The Northwest
We’ve compiled the best of the best in The Northwest - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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1. The Model: Home of the Niland Collection
The main attraction at the Model, housed in a school built in 1862, is one of Ireland's largest collections of works by 20th-century artists from home and abroad, as well as a stunning collection of artwork acquired by the gallery in 2018. Each year, the Model displays six curated exhibitions from its collection, frequently featuring work by famed Irish painter Jack B. Yeats, who once said, "I never did a painting without putting a thought of Sligo in it." At the heart of the collection is the work amassed by the woman whose name the gallery now bears, Nora Niland, who was the Sligo librarian from 1945 until the late 1970s, and who recognized the importance of Jack B.'s work. Only a small selection of this work is on display at any time, but you can view the whole collection on the Model's website. Paintings such as The Funeral of Harry Boland and A Political Meeting (In the West of Ireland) by John Yeats (father of Jack B. and W. B.), who had a considerable reputation as a portraitist, also hang here on a rotating basis, as does work by Sean Keating and Paul Henry. In 2018, a mystery donor, who bought items from a Yeats family collection auction in London, donated eight artworks—six paintings and two sketches—to the gallery. It includes what is regarded as John Yeats's masterpiece, his oil on canvas, Self-Portrait, New York, which at £87,500 was the most valuable item in the auction. The donation also included drawings and portraits by the artist of his children; William, Susan, Elizabeth, and Jack. Paintings from the Niland collection are cherry-picked and previously unseen work turns up occasionally from elsewhere; visitors should phone to confirm any work in particular that they want to view. In 2019, the Model received The Race Card Seller, a characterful early work by Jack B. from the Office of the Taoiseach in Dublin. It is due to remain on loan to the gallery for several years and is expected to be on display until 2022 or beyond. The Model also has a 180-seat cinema with a program run in conjunction with the Sligo Film Society, and a good café. The Yeats Secret Garden, an enclosed wildflower area behind the gallery, is open to the public. It represents W. B. Yeats's vision in his poem Lake Isle of Innisfree of a secret hideaway and comes complete with a clay-plastered cabin, representing his dream of building a small cabin "of clay and wattles made".
Sligo, Co. Sligo, Ireland071-914–1405Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, Closed Mon. -
2. Costello Memorial Chapel
Ask at the tourist office for a copy of the signposted historical walking-town-trail booklet and accompanying map (€2). A top sight is one of Ireland's tiniest: the Costello Memorial Chapel, built in 1879, is the smallest church in Ireland and a testament to a man's love for his wife. Built by local businessman Edward Costello in memory of Mary Josephine, its tiny dimensions are a mere 16 feet long, 12 feet wide, and 30 feet high. The church is open during daytime hours and admission is free.
Co. Leitrim, No phone, Ireland -
3. Creevelea Abbey
Founded by the Franciscans in 1508, Creevelea was the last community to be established before the suppression of the monasteries by England's King Henry VIII, and the abbey now lies in handsome ruins. Like many other decrepit abbeys, the place still holds religious significance for the locals, who revere it. One curiosity here is the especially large south transept; notice, too, its cloisters, with well-executed carvings on the pillars of St. Francis of Assisi. The abbey is located a 10-minute walk from Dromahair by following a flower-filled path alongside the Bonet River.
Dromahair, Co. Sligo, Ireland -
4. Franciscan Abbey
The ruins of the Franciscan Abbey, founded in 1474 by Hugh O'Donnell, are a five-minute walk south of town at a spectacular site perched at the end of the quay above the Eske River, where it begins to open up into Donegal Bay. The complex was plundered by the English in 1588, and much of the abbey was destroyed in a gunpowder explosion during the siege of 1601; the ruins include the choir, south transept, and two sides of the cloisters, between which lie hundreds of graves dating to the 18th century. The abbey was probably where The Annals of the Four Masters, which chronicles the whole of Celtic history and mythology of Ireland from earliest times up to the year 1616, was written from 1632 to 1636. The Four Masters were monks who believed (correctly, as it turned out) that Celtic culture was doomed by the English conquest, and they wanted to preserve as much of it as they could. At the National Library in Dublin, you can see copies of the monks' work; the original is kept under lock and key.
Donegal Town, Co. Donegal, IrelandSight Details
Rate Includes: Free -
5. Sligo County Museum
The showpiece of this museum is its Yeats Room, which houses a collection of W. B. Yeats's writings from 1889 to 1936, various editions of his plays and prose (make an appointment in advance to view these), and the Irish tricolor (flag) that draped his coffin when he was buried at nearby Drumcliff. Letters from his muse, the writer Ethel Manning, and from his brother Jack B. to his mother are on display. Three framed pieces of needlework by his sister Lily Yeats, who was an embroiderer associated with the Celtic Revival, can also be viewed. After Sligo Borough Council was dissolved in 2014, two solid silver maces, which were used to accompany the mayor during public ceremonies, were presented to the museum. Now on display in a glass cabinet, they bear the Irish hallmark for the years 1702–03 and depict the emblems of Ireland (harp), England (rose), Scotland (thistle), and France (fleur-de-lis).
3 Stephen St., Sligo, Co. Sligo, Ireland071-911–1679Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, Closed Sun. and Mon. -
Recommended Fodor’s Video
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6. Turas Cholmcille
Atop the cliff rising north of the village, the Turas Cholmcille pilgrimage takes place at midnight on June 9 each year, traditionally in bare feet. The three-hour route consists of stone cross pillars, natural features, and megalithic tombs, associated with St. Columba. Details on the mysterious stone cairns and pillars are available in the Glencolmcille Folk Village museum.
Glencolumbkille, Co. Donegal, Ireland
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