Cloonacool is a small village in south Sligo at the southern foot of the Ox Mountains, roughly 15 kilometres south-west of Coolaney along the back road toward Ballina. The Irish name — Cluain na Cúile — means the meadow at the back. The village core is small: a church, a pub, a school, a handful of houses around the junction.
What is around Cloonacool is more than what's in it. The Ox Mountains — Slieve Gamh, the mountain of the boars — rise directly behind, low and rolling and bog-covered. Knockalongy at 544 metres is the highest point of the range. The Coolaney National Mountain Bike Centre is over the ridge to the north-east. The road through the village links Tubbercurry to the east with the Mayo border and Foxford to the west.
Treat Cloonacool as a passing village. Use Tubbercurry or Coolaney as the base if you are riding the Ox trails, and stop in for a pint on the way through.
Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.
Cloonacool — meadow at the back — sits at the southern foot of the Ox Mountains, 15 km south-west of Coolaney on the back road from Tubbercurry to Ballina.
Next stops → 02 The roadPub, church, school, a few houses around the junction. The road carries on west to Foxford, north to Coolaney over the Ox ridge.
Next stops → 03 The OxesThe Ox Mountains rise immediately behind the village. Knockalongy (544 m), the highest point, is north-west. The Coolaney MTB trails are over the ridge.
Walks & outings →The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.
There is no bad time. There are different times.
Bog drying out. Lambs everywhere. The Ox ridge clearing of cloud.
Long evenings on the back roads. Useful base for the Coolaney trails over the hill.
Best light of the year on the Ox ridge. Quiet roads.
Bog roads dangerous in heavy rain. The Ox ridge is featureless in cloud — stay low.
If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.
The pass over to Coolaney is exposed and the road can be very narrow. In poor visibility, go round through Tubbercurry.
There isn't one. The pub is the pub. Sleep in Tubbercurry or Ballina for variety.
Sligo to Cloonacool is 50 minutes via the N4/N17 and back roads. Tubbercurry is 15 minutes east. Foxford (Mayo) is 35 minutes west.
No direct service.
No station. Sligo MacDiarmada is 50 minutes east; Foxford has a station on the Dublin-Westport line.
Ireland West Airport Knock (NOC) is 35 minutes.