My Sligo Story

A new Sligo tourism campaign has just been launched. Using the hashtag #SligoStories, locals and visitors to County Sligo are encouraged to share their favourite story from the county over the next twelve months.

With this in mind I thought I’d share my Sligo Story. People who don’t know me might think I’ve lived in Sligo all my life, I’m certainly passionate about the place. We actually moved here 28 years ago. My parents were born in Galway and moved to the UK in the 1950’s. When they retired they wanted to come back to Ireland but felt Galway had got very built up so they moved to Sligo.

Andy and I came to visit them shortly after they moved, Andy had never been to Ireland before and I’d never been to Sligo. I’ll never forget the first time we drove into Sligo town with the majestic Benbulben providing the backdrop.

We were amazed that there were so many beaches within around a 15 minute drive of the town. Where we lived in the UK it took around 2 hours to get to the nearest beach and you could bet that everyone would have the same idea so you’d be stuck in traffic or on a crowded beach.

We loved the green fields, the forests and the lakes. We loved the fresh air, the friendly people, the feeling of peace. We were only here for a week and decided if we were going to have a family there’d be no better place than Sligo.

So we went back to the UK and wound up our former lives. We bought a little derelict cottage in County Sligo and I swapped my high heels in my office job for wellington boots.

We shared the cottage with sheep when we first moved and there was no electricity or water. In fact there was nothing, it was just four rooms! We roughed it for a while and I’ll never forget the excitement the day we got a tap installed! It certainly was an experience!

So here we are 28 years and two children later, still in beautiful Sligo and there’s no place I’d rather be. To find out more about the Sligo Stories campaign and how you can get involved click here.