Built by the parish, 1837
The Church of the Assumption
The Church of the Assumption stands in the townland of Carrowkeel on the R284, built in 1837 to replace an older church that had fallen into disrepair. The site was given by William Phibbs, the local Protestant landlord, and an inscription records that Luke Cullenan erected the chapel that year. The parish built it themselves - the story locally is that everything bar the roof slates was donated by the people of the district. The subscribers list is said to have included Lord Palmerston, later British prime minister, who held estates in Sligo. Inside, the main altar depicting the Last Supper is carved from Caen stone, the Stations of the Cross are carved oak, and there is stained glass, the seating dating from 1880 and the altars and Stations from the 1890s.
Sooey cemetery
Kevin Coen's grave
Sooey is the burial place of Kevin Coen, an IRA volunteer from Rusheen near Riverstown who was killed on active service at Cassidy's Cross near Kinawley, Co. Fermanagh, in January 1975, aged 28. He is buried in Sooey cemetery, where John Joe McGirl gave the graveside oration, and a commemoration is still held locally. It is a piece of Troubles history rooted in a very quiet south Sligo village, and worth knowing if you read the headstones.
Blacksmith, then spirit merchant
The old forge
The old forge and dwelling in the village dates from around 1880. It started as a blacksmith's forge and later became a spirit merchant's premises known as P. Breheny - a small reminder that even a crossroads this size once had its own working trades before the cars and the bypass roads thinned the country out.