Irish History for Everyone
History of County Sligo
Thu, Jun 06
|Online Live Presentation
History of Sligo from the stone age to the 20th century in chronological order. Will summarize the main events in the counties history.


Time & Location
Jun 06, 2024, 6:00 PM EDT – Jun 27, 2024, 7:30 PM EDT
Online Live Presentation
Guests
About the Event
The earliest people of Sligo were a group of hunter-gatherers who lived around the shores of Lough Gara and the first farming communities were established in the same area around 4,000 BC.
Sligo is the setting for a large number of the texts in the Mythological Cycles. The story of Diarmiad and Grainne has its final act played out on Ben Bulben.
Many of the early Christian churches and communities were destroyed in 807 when 5,000 Vikings landed in northeast Sligo.
The submission of the Irish chieftains to the English throne in 1540 marked the beginning of a downward slide in the fortunes of Sligo. Insurrection and ruin marked the countryside.
St Patrick made two visits to Sligo, spending around seven years in the area.
The county was officially formed in 1585 but did not come into effect until the chaos of the Nine Years' War ended, in 1603. Its boundaries reflect the Ó Conchobhair Sligigh (O’Connor Sligo) confederation of Lower Connacht as it was at the time of the Elizabethan conquest.
Sligo town was burned in 1642 by Sir Frederick Hamilton and 300 people were killed by rampaging soldiers.
As part of the Cromwellian Settlement local people were dispossessed and many shipped to the Caribbean to work on the sugar plantations. 63,000 acres was given to soldiers of Cromwell in lieu of wages.
Disaster struck again with a cholera epidemic in 1832. This was followed with the devastating hunger of 1847.
Constance Markievicz, a veteran of the 1916 Rising, was elected for Sinn Fein in 19i8 and was Minister for Labor in the First Dail.
However, the most famous name associated with the resurgent romantic nationalism is that of William Butler Yeats.
County Sligo has a long history of traditional music. The south of the county is particularly noted with such musical luminaries as James Morrison, Michael Coleman, Paddy Killoran, Fred Finn, Peter Horan, Joe O'Dowd, Jim Donoghue, Martin Wynne, OisÃn Mac Diarmada, a Carmel Gunning and the band Dervish.
Famous people from Sligo include: Cairbre MacNeill, Saint Attracta, Fearghal O Gadhra, Michael Corcoran, Constance Markievicz, William Butler Yeats, Linda Kearns MacWhinney, Martin Savage, Frank Carty, Joan O’Hara, Neil Jordan, Bernardo O’Higgins, Carmel Gunning, Tadhg Dall Ó hUiginn, Naisse mac Cithruadh.
Tickets
History of county Sligo
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