Editing County Sligo (section)

==History==
{{Main article|History of Sligo}}
The county was officially formed in 1585 by [[Sir Henry Sidney]], [[Lord Deputy of Ireland]], but did not come into effect until the chaos of the [[Nine Years' War (Ireland)|Nine Years' War]] ended, in 1603. Its boundaries reflect the [[Ó Conchobhair Sligigh]] [[confederation]] of Lower Connacht ({{langx|ga|Íochtar Connacht}}) as it was at the time of the Elizabethan conquest.

This confederation consisted of the [[tuath]]a, or territories, of [[Cairbre Drom Cliabh|Cairbre Drumcliabh]], [[Tír Fhíacrach Múaidhe]], [[Tir Ollíol|Tír Ollíol]], Luíghne, [[Corann]] and Cúl ó bhFionn. Under the system of [[surrender and regrant]] each tuath was subsequently made into an English barony: [[Barony of Carbury (County Sligo)|Carbury]], [[Tireragh]], [[Tirerril]], [[Leyny]], [[Corran (barony)|Corran]] and [[Coolavin]]. The capital of the newly shired county was placed at [[Sligo]].

A causewayed enclosure discovered in 2003 at Maugheraboy is one of the earliest indications of [[Neolithic]] farming activity on the [[Coolera Peninsula|Cúil Irra Peninsula]].<ref>Danaher, E. (2007) Monumental beginnings: The archaeology of the N4 Sligo Inner Relief Road. NRA Scheme Monograph 1. Dublin: The National Roads Authority</ref> The nearby megalithic cemetery of [[Carrowmore]] forms part of a huge complex of [[Stone Age]] remains connecting [[Carrowkeel Megalithic Cemetery|Carrowkeel]] in south Sligo to the [[Ox Mountains]], to the Cuil Irra Peninsula, where the passage tomb named after the legendary [[Medb|Queen Maeve]], [[Miosgán Médhbh]], dominates the western skyline from the crest of [[Knocknarea|Knocknarea Mountain]].

The [[Caves of Kesh]], famous in Irish [[mythology]], are in south County Sligo. A recent decoding<ref>{{cite web|url=http://irishgeography.ie/index.php/irishgeography/login?source=%2Findex.php%2Firishgeography%2Farticle%2Fview%2F109%2F101&loginMessage=reader.subscriptionRequiredLoginText|title=Login|website=irishgeography.ie|access-date=20 June 2019|archive-date=23 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191223225626/http://irishgeography.ie/index.php/irishgeography/login?source=%2Findex.php%2Firishgeography%2Farticle%2Fview%2F109%2F101&loginMessage=reader.subscriptionRequiredLoginText|url-status=live}}</ref> of the work of [[Marinus of Tyre]] and [[Ptolemy]] shows Sligo as the likely location of [[Nagnata]], an important place of assembly in the Iron Age. Famous medieval manuscripts written in the area include the ''[[Book of Ballymote]]'', written in the territory of Corran, the ''[[Great Book of Lecan]]'', and the ''[[Yellow Book of Lecan]]'', both written in Tir Fhiacrach. The patron of the ''[[Annals of the Four Masters]]'' was [[Fearghal Ó Gadhra]] of [[Coolavin]] in south County Sligo.