Hotels in Sligo, Ireland

A little about Sligo...

Sligo is the county town of County Sligo in the Republic of Ireland. The town is a borough and has a charter and a town mayor. It is the second largest urban area in Connacht (after Galway). Sligo's population dropped at the 2006 census to a little under 18,000 inhabitants. It is home to the Sligo Institute of Technology.

The primary arteries of Sligo's road network are the "Inner-Relief Road" dual-carriageway, part of the the N4 road to Dublin (which is motorway on some stretches, dual-carriageway in others). The section of the N4 road between Sligo and Collooney, about 15 kilometers outside Sligo is made up of dual carriageway which was completed in around the Millenium, bypassing The towns Of Collooney and Ballisodare. An extension onto this road was completed in 2005. This is The Sligo Inner Relief Road. It stretches from Carrarœ in the south of Sligo to the outside of Sligo town. The Sligo County Council ‘Traffic & Transportation Plan’ identified the pedestrianisation of Sligo’s core streets as a priority following the opening of the Sligo Inner Relief Road, and O'Connell Street, the main street in the town has been pedestrianised as of 15th August 2006.

Sligo acquired rail links to Dublin in 1862, with the opening of the Sligo railway station on 3 December of that year. Connections to Enniskillen and the north followed in 1881 and Limerick and the south in 1895. The line to Enniskillen closed in 1957 and passenger services to Galway/Limerick closed in 1963. For many years CIE kept the latter line open for freight traffic, and although it is now disused, it forms part of the Western Rail Corridor redevelopment project. In 1966 Sligo railway station was renamed Mac Diarmada Station after Irish rebel Seán Mac Diarmada from County Leitrim. Iarnród Éireann, Ireland's national railway operator, runs inter-city rail services between Sligo and Dublin, Stopping At Collooney, Ballymote, Boyle, Carrick-On-Shannon, Dromod, Longford, Edgeworthstown (Mostrim), Mullingar, Enfield, Mayooth, Leixlip (On selected Services), and Dublin Connolly.

Sligo Town and County Sligo are served by Sligo Airport, 8 kilometres (5 miles) from Sligo town and close to Strandhill village, served by Aer Arann, which operates flights to Dublin and to Manchester in the United Kingdom.