have been erected on the different levels of the 

 cascxde, and a coni<ierble export of oatmeal and flour take* place 

 by the river, which ia ascended by craft of 100 ton* burden, to a small 

 harbour below the falls. A limestone-quarry and a bleach-green are 

 near the town. There are aeven yearly fairs. 



CMoonry, population 568, is a market-town, situated on the right 

 bank of the Owenmore, 7 mile* a from Sligo. The church i* a hand- 

 MMMgothie building containing torn* good monument*. There *re a 

 Roman Catholic chapel, two school*, police-barracks, market-bonne, a 

 linen-hall, and a dinpenmry. Near the town arc a large, bleach- 

 ground and an oatmeal-mill. The market in on Thunday, and there 

 an six yearly fairs. Petty sessions are held monthly. 



Dromon We*, a small post-town and the sent of a Poor Law Union, 

 is situated on the river Kaaky, and on the Sligo and Ballina mad, 

 21 mil** W. by a from Sligo. It Is a poor ill-bnilt place, with a 

 small population, snd containing a National school, a dipensary, and 

 the Union workhouse. Petty tensions are held fortnightly ; and fairs 

 ve time* a year. Droroore West Poor- Law Union comprises 1 7 electoral 

 divisions, with an area of 96,985 acre*, and a population in 1851 

 



JSairy, population 518, i* a small market-town, situated on the old 

 or coast-road to Ballina, on the left bank of the river Eiuky, 27 miles 

 W. from Slico. It contain* a neat parish church, a Roman Catholic 

 chapel, a Baptist meeting-house, and a cmirt-house. The market is on 

 Wrdn**day. Quarter *e*sinn *nd petty session" are held. 



Adtnry, a poor hamlet, about 16 mile* S.8.W. from Sligo, near the 

 road to Tobercurry, is only remarkable a* the neat of an ancient dioc<-e, 

 and contain* little beside* the parish church, which was built in 1823. 

 The diooase of Achonry existed in the 6th century. It wa united 

 in the time of Charles I. to the *re of Killala, and by the late Church 

 TemponlitM* Act both were added to the diocese of Tuani. The 

 dioc*M of Achonry comprehends the greater part of Sligo county, and 



a email section of Mayo. It comprises 10 benefices. The chapter 

 consists of a dean, archdeacon, precentor, and three prebendaries. 

 A manor court is held in the village. Sellaghy, population 316, 

 situated on the southern border of the county, has a market, held 

 weekly, on Wednesday. Fairs are held five times a year. Coolaney, 

 population 326, a village in the barony of Leyny, is situated on the 

 right bank of the Owenbeg River, 10 miles S.S.W. from Sligo. The 

 river is crossed by a bridge near the north end of the town. Coolaney 

 forms one street parallel to the stream, and contains a Baptist meeting- 

 . house, a court-house, dispensary, and constabulary barracks. There 

 I are five yearly fairs. Siverttown, population 330, a village situated 

 23 j miles S.S.W. from Sligo, contains the parish church of Kilmacal- 

 lane, a Roman Catholic chapel, a Methodist meetinpt-house, a school- 

 house, dispensary, constabulary-barracks, two corn-mills, and two kilne. 

 ; Petty sessions are held here. 



The county returns three members to the Imperial Parliament, two 

 for the county and one for the borough of Sligo. The assizes are held 

 at Sligo, where are the county jail, the county infirmary, and a fever 

 hospital. Quarter sessions are held there, and at Easky and Bally- 

 mote. Petty sessions are held in 14 places. The lunatic asylum for 

 Connanght, to which this county is entitled to send 46 patients, is at 

 Ballinasloe. In the county are 12 dispensaries. A savings bank is 

 established in Sligo town. In September 1852 there were 93 National 

 schools in the county, attended by 5428 male and 5783 female 

 children. 



Hiiiory and Antiquities. This part of Connauglit was made the 

 scene of warfare between the descendants and family of Roderio 

 I O'Connor, the last monarch of Ireland, in their struggle for the prin- 

 j cipality of Connaught. Hugh O'Nial, chieftain of Tyrone, was 

 defeated near Ballysadere, in 1200, when attempting to reinstate 

 Cathal of the Bloody Hand, dethroned by his kinsman Carrach, who 

 was supported by the Anglo-Normans under De Burgo. Some of the 

 Anglo-Norman settlers were engaged on the side of CathaL In 1246 

 the castle of Sligo was built, and, having been destroyed by the 

 natives, was restored about the beginning of the next century. In 

 the general rebellion near the close of Elizabeth's reign, the royal 

 forces under Sir Conyers Clifford, president of Connanght, were sur- 

 prised in this county by the natives under O'Kourke, chieftain of 

 Breffney or Leitrim, and suffered considerable loss. In the rebellion 

 of 1*41 the county was occupied by the insurgents, and held by them 

 till nearly the close of the war. In the war of the Revolution the 

 county was held by the Jacobites. 



The relics of antiquity are numerous. There are many cromlechs 

 and other primeval monuments, such a* the Giant's Cairn near Sligo, 

 which consists of part of a circle of great stones. Remarkable caverns, 

 the origin and purpose of which are unknown, occur in various parts 

 of the county. Rath*, or hill fort*, are numerous; and at Drumcliffe 

 then is the stump of a round tower with two ancient crosses. In 

 every district monastic and other ecclesiastical remains are met with, 

 ' and in ome place* the ancient structures have been converted into 

 pariih churches. There are ruined castles at Lough Gara, Ballinafad, 

 AH nag la*, Castle Connor, and several other places. The island of 

 Innisninrray contains some striking remains of the ecclesiastical 

 architecture of different ages. 



SLIGO, Ireland, the chief town of the county of Sligo, a m.nrket 

 and tea-port town, a parliamentary borough, and the seat of a Poor- 

 Law Union, is situated near the month of the river Garvogue or 

 Garrogue, in 54 22' N. lat, 8" 22' W. long., distant 181 miles N.W. 

 from Dublin by road. The borough is governed by 6 aldermen and 

 18 councillors, one of whom is mayor; and returns one member to 

 th* Imperial Parliament. The population in 1851 was 11,104, besides 

 2216 in the Union workhouse. Sligo Poor-Law Union comprises 29 

 electoral divisions, with an area of 143,523 acres, and a population in 

 1851 of 58,565. 



Sligo appears to have owed its importance to a castle and a monas- 

 tery for Dominican friars, built here in the 13th century, by Maurice 

 Fitzgerald, earl of Kildare, end at that time lord justice of Irrland. 

 The town suffered repeated injuries from fire, and from the hostilities 

 between the English and the native Irish. In the reign of James I. 

 it received a grant of a market and two fairs, and was incorporated 

 and made a parliamentary borough, In the civil war of James II. 

 the town wa taken by the Ennwkilleners, who, after repelling one 

 attack, were driven out by the Jacobites under Sarsfield; it was 

 again occupied by the Protestants under Lord Granard. 



The river, in pausing through the town, changes its course from 

 west to north and north-west, and is crossed by two bridges, the old 

 bridge below the bend, and the new bridge above it. The town is 

 situated partly within the bend of the river, but chiefly along its 

 left bank. The houses are well-built, and many are handsome. 

 The parish chnrch of St. John is an ancient cruciform structure, 

 with a massive square tower at the west end. Calry parish church is 

 a modern gothic building, with a well-proportioned spire. There are 

 a Roman Catholic chapel; a small Dominican friary, with a neat 

 chapel attached ; an Ursuline convent, and a convent of the Sisters 

 ofMercy; a Presbyterian, an Independent, and two Methodist meeting- 

 homes; and several schools. The other public buildings are, the 

 county court-house and jail, the custom-house, linen-hall, a large 

 butter-market, the Cnion workhouse, a new constabulary barrack, and 



