Interesting Sligo Stories or Facts

guinnessdrinker · 16-05-2008 11:17am #1

Anyone know any stories whether they or true or just legend (like the Fianna hunting for boar on Benbulben) or facts about Sligo that not many people may have heard of? If so, why don't we share some of the things we know here?

For example, did you know that artillery was used on an attack on Collooney during the Civil War? It is one of the few places outside Dublin to have been bombarded with artillery over the course of the war, although not on as large of scale.

Another interesting thing is that one of the cairns in Carrowkeel has a roofbox similar to Newgrange (but older than Newgrange), that allows light to enter into it's chamber during the Summer solstice as opposed to light entering the Newgrange tomb during the Winter solstice. I think the cairn in Carrowkeel has the only other known "roofbox" discovered yet apart from Newgrange. Pretty impressive I think.

CountingCrows · 16-05-2008 11:27am

Irish Civil War

In September 1922, during the Irish Civil War, an Irish Republican Army column, including an armoured car were cornered in Sligo. The car was destroyed by another armoured car belonging to the Irish Free State's National Army , and six of the IRA soldiers fled up the Ben Bulben's slopes. In the end, all were killed, allegedly after they had surrendered. They are known as the "Noble Six".

guinnessdrinker · 17-05-2008 12:51pm

I've been to the spot on the mountain where four of them were killed. There is a little monument there but it can be hard to find.

Also, some of the drives in Cranmore are named after the noble six, eg. Devins drive, Langan Drive etc.

Kettleson · 06-01-2013 8:26pm

Apologies for posting on an old thread.

This thread is interesting in that it generated little posts, which is surprising in one way, yet understandable in another.

With regards to the Civil War years in Sligo. I have read Michael Farrys' book "The Aftermath of Revolution" which is interesting in as far as that it is a piece of academic research, and in that sense, it is a very reliable and valuable publication.

However there seems to be very little personal accounts/anecdotal information written about the Civil War years in Sligo, (certainly none that I can find).

I get the impression that many of the personal accounts, now second generation I guess, have gone unrecorded and will be eventually lost. Which seems a shame.

Of course, second hand "stories" should not form part of any factual academic research, but their retention may provide valuable pieces to the historical jigsaw in years to come.

I have some "interesting" stories of events during the Civil war, which I have no doubt did actually occur, but can I prove it? Probably not.

I am aware that local tensions generated during the Civil War may still exist and certainly many people are still alive today whose parents will have suffered terribly during those times, and will still have strong opinions on the matter.

I sometimes wonder if this is the reason for people remaining reticent on the subject.

I'd be interested to hear any comments...

promethius · 06-01-2013 10:07pm

the cairns at knocknarae, carrowkeel (past collooney) and deer park (calry) are all aligned to the carrowmore (ransboro) tomb. think about how far about those all are from each other and difficulties in travel and communication when they were built.

IrishLad2012 · 18-01-2013 2:48am

In 1642,notorious soldier Fredrick Hamilton,who lived in his castle in Manorhamilton,attacked Sligo Town in punishment for cattle raids the O'Rourke clan had carried out near Manorhamilton.

His soldiers burned Sligo Abbey,when attacked by local soldiers they retreated on horseback to Manorhamilton,it was now dark night and a thick fog had set in.They took the white coat of a dead friar and placed it on a local man and told him to led them to Manorhamilton.

He led them up the mountains towards Manorhamilton.As they approached the cliffs at Lugnagall,the man began to speed up and started running.The soldiers and horses followed.Suddenly the man stopped about 50 metres ahead of the soldiers,he turned around and waved to the soldiers to come ahead.

He knew this place well as he had often trapped rabbits in the same place.He was at the edge of the cliffs here with a 200 metre drop below,he carefully climbed down to a little ledge that he knew well,he was no gone from the site of the soldiers.They followed his instruction and went straight off the cliff edge,fell to their death from the 200 metre height.To this day horseshoes can be dug from the soil at Lugnagall.

This mans name was Murtagh McSharry.

This legend is mentioned in a short story by W. B. Yeats, entitled The curse Of The Fires And Of The Shadows

red sean · 18-01-2013 1:00pm

Hav'nt heard that story in years! Thank you.
It's also said, you can see the shape of a horse in the stonefalls on the side of the mountain.
It's on your right as you head towards Manorhamilton, high above the lake.

Plazaman · 18-01-2013 3:33pm

Thin Lizzy played The Baymount in Strandhill on a number of occasions in the early 70's. The unofficial green room after the concerts was up in The Venue. One of the weekends Phil and the boys were around, the owner brought them up to The Glen in Cullenamore and to Queen Maeves grave on the top of Knocknarea and regaled them with stories of Maeves battles as he was known to do.

Out of that trip was born the song "Emerald".

Kettleson · 18-01-2013 7:12pm

Plazaman wrote: »

Thin Lizzy played The Baymount in Strandhill on a number of occasions in the early 70's. The unofficial green room after the concerts was up in The Venue. One of the weekends Phil and the boys were around, the owner brought them up to The Glen in Cullenamore and to Queen Maeves grave on the top of Knocknarea and regaled them with stories of Maeves battles as he was known to do.

Out of that trip was born the song "Emerald".

Mighty....is it true or urban legend?

http://youtu.be/rENy7MQIYJs

"Down from the glen came the marching men
With their shields and their swords
To fight the fight they believed to be right
Overthrow the overlords"

promethius · 18-01-2013 10:07pm

wb yeats helped to save the life of a boy who fell through ice at lough gill forming a human chain with some other passers by

fillefatale · 19-01-2013 1:44pm

promethius wrote: »

wb yeats helped to save the life of a boy who fell through ice at lough gill forming a human chain with some other passers by

where's that from?

promethius · 20-01-2013 12:54am

fillefatale wrote: »

where's that from?

sligo miscellany

fillefatale · 20-01-2013 1:22am

promethius wrote: »

sligo miscellany

i thought it'd be from a book or sth

promethius · 20-01-2013 5:29pm

fillefatale wrote: »

i thought it'd be from a book or sth

it is a book, by john mctiernan, a great read i'd recommend it

tfker · 20-01-2013 5:41pm

red sean wrote: »

Hav'nt heard that story in years! Thank you.
It's also said, you can see the shape of a horse in the stonefalls on the side of the mountain.
The lake is on your left heading to manorhamilton

itac · 20-01-2013 5:55pm

Most people know of the Sligo connection with Bram Stoker & Dracula; I can't remember where I read this, but apparently, some inspiration was taken from a story by his mother about the exhumation of a body in the grounds of St. John's Church (on John St.) which was found to be perfectly preserved several months after the burial.

I have vague recollections of it being something to do a with a policeman who'd been buried with his legs broken to fit into the coffin due to the cholera epidemic and they exhumed him for some reason or another!

Also, given the passing of one Sligo legend Sean Fallon this week, it's also worth remembering that Celtic wouldn't exist were it not for another Sligoman, Br. Walfrid.

As the old tourist slogan used to say "Sligo is surprising!";)

Plazaman · 21-01-2013 12:07am

Kettleson wrote: »

Mighty....is it true or urban legend?

True, got it from the horses mouth..... well from Brian Downey (the drummer)

Nice one itac, Sean Fallon - a gent. RIP

FirstinLastout · 21-01-2013 5:05am

Out on Innismurry Island there's a graveyard for each of the sexes and never must one be buried in the other for it is recorded that on one such occassion, many many moons ago, the ground trembled within the men's graveyard before it split open and with a great roar it spat the fresh corpse of a women up up into the air and over the wall into the adjoining female graveyard.
Where she landed the ground opened and swallied her whole before closing upon itself so it did so it.

And proper order too so it is!

mountainy man · 21-01-2013 5:19am

FirstinLastout wrote: »

Out on Innismurry Island there's a graveyard for each of the sexes and never must one be buried in the other for it is recorded that on one such occassion, many many moons ago, the ground trembled within the men's graveyard before it split open and with a great roar it spat the fresh corpse of a women up up into the air and over the wall into the adjoining female graveyard.
Where she landed the ground opened and swallied her whole before closing upon itself so it did so it.

And proper order too so it is!

The islanders had a great tradition of poitin making too

Kettleson · 21-01-2013 4:24pm

mountainy man wrote: »

The islanders had a great tradition of poitin making too

I was reading P Heraughty's book a while back, the islanders called their poitin "Whiskey". And whiskey that was legal bought was called "parlement". (ie the required tax had been paid on it through Act of Parliament.

Its a great read. "Inishmurray Ancient Monastic Island", I must read it again.

Truley · 21-01-2013 11:41pm

itac wrote: »

Most people know of the Sligo connection with Bram Stoker & Dracula; I can't remember where I read this, but apparently, some inspiration was taken from a story by his mother about the exhumation of a body in the grounds of St. John's Church (on John St.) which was found to be perfectly preserved several months after the burial.

The one I heard was that his mother, during the panic of the Cholera epidemic, witnessed people being buried in mass pits and often they weren't fully dead yet and could be witnessed moaning and crawling out. And this was what inspired Bram Stoker when writing Dracula. Probably just an urban myth though.

Also 'Sligo Stats' on twitter contains some interesting nuggets of info about our lovely county

https://twitter.com/SligoStats

dardevle · 23-01-2013 2:36pm

.....
itac and Truley:

John mc Tiernans 'Sligo miscellany' has an account from Stokers mother of the great cholera epidemic,

it relates both the stories of mass graves with persons still alive and also the story of the taller than average policeman...while attempting to fit him in a regular sized coffin, the undertaker decided to smash his legs with a hammer-upon striking him with the first blow the Seargent woke up!.......apparently he went on to live to a good age:)

.

Pretzill · 23-01-2013 5:39pm

Truley wrote: »

The one I heard was that his mother, during the panic of the Cholera epidemic, witnessed people being buried in mass pits and often they weren't fully dead yet and could be witnessed moaning and crawling out. And this was what inspired Bram Stoker when writing Dracula. Probably just an urban myth though.

Also 'Sligo Stats' on twitter contains some interesting nuggets of info about our lovely county

https://twitter.com/SligoStats

There is probably more truth to that than myth - Bram Stoker's mother Charlotte Thornley lived in Sligo with her parents during the time of the Cholera outbreak - there's a piece taken from her memoirs that makes chilling reading - Sligo town in particular was one of the hardest hit by the epidemic - A good book for eye witness accounts on lots of happenings in Sligo and its surrounds is - Olde Sligoe - aspects of town and county over 750 years by John C McTernan and it is most likely found in the research section of the library.

Nice thread
P.

cross posting not - just failed to read the earlier post -

Kettleson · 28-01-2013 8:36pm

Re: Inishmurray...was reading that book again.

Winston Churchill visited the island in 1933, incognito and unnoticed. But his face was remembered by some of the islanders.

A good few years later, probably when Churchill was in the thick of it, one of the islanders, then living in England recognised a picture of Churchill in a newspaper.

He sent a copy of it to another islander commenting: "see the little fat man we took around the island the day Lord Londonderry's yacht landed".

Apparently he was smoking his cigars, and tipped a couple of islanders five shillings each for showing him around the island, during which he wrote down plenty of notes in shorthand.

Interesting to note that in 1932 Churchill then out of government, a year before his visit to Inishmurray, was beginning to warn of the dangers of Germany's rearmament and was later to become First Lord of The Admirality in 1939.

I wonder what those notes said and why they were being taken?

Plans for Inishmurray during a world war that Churchill knew probably lay ahead? Or just a "little fat man" scribbling down notes to remind him of a pleasant trip to an ancient monastic Irish island?

red sean · 29-01-2013 12:52am

Kettleson wrote: »

I was reading P Heraughty's book a while back, the islanders called their poitin "Whiskey". And whiskey that was legal bought was called "parlement". (ie the required tax had been paid on it through Act of Parliament.

Its a great read. "Inishmurray Ancient Monastic Island", I must read it again.

John Power of Powers Whiskey had to shelter on the island while sailing round Ireland and thought the poitin was such high quality that he sent them a disused still when he returned home. Needless to say, this was unknown to the "authorities"!

red sean · 08-02-2013 1:46pm

Lola Montez: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2013/0204/1224329600330.html

NecroSteve · 11-02-2013 1:32am

Talk to Michael Quirke, who has the woodcarving shop on Wine St. No end of great stories!

kkontour · 13-02-2013 11:37pm

A Sligo man pioneered atomic theory
http://www.ingeniousirelandonline.ie/en/stories/st0004.xml?page=5

red sean · 14-02-2013 12:23am

Arenaria ciliata (Fringed Sandwort) is one of Ben Bulben's rare flowers. Found nowhere else in Ireland and thought to have survived the Ice Age.

It is European with an outlying population in Greenland. This species is not known from Britain. It was discovered in Ireland in 1806 growing on Ben Bulben Co. Sligo. This remains the only known Irish population. (Wiki)

Interesting Sligo Stories or Facts

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