New historical trail offers glimpse of town’s quirky past
SLIGO’S new historic trail has opened a new window into the quirky side of the town’s history.
Phase 1 of the project was launched last Thursday, with Phase 2 to be launched later in the year.
The project was spearheaded by Jim Lawlor, former President of Sligo Tidy Towns.
Seven of 20 plaques were unveiled at the event on Thursday last.
Speaking at the event, Peter Tiernan, Chairman of Sligo Tidy Towns praised the efforts of Jim Lawlor, whose work eventually lead to the launch of his trail.
“I am so happy to see this project come to fruition. When the next phase is launched in the coming months, Sligo will have a great tourist trail for the enjoyment of everyone. The main driver of this endeavour is Jim Lawlor, who commenced work on the Project about a year ago, when he was Chairman of Sligo Tidy Towns.
“Together with his group of experts as outlined earlier, he headed up the group, and did an enormous amount of work personally, in overcoming the various hurdles along the way. I thank him for his persistence and energy.
“I thank his expert group as well. He had the support of Sligo County Council throughout, and without that the work could not have been done,” he continued.
Mr. Tiernan went on to say that he believes Sligo’s marks in the National Tidy Towns competition will continue to improve.
“Any Tidy Towns Committee that does not have the support of the Local Authority cannot succeed. In Sligo we are lucky to have that support, and I thank the Officials and Councillors for that. I would also like to thank Sligo Bid who are now our main funders from this year on. The Council give us a tidy sum each year as well.
“Last week we submitted our Tidy Towns 2016/ 2017 Entry for Adjudication. We have increased our marks in the Competition each year for the past 5 years and we are confident that they will increase again this time around.
“The Adjudicators will be doing their rounds anytime from mid June to mid August. The results will be announced in early September. We thank the business people of Sligo, as well as town residents, for keeping their areas clean and tidy in the past, during those weeks, and we ask for the same co- operation this year. This will help us to continue to achieve a further improvement in our marks,” he said.
The nine plaques which form part of Phase 1 are as follows ( numbers 6 and 8 were not launched yesterday):
1. William Partridge, Chapel Street. Off Teeling St/ Courthouse area. 1874- 1717. Leader of the Dublin workers during the 1913 lockout. Captain in the Irish Citizen Army. Served under Countess Markievicz in the Royal College of Surgeons in 1916.
2. William Pollexfen. McCanny’s Building, corner of Wine St and Adelaide St. 18111892, Shipping and Corn Merchant with William Middleton. Grandfather to W. B., Lily, Lollie and Jack B Yeats.
3. Bernard Colleary, 18381907. Mayor of Sligo. Member of Parliament. Owned what is now Hargadon’s Pub and Restaurant in O Connell St. The Plaque is on this building.
4. Yeats Memorial Building on Hyde Bridge. Built 1899, Former Bank. Donated to the Yeats Society in 1973 by AIB.
5. The Linen Hall, built 1799 by Thomas Holmes. Location of the Wesleyan Chapel, 1802- 1831. Was located on what is now JFK Parade. Site is now Toff ’ s Nightclub and Embassy Bars . ( near the Bridge in Bridge St).
6. The Gillooly Hall. Opposite the RC Cathedral, Built 1904. Built as a Temperance Hall and dedicated to the memory of Bishop Laurence Gillooly, 18581895. His St is above the door.
7. St John’s Cathedral. Near no 6. Built 1730. Designed by Richard Cassels , Architect of Hazelwood House, Sligo, and Leinster House. Gothic style. Many famous people buried in the Churchyard.
8. Charlotte Matilda Blake Thornley. 1818- 1901. Mother of Bram Stoker, author of “Dracula”. She experienced the great Cholera Epidemic in Sligo in 1832. Cholera is very contagious, and victims were buried very quickly. It is said that some were buried before they were quite dead, and that these stories told to Stoker by his mother, may have inspired him to write “Dracula” She lived in what is now Old Market St, just up from the Courthouse. It is now Louis Doherty’s Antique shop.
9. Martin Moffatt, 18821946, Recipient of the Victoria Cross and the Belgium Croix de Guerre, for bravery in action in 1918, during the first World War. Lived at 21 Emmett Place. When standing at no 2, turn right at the end of Wine St. The Plaque is on a gable wall across from TD’s pub.