History of Sligo

The name Sligo is a corruption of the Irish name Sligeach, meaning "abounding in shells." It refers to the abundance of shellfish found in the estuary, and from the extensive shell middens along the shores of Sligo bay. The name initially referred only to the river, then was applied to the town and eventually, also the county created in 1561. The name 'Sligo' originated in the two crossing points known as 'fords' in Gaelic 'Sli' 'way' or pass, and Atha 'ford' thus Sli da Atha the way of the two fords.

According to O'Rorke's History of Sligo, the first ford was between Stand Alone point and Gibraltar and the second ford was between Cullenamore and Streamstown.

Chart of Sligo Harbour (1858)

Ancient settlement has centred on the bay of Sligo since the first human presence in the area roughly 8000 BC, as shown by extensive shell middens dating back to the Mesolithic era. The location was also strategic, being placed in the narrow gap between Lough Gill and the sea, and also on the narrow coastal corridor that forms the main western route between the provinces of Ulster and Connacht. It is a crossing point of several routes and is a natural meeting-place. Sligo is on several fords across the Garavogue river. The town follows a ridge of higher ground paralleling the river on the south side, and the High street appears to follow the course of a stream leading to the river.

The area saw intense activity in the late 5th and early 4th millennium BC. The town is surrounded by Neolithic archaeological remains, some of which are within the urban area. An outlier of the extensive early Neolithic cemetery at Carrowmore is on the south bank of the Garavogue river above a fording point. The oldest currently known causewayed enclosure in Britain and Ireland is situated on the high ground at the southwest edge of the town, at Magheraboy.[1]

The area was densely enough settled to be known to Greek and Roman trading vessels, being marked on Ptolemy's co-ordinate map of the 2nd century AD, where it is entered as the town of Nagnata. This is the only settlement marked on the west coast of Ireland by Ptolemy.[2] It is possible traders were attracted by the silver and lead mines on the coast at Ballysadare. The exact site of Nagnata remains unknown.

The present site of the town may have been a wooded area during the 5th century. "That there were woods along the Sligo river," which is mentioned in Tírecháns Life of Patrick, wherein the saint prophesied that in later times the sea would force people to move from the early church site of Killaspugbrone near Strandhill to the present location of the town further upriver.

The local Irish tuath, or territory, was called Cairbre Drom Cliabh or Críoch Cairbre. Another, older name, according to Acallamh na Sénorach was Críoch an Cosnámha (The District of Contention). Its age is unknown, but it appears to have acquired the name Cairbre in the 5th or 6th century AD.

Gaelic Ireland was not an urban society, but a form of proto-urbanisation was introduced at this time with the development of large monastic centres. Many religious establishments were created in the area during the early Christian period. The Columban monastery at Drumcliff was the largest centre of population from its foundation in 561 AD. The remains now consist of a High Cross and the only round tower in county Sligo. Another early church was at Kilmacowen.

By the early 12th century AD there was a bridge and a settlement in existence at the site of the present town.

A rath, or ringfort, called Rath na Bhritóg (Fort of the Britons) existed on what is now Holborn hill on the north side of the town, which is in the townland of Rathquarter. Rathedmond also has the remains of a large rath.

During the latter half of the 16th century, Sligo was targeted by the Elizabethan administration in Dublin as a strategic location for anyone attempting to control the northwest. The town now became caught between three different power blocs, the Earls of Clanricard to the west, the O'Donnell confederation Tírconaill to the north, and the Dublin government under the English Crown in the east. The town was destroyed during the Nine Years' War.

Under pressure from the O'Donnell's to the north, and the Clanricard Burkes to the south, in 1567, under the policy of surrender and regrant Domhnall O' Conchobar signed an agreement with Henry Sidney, agreeing to pay a set rent in exchange for protection. It was at this time that Sidney "shired" the area creating the English district known as County Sligo. As part of this agreement, O 'Connor had to allow a sheriff to operate in the county and the circuit court to administer according to English common law. Several sheriffs were killed trying to implement this.

In 1577 Sir Nicholas Malby, the English President of Connacht, reported that merchants based in Sligo had requested the building of town walls.[5]

In 1588 three ships of the Spanish Armada's Levant squadron were lost off the coast of Streedagh beach in the north of the present county Sligo. The wreck-site was rediscovered in 1985. An account of the incident was written by the survivor Captain Francisco de Cuellar.

Unhappy with the changed power structure, the local Gaelic nobility rose up during the 1641 rebellion, reestablishing the Irish tuath system. This was to be the last time that Gaelic culture held sway over the region.

According to later depositions, a number of Protestant settlers within the town, were committed to the local gaol for their own safety, but were later allegedly massacred by a drunken mob.

Frederick Hamilton raided the town, burnt the abbey and executed the monks. The Parliamentary government built a new stone fort, on or near the site of the old castle, as well as an earthen star fort known as the Green fort on the hill north of the town. Fortifications were also built at the entrance to Sligo shipping channel on Oyster island, guarding the route inland through Lough Gill on Church island.

Sligo changed hands five times during the 1688-1691 Jacobite/Williamite wars. The town was fortified by the infamous soldier Henry Luttrell. The eccentric soldier, Sir Teague O'Regan, was the garrison commander for the Jacobite forces at Sligo. Patrick Sarsfield retook the town.

Notably, the last recorded use of a siege tower, known as a sow, in Britain or Ireland, was at the siege of the stone fort in Sligo during this war. It was used to assault the stone fort on Quay St. It was not a success as the hides used to cover the sides were not musket proof.

Despite the wars, Gaelic culture remained strong in the area. The poem book Leabhar Cloinne Aodha Buidhe was written in Sligo in 1680 for Cormac O’ Neill by the poet Rúairí Ó hUigínn.[6]

Sligo was badly affected by the 1832 Sligo cholera outbreak losing up to 2, 000 of its population. The fear and panic were vividly described by eyewitness Charlotte Blake-Thornley Stoker.

Prior to the famine, the population of county Sligo was 187,000 people, making it one of the densest populated areas in Ireland. Sligo was a major transit port for emigration, during An Gorta Mór (The Great Famine). In 1846, 11,000 emigrated through the port. Some of the worst coffin ships on record left from Sligo port. On the 9th of August 1847 the vessel Bark Larch arrived at the quarantine station at Grosse Isle, Canada from Sligo with 440 on board, of these, 150 were sick and 108 were dead. This was by far the worst ship at the port that day.[7] Lord Palmerston, who held large estates in the county, achieved notoriety with his Assisted Emigrants scheme.[8]

In 1871 between 25% and 50% of the county still spoke Irish as a first language; the county remained rural in character with over 70% involved in agriculture. Landlords controlled almost all aspects of life. The town was on the lands of the Wynne estate based at Hazelwood house.

Sligo experienced rapid industrialisation during the 19th century, with many public buildings erected during this era including the town hall, Ulster bank, courthouse.

The Local Government Act of 1898 extended the franchise, resulting in the election of a nationalist council.

However, business and government posts remained almost exclusively in the hands of Protestants, and the struggle for equality of opportunity was to become a feature of the next century.

North Sligo MP P A McHugh was a nationalist and champion of workers rights until his death in 1909.

The rapid industrialisation of Sligo, unusual for the west coast, meant that conditions for the working poor were very bad. Houses and businesses were without sanitation facilities. In 1915 the death rate from tuberculosis was 3.4 per 1,000, almost double that of the rest of the country. Indicative of conditions at the time are the reports of a 1901 Local Government Inspector who noted for Corkrans Mall a

Slaughter house with large manure heap inside, diapidated, badly drained, and lying below the level of an adjoining cemetery. A number of cattle and horses kept here, () Six houses in this row.[9]

Trade unions were successful in the early 1900s and flourished between the years 1910 and 1914. In 1911 the ITGWU began organising workers in the town into a unified bloc after the Sligo Trades Council invited Walter Carpenter to speak. So successful was this that Sligo workers won a major strike in 1912, and won again in 1913 when employers tried to break the unions, resulting in the 1913 Sligo Dock strike. Other achievements of the Trades Council included a 50% pay rise for Corporation workers, victory in a cabinetmakers strike, better conditions for women workers, bakers and tailors. By 1914 it was acknowledged by the county Inspector that the “ITGWU was in complete control of the docks”. Sligo Corporation was also almost entirely made up of Labour candidates in 1913 and 1914 and an ITGWU councillor was elected mayor.[10] Sligo Traded Council had been active since 1895.

In the 1919 election, Sligo became the first municipality in Britain or Ireland to use the PR-STV (proportional representation/single transferable vote) voting system.[11]

Street scene in Sligo c. 1920s