Sligo Town in the old days

O'Connell, Street, Sligo, 1900's, 1900, house, houses,
Copyright Sligo County Library

This photograph shows Sligo town in the early 1900s. At this time, Sligo had begun to decline as a busy port. The town had also lost much of its industry during this period. Industries such as corn mills, saw mills and furniture manufacturers faced a lot of competition from products made in other countries.

Sligo had a rich hinterland and continued to develop as a market town. Constance Markievicz's family estate in Lissadell depended on Sligo as a market for its produce and as a gateway to the larger markets of Dublin and Belfast and their ports.

In 1911, 79,045 people were recorded as living in County Sligo. 11,163 of these lived in Sligo town. Can you calculate roughly what percentage of the county's population lived in Sligo town?

When we compare this to 2006, we can see that, in the past, a greater percentage of people lived in the countryside than in the town.

Can you think of the reasons?