County Sligo
County Sligo is one of the most engaging counties in Ireland, with a fine variety of mountain, lake and coastal scenery. In the west of the county the Ox Mountains form a background to the coastal plain, while north of Sligo town the landscape is dominated by steep-sided and flat-topped limestone hills. The coast is main low-lying and is fringed by sandy beaches and low cliffs.
The town of Sligo is a seaport and commercial centre. Among the prehistoric sites in the area are Maeve's Mound, a huge cairn at Knocknarea, and megaliths at Carrowmore. Sligo's history dates from the mid-13th century with construction of a castle and the 13th-century Sligo Abbey. The abbey was destroyed in 1641 when the town was sacked but now has restored cloisters.
Just outside the town is Lough Gill, Yeats' Lake Isle of Innisfree.
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes
dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where
the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS (1865-1939)