Page 17 - The Driver's Guide to the Wild Atlantic

SLIGO
MULLAGHMORE
N15 (R279 EXIT) TOWARDS MULLAGHMORE
6 min from exit
While also wildly beautiful, Mullaghmore is best known these days as being one of the best big wave destinations in the world. 2012 was a landmark year as surfers from all over the world rode waves a staggering 15 metres in height, some of the tallest ever recorded in Ireland. There’s plenty more to do in addition to surfing. Go for a walk by the beautiful Sliabh Liag or watch the sea come in at Classiebawn Castle. The village of Mullaghmore is itself a charming fishing retreat, with accompanying sandy beaches stretching as far as the eye can see. The beaches are ideal for both walking and shore angling, and sea angling is also offered through other fishing trips. You can also check out the monastic site on the island of Inishmurray, which dates back to the 6th century.
BENBULBEN
N15 TOWARDS BENBULBEN 9 min from exit
The distinctive table shaped Benbulben towers north of Sligo Town and is an iconic part of the county’s, and indeed the country’s, landscape. Formed during the ice age as part of a varied response to erosion between moving glaciers from the limestone which forms the mountain, Benbulben’s upper cliffs and precipices are composed of different types of hardened limestone. The mountain boasts a unique variety of plants and vegetation on its treeless slopes , including many arctic and alpine varieties which flourish due to the cooler temperatures at the mountain’s elevated height. The mountain is a dangerous climb if not approached correctly, with the only established safe route via the southern approach to the mountain. The north face is especially treacherous as in addition to the steepness, this side bears
the brunt of the frequent high winds and storms that come in from the Atlantic. The summit of Benbulben is well worth the walk though, with a magnificent view over Sligo’s coastal plain and the expanse of the Ocean itself. Check with the tourist office in Sligo Town for more details on walking routes on, and around, the mountain.
GRAVE OF WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS
N15 TOWARDS DRUMCLIFF 1 min from exit
Situated in the northeast of the County, the Protestant churchyard at Drumcliff is the final resting place of one of Ireland’s most beloved poets, and Nobel Prize winner, William Butler Yeats. Situated in a suitable serene location, the nearby scripture cross, round tower, church and gift shop make for a suitable visitor experience. Although his heritage was Protestant Anglo-Irish, Yeats was different in his outlook to most of his Anglo-Irish counterparts, in that he embraced Irish national identity, this is very evident in his prolific writings. In truth, he had little time for organised religion of either protestant or Catholic variety and was far more devoted to philosophy, Celtic mysticism, spirituality and even the occult. He embraced the nationalist cause and his poetry acts as a narrative of this most turbulent time in Irish history. In 1923, the Nobel Committee said that his ‘inspired poetry, which in its highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation’ and recognised him with the Nobel Prize. In addition to being a poet and cultural leader, he also helped found the world famous Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Yeats died in the South of France on the 28th of January 1939 and was buried at Roquebrune Cemetery. However, after the war, in 1948, his body was exhumed and transported back to Ireland to Drumcliff, where his grandfather had been rector in the early 19th Century, thereby fulfilling his request in last poem, to be buried within sight of the mountain of Benbulben.
TOP HIGHLIGHT
CONEY ISLAND
FERRY FROM ROSSES POINT 5 min ride
Accessible by boat from nearby Rosses Point or by driving or walking over the causeway, Coney Island is the largest and most famous of the three islands
off the northern coast of the Coolera
The Driver's Guide
peninsula. The island is almost 2km long and over half a kilometre in width. In the 1860’s there was a permanent population of 124, with up to 45 children attending the local school, now, only one family of permanent residents, but the island has a higher population during the summer months. The island has a traditional local pub and interesting scenery such as napoleonic forts, fairy rings and plenty of rabbits! The American island of the same name derived its name from Coney island, which is derived from the Gaelic ‘island of the rabbits’. In the 19th century , the captain of merchant ship Arethusa, which used to ply its trade between Sligo and New York, upon observing a similarly rabbit populated island near New York, christened it after the original island in County Sligo.
SLIGO ABBEY
N4 TO SLIGO CITY CENTRE 5 min from exit
Dating back to the 13th Century, Sligo Abbey was built by Norman Baron Maurice Fitzgerald, who conquered the area of Connaught in 1235 and established the Abbey between 1251 and 1253. Fitzgerald was also responsible for introducing both the Dominican and the Franciscan orders to Ireland. Sligo Abbey is a Dominican Friary and contains a wealth of gothic and renaissance tomb sculptures and carvings, including a well-preserved cloister and the only surviving 15th century high altar in any Irish church. The Friary was occupied by the Dominicans until 1760 and was also used as the burial ground for the town of Sligo itself, hence the vast amount of headstones on the site, which was not closed until 1895 when it was so overcrowded as to become recognised as a threat to public health.
STREEDAGH STRAND
Want to relax on a stunning beach with sand seemingly made of gold? Then Streedagh is the place for you. The 3km beach, found on the northwestern shore of a sandbar, links Streedagh Point to Connor’s Island. This stretch is one of the most serene walking trails along the west coast. If you’re feeling more adventurous, bring your surfboard so you can ride the perfect waves created by the exposed beach and reef breaks. Also steeped in history, it was the site of a Spanish Armada shipwreck and holds many fossils in its rocks.
WILD ATLANTIC 17