Sligo in 1642
Sligo is the county town of County Sligo, Ireland. Its Gaelic name Sligeach means "shelly place," referencing the abundance of shellfish found in the river and its estuary. Sligo Bay was known to Greek, Phoenician, and Roman traders and may have been known to the Romans as Nagnata. In 1245, the Norman knight and Justiciar of Ireland Maurice Fitzgerald, Baron of Offaly founded Sligo with the construction of Sligo Castle. Sligo had a population of 180 burgesses by 1289, and Sligo was unique in being the only Norman-founded Irish town to be under almost continuous Gaelic control throughout the Middle Ages after the Irish repelled the Norman invasion of Tyrconnell in 1257. Sligo was burned, sacked, or besieged 49 times during the medieval period as Gaelic dynasties competed for the city's lucrative port duties. However, Sligo continued to grow in importance, trading with Galway, Bristol, France, and Spain. Sligo remained under Gaelic control until the Tudor conquest of Ireland in the 16th century, when it was selected as the county town for the newly shired County Sligo. In 1642, Parliamentarian soldiers partially slacked Sligo and burned its Dominican friary, killing several friars. Sligo was captured by Patrick Sarsfield during the Williamite War in Ireland, but it was later surrendered to Arthur Forbes, 1st Earl of Granard. Sligo suffered badly from a cholera outbreak in 1832 and the Great Famine of 1847-1851, which caused over 30,000 people to emigrate through the port of Sligo. Sligo experienced industrial unrest during the early 20th century, resulting in the 1913 Sligo dock strike, a victory for the workers. The town was heavily garrisoned by the British Army during the Irish War of Independence, causing IRA activity to be limited; the town's railway station was blown up by the anti-Treaty IRA on 10 January 1923 during the Irish Civil War. By 2022, Sligo had 20,608 residents.
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