Understand
Most of Sligo's population speak English but, as with most parts of Ireland, there are different accents in different parts of the county. For example, some of the people from Sligo town sometimes derogatorily known as townies speak in an accent which tends to slur vowels and lengthen words, e.g., 'haows ih goooin?'how is it going?, meaning how are you doing?.
Much of the landsape of Sligo features in the poetry of W.B.Yeats The Stolen Child, The Fiddler of Dooney and the poet is buried, as he wished in Drumcliffe, north of Sligo town. There is an annual Yeats Summer School which attracts writers and students from all over the world, but many other visitors enjoy the insights the poet has given into the landscape.
For lovers of traditional music, the more remote southern part of the county has given rise to a strong fiddle tradition, while in recent years the bands, Dervish and Westlife, from Sligo town, have become internationally famous.
Spike Milligan's father was from Sligo.
