The Rosses Point Peninsula () is a small peninsula in the centre of

Sligo Bay Sligo Bay () is a natural ocean bay in County Sligo, Republic of Ireland. Geography Sligo Bay is opened between Aughris Head (South side) and Roskeeragh Point (North). The inner part of the bay is divided into three smaller bodies of water, h ...

County Sligo County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the an ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The peninsula shares its name with the village of

Rosses Point The Rosses (officially known by its Irish language name, ''Na Rosa''; in the genitive case ''Na Rosann'') is a geographical and social region in the west of County Donegal, Ireland, with a population of over 7,000 centred on the town of Dungloe, ...

, a popular seaside resort located on the peninsula's southern coast, roughly west of

Sligo town Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the largest urban cen ...

. Rosses Point has been inhabited for millennia. The earliest example of settlement on the peninsula was discovered in April 2020, when two local residents uncovered a

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

shell midden on their land. The peninsula also has a rich maritime tradition, and was commonly used as a rest-stop for sailors who were unfamiliar with the tides and were subsequently caught in the sands of Sligo Bay. By the 17th century, the area had become a hotbed for pirates and smugglers, who would harass Atlantic trading ships and loot the contents of ships that had been wrecked in

Donegal Bay Donegal Bay (''Bá Dhún na nGall'' in Irish) is an inlet (or bay) in the northwest of Ireland. Three counties – Donegal to the north and west, Leitrim and Sligo to the south – have shorelines on the bay, which is bounded on the w ...

. One such smuggler was "Black Jack", who used his wealth to build Elsinore House in the early 1800s, with cannons pointing out to sea set up in front of it. Despite its sordid history, Rosses Point developed into a

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

seaside resort. The area began to experience a swelling of seasonal visitors during the summer months, which is still the case to this day. In the late 19th century, Elsinore House came into the possession of the Middleton family, who were relatives of the Yeats family through their paternal grandfather.

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and

Jack Butler Yeats Jack Butler Yeats RHA (29 August 1871 – 28 March 1957) was an Irish artist and Olympic medalist. W. B. Yeats was his brother. Butler's early style was that of an illustrator; he only began to work regularly in oils in 1906. His early pic ...

spent their childhood summers at the house, and the peninsula inspired many of their respective works. It was during these formative years that the young William developed his fascination with

spiritualism Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and Mind-body dualism, dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (w ...

and the

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

. As a child, he believed the house was haunted by the ghosts of the smugglers and pirates who had frequented it, and would later write that there was nowhere in the world with more ghosts than Rosses Point. The "Waiting on Shore" memorial was unveiled in 2002 to commemorate the people of Rosses Point who were drowned at sea throughout history. As an ode to its maritime history, the Wild Atlantic Shanty Festival is held every summer on Rosses Point.

Places of interest

*County Sligo Golf Club *Dead Man's Point *Doonweelin Lough *Elsinore House * The Metal Man *Oyster Island *Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa, Sligo *Rosses Point Beach *Rosses Point Lighthouse *Sea Fishing Sligo *

Sligo Yacht Club Sligo Yacht Club is located at Rosses Point, on the Rosses Point Peninsula in County Sligo, Ireland. It has been located at its present site since 1973. The club was redeveloped in preparation for the 2006 GP14 World Championships, which was won ...

*"Waiting on Shore" Memorial

Gallery

File:Oyster Island - geograph.org.uk - 979023.jpg, Oyster Island File:County Sligo - Metal Man Beacon - .jpeg, The Metal Man File:Elsinore House, Sligo.jpg, Elsinore House File:Rosses Point .jpg, Rosses Point Beach File:Rosses Point Village - geograph.org.uk - 24302.jpg, Rosses Point Village File:County Sligo Golf Club - 1st hole.jpg, County Sligo Golf Club File:"Waiting On The Shore" Memorial.jpg, "Waiting on Shore"

Places of interest

Gallery

See also