Sligo Information

We have separated the information into town, country, and general information sections

Sligo County:

• Sligo County
• Events
• Places of Interest
• History
• North Sligo
• East Sligo
• South Sligo
• West Sligo

Sligo Town:

• Sligo Town
• Sligo Town Events

General Information:

• Sports
• Walks
• Map
• Accommodation
• Getting There
• Imprint

Travelling to Sligo

Airports

Ireland has seven regional airport and four international airports. Dublin, Cork, Shannon and Belfast are the main international hubs. However the growth of the regional airports and their expansion has made the west and northwest much more easily accessible for many.

Ireland West Airport , Knock, County Mayo
Website: www.knockairport.com
38miles/62 km from Sligo Town. Approximately 1hour driving time to Sligo Town, and 30 minutes to the south of the county.

The airport is located south of Sligo just off the N17 to Galway. It has been one of the biggest success stories of the regional airports. Scheduled flights are operated year round by a number of operators. Charters are operated in the winter and summer to various European destinations by a number of mainly Irish tour operators.

The airport - although small - has good basic facilities, such as on the spot parking, car rental, airport shop, bars and food. There is a cashpoint but no exchange facilities are available. Traffic around the airport is unproblematic and both check-in and luggage collection times are very fast compared to the larger airports. Many people visiting the west or northwest prefer using the airport due to its speed and convenience.

A shuttle bus service, BusAer is available between the airport and Charlestown, where further bus connections are available to Sligo and various destinations in Ireland.

NB A development fee is payable locally on departure from Knock ( € 10, under 12s do not pay). This is a compulsory local tax to raise money to improve the airport area.

Sligo Airport, Strandhill, County Sligo
Website: www.sligoairport.com

Sligo has its own local airport at Strandhill some 5 miles from Sligo Town. The airport has daily services to Dublin and four times a week to Manchester. Local bus services to and from Sligo are available as are taxis. Car parking and car rental available.

Galway Airport, Galway, County Galway
Website: www.galwayairport.com
Around 2hrs from Sligo

Connections are available to Dublin with AerArann and to the UK and Belfast through Flybe. Bus connections are through city express and most will connect with buses at the city bus depot.

Dublin Airport
Website: www.dublinairport.com

Dublin is the major international airport in Ireland with flight connections all over the world. Good bus connections exist between the airport and the city centre by Airlink. Busáras (central bus station in Dublin) is where all expressway services start to all destinations throughout the country.

Belfast and Derry Airports
Website: www.belfastairport.com
Website: www.cityofderryairport.com

Belfast is another international hub to the UK, European destinations and transatlantic routes.
Derry offers services to Bristol, Dublin, Liverpool, East Midlands, Glasgow and Stanstead. Derry is approx 84 mile/135km from Sligo. Bus services exist between both Belfast and Derry.

Public Transport

Bus Transport
Website: www.buseireann.ie
Tel: Sligo 071 9160066
The national bus company, Bus Éireann, runs most of the public buses in the Republic of Ireland. Sligo is well connected to other main towns and routes throughout Ireland.

There are three basic sets of service provided :
Expressway - covering the long distance services 
Local services - covering many of the rural small towns.                                                
City services - eg Sligo Town shuttles.

Expressway long distance service connects Sligo with Dublin, Longford, Mullingar, Galway, Letterkenny, Derry, Enniskillen , Westport, Ballina, Belfast, Cork limerick and Roscrea. The Eurolines service also connects to UK.

Local and rural commuter services covers more local short distance runs in the county and beyond. Sligo through these is linked to all nearby counties.

City Service, from Sligo to Rosses Point, Strandhill, Colooney and Ballisodare.

Further information and timetables are available under the Bus Éireann website, who also organise bus tours of the country. There is also information on special tickets such as the Open Road Ticket specifically for people using the buses to travel through Ireland, providing the with the flexibility to get on and off where you will and with day gaps if desired.

NB: Bicycles are only carried if there is room and there is a charge attached. Bicycles cannot be transported from the UK.

Bus services from the various airports run mainly via the nearest main town or city.

Trains
Website:  www.irishrail.ie
The train system is run by Iarnrod Eireann. Sligo is on a main train line to the Midlands and Dublin and regular services run from Dublin to Sligo. Parts of Mayo are also connected. All information is under the Irish rail site or under the information for the Northern Irish railways on www.nirailways.co.uk.

Driving to Sligo

Ireland is connected to the UK and France by a series of ports spread along the coast mainly in the east, southeast and northeast of the country. The main ports are Dublin, DunLaoghaire (nr Dublin), Rosslare, and Cork, with Belfast and Larne in Northern Ireland.

Driving in Ireland
Here are a few helpful pointers when driving in Ireland:

Drive on the left hand side as in Britain. Many of the basic road signs are the same.

There are three main types of road in Ireland:
National roads (eg N17) - these have green signs and the speed limit is normally 100km/62mph
Regional or local roads (eg R142) - these have white signs and the normal speed limit is 80km/50mph
Motorways (eg M4) - these have blue signs and the normal speed limit is 120km/74mph

In all but the oldest signs in remote areas, the distances are stated in km. Road signs outside of the Gaeilge-speaking areas are in English and Irish.

In recent years many small villages and half parishes have put up local small signs to help people find their way around, but this is not universal. If in doubt don’t be afraid to ask - it’s often easier.

Speeding offences incur both monetary fines and points or convictions. Towns and cities have a speed limit normally of 50k /31mph.

There are a limited amount of motorways, but especially in and around Dublin extra tolls are levied on motorway usage.

Further information about driving in Ireland is available at www.aaireland.ie.

Parking
Free parking in towns is getting harder to find. Often the parking charge is paid via a coin ticket machine located nearby, or a barrier pay point.  Occasionally parking is levied in the form of a parking permit to be purchased in a store or place at the car park. These permits can be a bit confusing at times, so try and have a fair idea how long you expect to stay, as you may have to purchase more than one. The shopkeepers are usually helpful if you are not sure. On the permit date, day and times have to be scratched off and each permit is limited in time and should be displayed in the window.

Maps of Ireland
Ireland in recent years has been a great economic success story and both large and small towns have experienced a housing boom, as well as new road development. So an older map of the area may be a bit out of date.

When looking for a place that is a bit off the beaten track (eg an abbey or castle ruin) some of these roads may be very small and, in some cases, will look a bit overgrown in the middle, but there is normally somewhere to turn around.

Car Hire
Car hire is available throughout at all airports and major towns. It may also be available locally as larger garages sometimes offer car hire. A driving license, credit card etc are required. You will be expected to pay an extra fee for additional drivers. Close inspection of extra fees and insurance is recommended, as is booking ahead at busy times of the year.