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Benbulbin, County Sligo
Photograph: Wikimedia Commons user Kanchelskis · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Province of Connacht

County Sligo

Sligeach

“SLIG-akh” · shelly place, from slige (shell)

Known as Yeats County. For W. B. Yeats, who spent his childhood summers here and put the county into the poems: Innisfree on Lough Gill, the faeries at Glencar, and Ben Bulben, under which he asked to be buried, and where his remains were brought in 1948.

Did you know? The great cairn on Knocknarea is said to hold Queen Medb, buried standing upright in full armour, facing her enemies in Ulster. It has never been excavated.
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Sligo by the numbers
Connacht province 70,198 people · 2022 census 1,838 km² · 22nd of 32 by size County town Sligo -29% in the Famine · 180,886 people in 1841, 128,000 in 1851 (approx.) 6 baronies · 1,289 townlands 1930s folklore · the Schools' Collection ↗ 1 Olympic medallist born here 36 surnames 3 towns on the site 578 daily Irish speakers Highest point Truskmore, 647 m 0 senior All-Irelands 30 notable people born here UNESCO: the passage tombs (tentative list) 803 historic buildings recorded Everything on the site about Sligo ↓
Carlow Cavan Cork Donegal Dublin Clare Galway Kerry Kildare Kilkenny Laois Leitrim Limerick Longford Louth Mayo Meath Monaghan Offaly Roscommon Sligo Tipperary Waterford Westmeath Wexford Wicklow Antrim Armagh Down Fermanagh Londonderry Tyrone

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The history of Sligo

A causewayed enclosure found at Maugheraboy in 2003 is among the earliest signs of farming on the Cúil Irra peninsula, where the passage-tomb cemetery of Carrowmore and Queen Maeve's cairn on Knocknarea are part of a Stone Age landscape reaching to Carrowkeel and the Ox Mountains. A recent reading of Ptolemy suggests Sligo as the likely site of Nagnata, an Iron Age place of assembly.

The Book of Ballymote and the Great and Yellow Books of Lecan were written in the county, and the patron of the Annals of the Four Masters was Fearghal Ó Gadhra of Coolavin. The county was formed in 1585 by Sir Henry Sidney but took effect only after the Nine Years' War, in 1603; its borders follow the O'Conor Sligo confederation of Lower Connacht, and its six baronies — Carbury, Tireragh, Tirerril, Leyny, Corran and Coolavin — are the old territories renamed.

Drawn from the History section of the Wikipedia article on County Sligo ↗, rewritten here and adding nothing it does not say; licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. The chronology above is this site's own; where the two differ, the article is the one to check.

The land — from Wikipedia

Sligo is the 22nd largest of Ireland's 32 counties in area, and the 27th largest in terms of population. It is the fourth largest of Connacht's 5 counties in size and third largest in terms of population. The County borders County Mayo to the west, County Roscommon to the south and south-east and County Leitrim to the northeast.

Read the full article ↗ · Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Clans & surnames of Sligo
Boland Ó Beólláin Gaelic septs (several) · “descendant of Beóllán” Brennan Ó Braonáin Gaelic sept · “descendant of Braonán, 'little drop / sorrow'” Clifford Ó Clúmháin Gaelic learned family & Norman · “descendant of Clúmhán, from clúmhach, ‘hairy’; or Norman ‘de Clifford’, of Clifford in Herefordshire” Coleman Ó Colmáin / Ó Clumháin Gaelic sept · “descendant of Colmán, 'little dove' — from Latin columba” Conway Ó Connmhaigh Gaelic learned family · “descendant of Connmhach” Cummins Ó Cuimín Gaelic sept & Norman · “descendant of Cuimín, a diminutive of cam, ‘bent’; or the Norman Comyn” Cunningham Ó Connagáin Gaelic sept · “descendant of Connagán, a diminutive of Conn” Diskin Ó Díscín Gaelic sept · “descendant of Díscín, a diminutive of díosc (apparently not a personal name)” Durcan Mac Dhuarcáin Gaelic sept · “son of Duarcán” Early Ó Maolmhochóirghe Gaelic learned family · “descendant of Maolmhocheirghe, ‘chief of early rising’” Feeney Ó Fiannaidhe Gaelic sept · “descendant of Fiannaidhe, 'soldier'” Finn Ó Finn Gaelic sept · “descendant of Fionn, 'fair'” Gaffney Ó Gamhna Gaelic sept · “descendant of Gamhain, 'calf'” Gaughan Ó Gáibhtheacháin Gaelic sept · “descendant of Gáibhtheachán, 'plaintive'” Hart Ó hAirt Gaelic sept · “descendant of Art, ‘bear, stone, noble’” Healy Ó hÉilidhe / Ó hÉalaighthe Gaelic sept · “'claimant' (Sligo) or 'ingenious' (Cork)” Higgins Ó hUiginn Gaelic learned family · “descendant of Uige, 'knowledge, skill'” Keaveney Mac Géibheannaigh Gaelic sept · “son of Géibheannach, 'fettered'” Lehane Ó Liatháin Gaelic sept · “descendant of Liathán, 'grey'” Loftus Ó Lachtnáin Gaelic sept (renamed) · “descendant of Lachtnán, 'milk-white'” MacDermot Mac Diarmada Gaelic dynasty · “son of Diarmaid” McDonagh Mac Donnchadha Gaelic sept · “son of Donnchadh” Mooney Ó Maonaigh Gaelic sept · “descendant of Maonach” Morrissey Ó Muirgheasa Gaelic sept · “descendant of Muirgheas, 'sea-choice'” Muldoon Ó Maoldúin Gaelic septs (several) · “descendant of Maoldúin, ‘chief of the fort’” Mullaney Ó Maoileanaigh Gaelic sept · “descendant of Maolsheanaigh, ‘servant of St Seanach’” Mullarkey Ó Maoilearca Gaelic sept · “descendant of the servant of St Earc” Murtagh Mac Muircheartaigh Gaelic sept · “son of Muircheartach, 'sea-director, navigator'” O'Connor Ó Conchobhair Gaelic dynasty · “descendant of Conchobhar, 'lover of hounds'” O'Dowd Ó Dubhda Gaelic dynasty · “descendant of Dubhda, 'the dark'” O'Gara Ó Gadhra Gaelic sept · “descendant of Gadhra, perhaps from gadhar, ‘a mastiff’” O'Hara Ó hEaghra Gaelic sept · “descendant of Eaghra of Luighne” Quigley Ó Coigligh Gaelic sept · “descendant of Coigleach” Scanlon Ó Scannláin Gaelic sept · “descendant of Scannlán — from scannal, 'contention' or 'strife'” Spillane Ó Spealáin Gaelic sept · “descendant of Spealán — from speal, a scythe” Taaffe Táth Norman-Welsh · “from Welsh Dafydd (David)”

Tap a name for its full page — story, homeland map and neighbours. Or see all surnames from County Sligo, with the other counties each name is tied to.

Towns, saints and legends of Sligo

Towns. Sligo Sligeach (20,608, 2022), Ballymote Baile an Mhóta, Tubbercurry Tobar an Choire. What every town name means →

Saints. St Attracta (11 August).

Legends set here. Moytura · Benbulben — Diarmuid's death · Knocknarea — Medb's cairn · Lough Gill — the Isle of Innisfree. On the atlas →

First names that belong here. Gráinne, Méabh, Diarmaid, Athracht.

Irish in Sligo today

At the 2022 census, 26,506 people in Sligo said they could speak Irish. 578 speak it every day outside school, and 1,488 weekly.

1 primary school here teaches entirely through Irish (2025/26, 208 pupils).

CSO, Census 2022, table SAP2022T3T2CTY. Every county compared →

The top of Sligo

Truskmore (Trosc Mór), 647 metres, in the Dartry Mountains.

Wrecks on its coast: La Juliana (1588), Streedagh Armada wrecks (1588), Greyhound (1770). Shipwrecks of Ireland →

Rivers and loughs: River Moy, Boyle River, Ballisodare River.

MountainViews, via Wikipedia. Every county's highest point → · Rivers and loughs →

Sligo in the All-Ireland

Hurling: no senior title.
Football: no senior title.

Every county's All-Ireland titles →

Born in Sligo

From Wikidata: people whose recorded birthplace is in the county, who have a Wikipedia article and are no longer living, with dates shown only where the article confirms them, ordered by how many languages Wikipedia covers them in. Traditional birthplaces of early saints are as Wikidata records them. Dates are left off where the sources disagree.

People in Sligo, census by census

Sligo had 180,886 people in 1841 and has 70,198 now (-61%). Its peak was 180,886 in 1841; its low point 50,275 in 1971, -72% of 1841. It has never regained the population it had before the Famine.

1821183118411851186118711881189119011911192619361946195119561961196619711979198119861991199620022006201120162022
146,229171,765180,886128,515124,845115,493111,57898,01384,08379,04571,38867,44762,37560,51356,85053,56151,26350,27554,61055,47456,04654,75655,82158,20060,89465,39365,53570,198

Census returns as tabulated in the county's Wikipedia article. All 32 counties, 1821 to today →

Hidden Sligo — the places the buses miss
  • Carrowkeel passage tombs
    Fourteen Neolithic tombs on the Bricklieve ridges, one aligned so the midsummer sunset shines down its passage — the mirror of Newgrange, with no crowds.
  • Tobernalt Holy Well
    A Penal-era Mass site in a wooded glen where the priest's stone altar still stands — the well older than Patrick, the crowds still gathering on Garland Sunday.
  • Inishmurray
    A monastic island with a cashel, beehive huts and 'cursing stones' — turned anticlockwise to damn an enemy. The last islanders left in 1948.
On the ground in Sligo

Every pin is placed by its documented coordinates. All the monuments of Ireland →

Everything on the site about County Sligo

The county

History

Monuments and heritage

Coast and country

People and culture

Quick answers
What is the Irish name for County Sligo?

Sligeach. Sligo is one of the 5 counties of Connacht (Cúige Chonnacht).

Who ruled County Sligo in the Middle Ages?

Around 1014 it was held by Kingdom of Connacht (O'Connor); by 1450, O'Connor lordships. The full era-by-era chronology is on this page.

What surnames come from County Sligo?

Names historically associated with Sligo include Boland, Brennan, Clifford, Coleman, Conway, Cummins, Cunningham, Diskin, among others.

What does Sligeach mean?

Sligeach, said “SLIG-akh”, means shelly place — from slige (shell). For the shell middens along the Garavogue — the leavings of people eating shellfish there for thousands of years.

What is the population of County Sligo?

70,198 at the 2022 census, against 180,886 in 1841, before the Famine.

What is the county town of Sligo?

Sligo. County Sligo covers about 1,838 km², which makes it the 22nd largest of the 32 counties.

Who are famous people from County Sligo?

Among the best-known people born in Sligo are Sir George Stokes, 1st Baronet, Lola Montez, Ambrosio O'Higgins, 1st Marquis of Osorno, Eva Gore-Booth, Peter Mair, Brother Walfrid. The full list, with their birthplaces, is on this page.

What did the Famine do to County Sligo?

The census counted 180,886 people in Sligo in 1841 and 128,000 in 1851 (the 1851 figure is approximate): a change of -29% in ten years, through death and emigration.

Sources for this page

A clean copy for school projects or the family file; collapsed sections print in full.

The chronology of who held the county is this site's own reading of the standard histories onto today's county borders, and says so where the fit is rough. Quoted passages are marked and licensed. Spotted an error? Say so — corrections are credited.

Trace your ancestors in Sligo

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