Description from Thom’s Directory of Ireland, 1931.

BOUNDARIES AND DIMENSIONS

Sligo, a maritime county in the province of Connaught. It is bounded on the north by the Atlantic Ocean, on the east by county Leitrim, on the south by counties Roscommon and Mayo and on the west by county Mayo. Its length from the River Moy to the Arigna River is 40 ¾ miles and its breadth from Lough Gara to Donegal Bay is 38 ½ miles.

NAME AND FORMER DIVISIONS

The name of the county is derived from that of the town, being a shortened form of the Irish word Sligeach, which means river of sligs or shells. This river is now called the Garrogue. The part of the territory of Hy Fiachrach of the Moy, which extended to this county is represented by the barony of Tireragh. The other baronies represent ancient territories : Carbury; Leiny, the ancient Luighne; Tirerrill, the ancient Tir-Oililla; Corran; and Coolavin, the territory of the Mac Dermott; east of Lough Arrow is the northern Moytura or Moy-tura of the Fomorians, where a decisive battle was fought between the Dedannas and the Fomorians, the latter being vanquished.

PHYSICAL FEATURES

Minerals: The eastern portion of the county near Lough Allen belongs to the Connaught coalfield, and there is also a district near Arigna where iron ore is found. In the Ox Mountains, lead and copper mines were formerly worked.

The Ox Mountains lie south-west of Ballysodare and run west-south-west to the confines of Mayo, and are continued by the Slieve Gamph Range. The chief summits of the Ox Mountains are from 1,200 to 1,800 feet high and Slieve Gamph is 1,363’ in height. The north-east of the county is the most mountainous. Truskmore (2,113’), between Sligo and Leitrim is the highest peak; Benbulbin (1,792’) is very precipitous on the side facing Sligo Bay; King’s Mountain (1,527’); Knockarea (1,078’), an isolated flat-topped hill stands about 4 miles west of the town of Sligo; Slish (967’) and Slievedaene (900’) rise on the south shore of Lough Gill; the Bralieve range (1,498) are on the east of the barony of Tirerrill; the Curlieu Hills are on the boundary of Roscommon near Ballinafad, the highest peak being Keishcorran (1,183’) and Carrowkee (1,062’) on the shore of Lough Arrow.

The Headlands are Lenadoon Point, at the entrance to Killala Bay; Aughris Point running into Sligo Bay; Killaspug Point is at the north-east of Balysodare Bay; Roskeeragh Point, separating Donegal Bay and Sligo Bay; and in the north of the county is another Roskeeragh Point near which is Mullaghmore.

The islands are few in number, the chief being Maguire’s Island off Killaspug Point; Coney Island at the entrance to Cumeen Strand, to the north of which is Oyster Island with a lighthouse; near Coney Island is Black Rock with a lighthouse. Seal Rocks lie near Roskeeragh Point; Conor’s Island and Dernish Island lie off the coast at Cliffony; Inishmurray, in Donegal Bay is a mile in length and contains the ruins of the ancient monastery of St. Laserian or Molaise.

The Bays and Harbours are Killala Bay, separating county Sligo from county Mayo. It branches into three inlets. Ballysodare Bay, a branch which runs up to the town of Sligo, and Drumcliffe Bay form part of Sligo Bay.

The chief Rivers are the Moy, which rises in the Ox Mountains, flows first south-east and then south-west and entering county Mayo it then turns northwards and touches county Sligo again about 2 ½ miles above Ballina, from which point to its mouth it forms the boundary between counties Sligo and Mayo. The chief tributaries of the river Moy in county Sligo are the Mad River and the Owenahar, the Lough Talt River, on the north bank and the Owengarve River and the Mullaghanoe River on the south bank. The Leafonny River flows into Killala Bay. The Easky River rises in Lough Easkey in the Ox Mountains and falls into the sea near Easky. The Ballysodare River flows into Ballysodare Bay, its chief tributaries are the Owenmore, the Owenboy and the Unshin or Arrow River. The Feorish flows through the south-east of the county into Roscommon. The Bonet river which for a mile marks the boundary between Sligo and Leitrim. The Sligo or Garrogue River issues from Lough Gill and falls into Sligo Bay. The Drumcliff River flows west into Drumcliff Bay. The Duff River forms part of the boundary between Leitrim and Sligo, and flows into Donegal Bay.

The principal Lakes are Lough Arrow, Lough Gara and Lough Gill in the south-east of the county. Lough Gill is considered one of the most beautiful lakes in Ireland. Other lakes are Glencar Lake, CLoonty Lake and Skean Lake all on the boundary. In the centre of the county are Lough Easky, Lough Talt, Templehouse Lake, Cloonacleigha Lake, Toberscanavan Lake and Ballydawley Lake.

ANALYSIS OF THE CENSUS FOR COUNTY, 1821-1926

Year	Males	Females	Total Pop.
1821	72,428	73,801	146,229
1831	83,730	88,035	171,765
1841	89,563	91,323	188,886
1851	62,881	65,634	128,515
1861	61,939	62,906	124,845
1871	56,984	58,509	115,493
1881	55,144	56,434	111,578
1891	48,670	49,343	98,013
1901	41,849	42,234	84,083
1911	40,060	38,985	79,045
1926	36,648	34,745	71,388

Families and Houses in 1926

The number of families in the county was 15,658, the average number in each family being 4.3. The number of inhabited houses was 15,644 showing an average of 4.6 persons to each house. The special inmates of public institutions are omitted from these calculations.

There were in the county 13,244 Occupiers or Heads of Families who were in occupation of less than five rooms, being 84.5% of the total for the county; of these, 711, or 4.5% of the families in the county occupied one room; 2,744, or 17.5% , 2 rooms; 7,414 or 47.3%, 3 rooms; and 2,735 or 15.2%, occupied 4 rooms.

There were in the county 264 tenements in which the room had only one occupant; 331 cases where the room had 2-4 occupants; 100 cases in which there were 5-7 occupants and 16 cases where the occupants of one room exceeded 7 in number, including 1 cases where 10 persons and 1 case where 11 persons and 1 case where 12 persons occupied the same room.

Birthplace of Inhabitants

Of the population in 1926, 88.61% were born in the county, 9.01 % in other counties in Saorstat Eireann. 0.77% in Northern Ireland, 1.22% in Great Britain, and 0.29% were born abroad.

Education

In 1911 there were in the county 65,164 persons aged 9 years and upwards; of these 55,333 or 84.9% could read and write; 2,909 or 3.4% could read only; and 7,622 or 11.7% were illiterate. As this is the first census where the age was raised from 5 to 9 it is not possible to compare figures for earlier censuses. However, the report states that the percentage of those of 5 years and upwards who were unable to read and write was 22.4% in 1891, 16% in 1901 and had fallen to 13.8% in 1901.

IRISH SPEAKING (1861-1911)

No. of people	1861	1871	1881	1891	1901	1911
Irish only	3,466	2,326	472	147	77	24
Irish & English	36,263	24,263	31,458	21,189	17,493	15,903
Irish Total	39,729	26,589	31,930	21,336	17,570	15,927
% of population	31.8	23.0	28.6	21.7	20.9	20.1

RELIGIONS, 1871-1926 (% of population)

Religion	1871	1881	1891	1901	1911	1926
Roman Catholic	90.4	90.9	90.8	90.56	91.24	92.89
Church of Ireland	8.0	7.4	7.5	7.63	6.96	5.94
Presbyterians	0.7	0.8	0.7	0.79	0.86	0.43
Methodists	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.61	0.58	0.44
Others	0.3	0.3	0.4	0.41	0.36	0.30

EMIGRATION (1861-1911)

1861	1871	1881	1891	1901	1911
13,328	12,049	11,708	23,594	14,065	9,157