Arts News

 

Celebrating 400 Years of Sligo Borough

The Exhibition, The Borough of Sligo, Aspects of its history over 400 years

continues until Thursday, 30th August 2012 in City Hall – free and open to all 9am-5pm Monday to Friday. 

The exhibition covers a variety of aspects of the Borough’s history from 1612 to the present.  There is something for everyone in this exhibition whether you are interested in sport, architecture or commerce as well as the more conventional historical subjects of political and military history.  Fascinating facts, artifacts and images are revealed in this exhibition.  Some of the objects featured are in private collections and on view to the public for the first time.  People might be surprised to learn that Sligo’s citizens wrote a new chapter in political history by becoming the first electorate in Ireland or Britain to vote under the proportional representation (P.R.) system.  

There are many more surprises and delights in store by visiting this highly visual and accessible free exhibition. 

The exhibition is the voluntary work of a group of local historians with a passion for Sligo’s history who have come together to contribute to the Sligoe 400 celebrations. They are Padraig Deignan, Fiona Gallagher, Paul Gunning, Aiden Mannion (Chairman), John McTiernan and they are supported by the County Librarian, Donal Tinney and the Sligo Library and Museum Service and the Arts Service.  

The exhibition can be downloaded in the following sections

two solid silver maces   O’Connor-Sligo Memorial, Sligo Abbey   1612 Crest  
Introduction (PDF) - 3,037 kbs   Charters and Patent Holders (PDF) - 2,205 kbs   Sligo’s Adopted Coat of Arms (PDF) - 2,221 kbs  
     
Mayor of Sligo Councillor David Cawley   Market Cross   Population of Sligo Borough 1600-2011  
Provosts and Mayors (PDF) - 2,106 kbs   The Borough of Sligo Physical Development (PDF) - 2,635 kbs   Population and Demography (PDF) - 10,719 kbs  
     
Port of Sligo   Bianconi’s Long Car leaving The Imperial Hotel   Water Pump  
Sligo Port (PDF) - 3,728 kbs   Transport (PDF) - 4,538 kbs   Utilities – Gas/Water (PDF) - 2,221 kbs  
     
The Town Hall. Built in 1865 in the French Renaissance style. It stands on the site of the 17th century ‘Stone Fort’.   Sligo Cathedral 1890   O’Crean Altar Tomb  
Public Buildings (PDF) - 1,954 kbs   Religious Buildings (PDF) - 2,103 kbs   Merchant Princes of Sligo (PDF) - 2,541 kbs  
     
Pictured in Sligo in 1917 were, left to right, H. Depew, T.C., John Shea, Town Clerk, Laurence Ginnell, C. Connolly, Count Plunkett, Darrell Figgis, Eamon de Valera, D.M. Hanly (Mayor), Countess Markievicz and Mrs. Hanly where Countess Markievicz was awarded the Freedom of the Borough   Hazelwood House   Plan of the Ordnance Land at Sligo, traced from an original drawing of 1825.  This area was formerly known as the 'Stone Fort', or the Old Barrack Fort. The Town Hall now stands on the site.  
Prominent Sligonians (PDF) - 2,115 kbs   Wynnes of Hazelwood (PDF) - 2,549 kbs   The Cromwellian and Jacobite Wars (PDF) - 2,461 kbs  
     
Sligo Artillery, 1906   County Gaol   Gates commemorating the Famine at the site of the former Workhouse  
Military – Garrison Town (PDF) - 4,897 kbs   Crime and Punishment – Gaol (PDF) - 2,294 kbs   Disease and Famine (PDF) - 2,373 kbs  
     
Prominent Pro-treaty activists including Mayor T. Fitzpatrick 1925-26   War medals   Election Count in Town Hall from Kilgannon Foley Collection  
Civil War – “The Troubles” – In Sligo Town 1921-1923 (PDF) - 2,069 kbs   First and Second World Wars (PDF) - 2,954 kbs   Proportional Representation (pdf) - 6,226 kbs  
     
Girls with Camogie Sticks    
Sport (PDF) - 4,694 kbs      

 

 



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© Sligo County Council Arts Department, County Hall, Riverside, Sligo, Co. Sligo, Ireland tel: +353 (0) 71 911 1111 info@sligoarts.ie