County Sligo

Yeats Country under Benbulben's flat top, with surf at Strandhill and Enniscrone and music in the south. The poetry and the coast take equal billing.

County Sligo facts

• Province: Connacht
• County town: Sligo
• Setting: Atlantic coast
• Touring region: Wild Atlantic Way
• Best for: coast, hiking, history, music, family
• Golf: County Sligo at Rosses Point, Enniscrone and Strandhill. Our golf guide
• Places in the planner: 8

Yeats Country is not a slogan here: this is the landscape that shaped Ireland's national poet. Benbulben's flat-topped profile dominates the north, Lough Gill and the Isle of Innisfree lie east of Sligo town, and the poet's grave at Drumcliffe sits beneath the mountain he wrote about.

The county also holds one of Europe's oldest cemeteries at Carrowmore, the cairn-topped hill of Knocknarea, and a lively Atlantic coast: Strandhill and Enniscrone are surf and seaweed-bath towns, Rosses Point looks across to Coney Island, and traditional music runs strong in the south around Tubbercurry and Gurteen. Allow time for the coast as well as the poetry: a surf lesson or seaweed bath at Strandhill, the drive around Lough Gill, and an evening of music in the town make Sligo a well-rounded base for the whole northwest, including south Donegal.

Top sights in Sligo

Benbulben

A distinctive flat-topped mountain forming the backdrop to north Sligo and Yeats's poetry.

Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery

One of the largest Stone Age cemeteries in Ireland, with dozens of tombs.

Lough Gill and Innisfree

A scenic lake with the island made famous by Yeats's poem, and Hazelwood demesne on its shore.

Knocknarea and Queen Maeve's Cairn

A hill above Sligo Bay topped by a great Neolithic cairn.

Strandhill

A surf village with seaweed baths, a beach and views across Sligo Bay.

Towns & cities in Sligo

Sligo

Yeats is everywhere here, in the town he wrote about and the country under Benbulben. Sligo is the county town of County Sligo and a working port.

Strandhill

Surfers check the Atlantic here before anything else, and the village runs on tides and swell. Strandhill stands west of Sligo town.

Sligo Town

County town on the Garavogue River, with Yeats connections and lively pubs.

Enniscrone

Seaside resort in west Sligo with a long sandy beach.

Tubbercurry

Market town in south Sligo with a strong traditional music tradition.

Best time to visit

Late spring to early autumn is best for surf, lake trips and mountain views. Yeats sites and music sessions make Sligo rewarding in any season.

Getting there

Sligo Town is on the rail line from Dublin, about three hours away. Ireland West Airport (Knock) is the nearest airport, under an hour to the south.

Places for your trip

• Sligo: Yeats is everywhere here, in the town he wrote about and the country under Benbulben. Sligo is the county town of County Sligo and a working port.
• Benbulben: The flat top gives it away from anywhere in north Sligo: a mountain tabled by the Ice Age. Benbulben stands over Drumcliffe and the coast road.
• Strandhill: Surfers check the Atlantic here before anything else, and the village runs on tides and swell. Strandhill stands west of Sligo town.
• Sligo Abbey: A ruined Dominican friary founded in the 13th century, standing in the middle of Sligo town.
• Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery: Carrowmore near Sligo is one of the largest megalithic cemeteries in Ireland.
• Enniscrone: Eddie Hackett dunes at their most dramatic, on Killala Bay.
• County Sligo (Rosses Point): Harry Colt's championship links under Benbulben, home of the West of Ireland Championship.
• Strandhill Golf Club: The friendly links under Knocknarea: honest value beside the big names.

What's on

No anchor festival is based here, but the Irish year is full: next up nationally is TradFest (20–24 Jan 2027, Temple Bar, Dublin). See the full events calendar

Nearby counties

County Leitrim

Ireland's least populous county keeps things small and slow: lakes, the Shannon at Carrick and a coastline of just a few kilometres near Tullaghan. Come for the quiet.

County Fermanagh

Water is the county: Upper and Lower Lough Erne, more than a hundred islands and an island county town at Enniskillen. Hire a boat and the place makes sense.

County Mayo

Clew Bay's islands sit under Croagh Patrick, Westport anchors the corner, and the north coast empties out towards Achill and Erris. Mayo is big, and the distance is part of it.

Part of Wild Atlantic Way.