Geevagh sits high in the south-east corner of Sligo, on the R284 that runs from Sligo town south-east into Leitrim and the Arigna country. The Irish name - Gaobhach - means the windy place, which is accurate. The village is small: a church, a few houses, a pub, a school. The road carries on through to Drumshanbo and Carrick-on-Shannon.
The history of the parish is a hard one. McDonough chieftains held this country before the Cromwellian land seizures in the 17th century, after which the land was redistributed to English settler families like the Kings and Nicholsons, and later sold on to landlords like the Keoghs and Whitneys. Widespread evictions on the Keogh estate by the early 1900s pushed many tenant families up onto the barren slopes of Carrane Hill. The Arigna coal mines a few kilometres south-east, in Roscommon, were the working alternative - low-grade coal pulled out of the mountain from the 18th century, with an ESB power station from 1958 burning it. The mines closed in 1990. Many Geevagh families worked them.
What is here now is the village and the high country. Lough Arrow is twenty minutes north-west; Lough Allen is fifteen minutes east. The Arigna Mining Experience museum in Roscommon is the place to read the coal history. Treat Geevagh as a stop on a south-east Sligo / west Leitrim drive.
Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.
Geevagh sits high in the south-east corner of Sligo, on the R284 between Sligo town and Drumshanbo in Leitrim. The wind is honest. The name is older than the modern village.
Stories & lore → 02 The historyThe McDonough clan governed this country before the post-Cromwellian seizure. The land was redistributed among settler families - King, Nicholson - and later passed to the Keogh and Whitney landlord families. Evictions on the Keogh estate were extensive into the early 20th century.
Stories & lore → 03 The coalThe Arigna coal mines, just over the border in Roscommon, operated from the 18th century until 1990. A small ESB power station took the low-grade coal from 1958. Many Geevagh families worked the seams.
Stories & lore →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, the lakes opening up. Roads quiet.
Long evenings on the R284. Lough Allen and Lough Arrow both within easy reach.
Best light of the year on the hills. Mining museum at Arigna at its quietest.
High ground gets weather first. R284 can be slippery - drive carefully.
If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.
The road through Geevagh climbs and twists. Locals know it; you don't. Slow down on the curves.
The Arigna mine and the museum are in County Roscommon, fifteen minutes east. You cross the border to find them.
Sligo to Geevagh is 30 minutes on the R284. Drumshanbo (Leitrim) is 15 minutes east. Carrick-on-Shannon is 35 minutes south-east.
Local Link 472 covers parts of east Sligo.
No station. Nearest is Boyle (Co. Roscommon) or Sligo MacDiarmada.
Ireland West Airport Knock (NOC) is 1h 15m. Dublin is 2h 45m.