Sligo Bay () is a natural ocean

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

County Sligo County Sligo ( , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region and is part of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Geography

Stony beach at Drumcliffe bay - geograph

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, hosting the

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

of three rivers: Drumcliff, Garavogue and Bonet. The river Garavogue reaches the bay in its central part, named ''Sligo Harbour'', which is divided from the outer part of the bay by three small islands: Coney, Oyster and Maguins. On the southern branch of Sligo Bay also has its mouth the Ballisodare River, near the village of the same name.

Landforms and islands

The bay is characterised by the peninsulas jutting out into it, which create vast areas of sandy beach at low tide, along with the tidal islands which are only accessible at low tide. The notable landforms within the bay and its peninsulas are: *

Maugherow Peninsula The Maugherow Peninsula () is the largest and westernmost peninsula of County Sligo, Ireland. It is also less commonly referred to as the Raghly Peninsula, after Raghly Point (), which is itself a headland A headland, also known as a head, is ...

* Rosses Point Peninsula *

Coolera Peninsula The Coolera Peninsula () is a peninsula in Sligo Bay, County Sligo, Ireland. It is the most populous of County Sligo's peninsulas, and the second-largest by land area. The primary population centres on Coolera are the coastal town of Strandhil ...

*Oyster Island *

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

*Maguins Island

History

Large beaches and tidal plains located around the bay are a good habitat for

shellfish Shellfish, in colloquial and fisheries usage, are exoskeleton-bearing Aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrates used as Human food, food, including various species of Mollusca, molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish ...

. This kind of food attracted settlers since the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

, as demonstrated by a number of

midden A midden is an old dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bones, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human oc ...

s discovered in the area by

archeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeol ...

s. During the centuries in waters of the bay occurred several

shipwrecks A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. It results from the event of ''shipwrecking'', which may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately thre ...

. Quite well studied is the wreck of ''Labia'' (25 September 1588), a 728-ton Venetian ship. Shipwrecks became almost common during the following centuries and their number started to decrease with the decline of the port of Sligo in the 20th century.

Transport

Sligo Airport Sligo Airport is located in Strandhill, County Sligo, west of Sligo, at the end of the R277 road (Ireland), R277 road, in Ireland. The airport is a small regional airport and has had no scheduled routes since 2011. It is the home of the Slig ...

is located on the bay's shore, at the foot of

Knocknarea Knocknarea (; ) is a large prominent hill west of Sligo town in County Sligo, Ireland, with a height of . Knocknarea is visually striking as it has steep limestone cliffs and stands on the Coolera Peninsula overlooking the Atlantic coast. At th ...

, a hill which overlooks the peninsula between Sligo Harbour and

Ballysadare Ballysadare (), locally also Ballisodare, is a town in County Sligo, Ireland. It is about south of Sligo town. The town developed on an important crossing of the Owenmore River. Ballysadare is in a townland and civil parish of the same name. ...

Bay (Bonet estuary).

Lighthouses

There are four lighthouses in Sligo Bay.

Blackrock (Sligo) Lighthouse

The 25m high Blackrock lighthouse in Sligo Bay is notable for having external steps until halfway up the tower.

Lighthouses near Rosses Point

Sligo Bay hosts three lighthouses near Rosses Point, the Metal Man, Lower Rosses and Oyster Island lighthouses.

Hiking

Sligo Bay is concerned by the ''Donegal to Mayo'' section of the

Wild Atlantic Way The Wild Atlantic Way () is a Scenic route, tourism trail on the west coast, and on parts of the north and south coasts, of Ireland. The 2,500 km (1,553 mile) driving route passes through nine Counties of Ireland, counties and three Provinces ...

Nature

Bay hosts a well known

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

colony. The estuaries area is protected under European legislation being listed as a

NATURA 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...

site; it is also a '' Natural Heritage Area'', defined and managed by the Irish National Parks & Wildlife Service.

References

External links

{{commons category
INFOMAR page on Sligo Bay
( Geological Survey of Ireland) Bays of County Sligo Protected areas of County Sligo Natura 2000 in Ireland