Genealogy in Sligo

Sligo, a county of Ireland, province of Connaught, bounded E by Leitrim, S by Roscommon, SW and W by Mayo, and N by the bay of Donega. The soil is in general fertile, but rather boggy towards the coast, and in many parts mountainous. Its chief rivers are Bonnet, Owenmore, Unshion, Cooloney, Esky, and Moy. Lead, iron, silver, and copper ores have been discovered, and some of the mountains exhibit strong indications of coal. Originally the territory was under the control of the MacDermots, whose power was usurped by the Norman de Burgos from the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries. It was then claimed by a branch of the O’Connors, who ruled under the patronage of the northern O’Donnells, and became known as the O’Connor Sligo. The graves of Queen Maeve and WB Yeats’ are located at Drumcliffe Sligo (Hotels, Sligo, Ireland). Rosses Point - an excellent golf course, is a major attraction in County Sligo

The main towns in County Sligo are Sligo (Holiday Homes, Sligo, Ireland), Tubbercurry and Ballymote

The most common surnames in County Sligo are: Gallagher, Brennan, MacGowan, O’Dowd Kelly, Gilmartin, Healy, Walsh, Hart, Feeney, Waters, Hargadon and MacDonagh.

Sligo, like many other Irish counties, has suffered greatly from emigration over the last two centuries. According to the Census returns a staggering 75,660 emigrated from Sligo in the half-century from 1851-1901. Prior to 1855, most of those emigrating from the port of Sligo (Accommodation, Sligo, Ireland) took their passage directly to North America, usually to New York, Boston, Quebec and St. Johns. Since the 1850’s, the majority of the emigrants took the coastal steamers to Glasgow or Liverpool from where most of them crossed the Atlantic in purpose built steamers. This emigration has created a Sligo Diaspora worldwide who can trace their ‘roots’ to County Sligo (Self Catering, Sligo, Ireland).

County Sligo Heritage and Genealogy Centre, Aras Reddan, Temple Street, Sligo City, Co Sligo.

The County Sligo Heritage and Genealogy Centre offers a full service to enquirers whose ancestors hailed from County Sligo (Holiday Apartments, Sligo, Ireland). The main records include

Roman Catholic - earliest of commenced in 1796

Church of Ireland (Anglican/Episcopalian) earliest of which date from 1762

Records of Presbyterian congregations (Sligo Circuit) start 1806