Sooey is a small Sligo townland — by some counts a village, by others not — at a crossroads on the R284 about fifteen kilometres south-east of Sligo town. It sits in the civil parish of Ballynakill, in the barony of Tirerrill, on the route that runs from Sligo through to Leitrim village and on to Carrick-on-Shannon.
There is not a great deal in the village itself: a pub, a handful of houses, the parish church a short walk away. The reason a passing visitor will see Sooey is the road — the R284 is the back route from Sligo down to the east side of Lough Arrow, the Bricklieve country, Riverstown and the Coopershill / Sligo Folk Park area.
Treat Sooey as part of a south-east Sligo loop rather than a destination. The half-day around it — Riverstown, the lake, Carrowkeel above — is the reason to be in the country.
Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.
Sooey is a townland in the parish of Ballynakill, in the barony of Tirerrill, on the R284 between Sligo town and Leitrim village.
Next stops → 02 The honest takePub, a few houses, the road on. There is no signposted attraction. Treat Sooey as a road sign on the drive between Sligo and the Leitrim border.
Skip → 03 The countrySooey sits on the way to all three. Riverstown ten minutes south-west, Lough Arrow fifteen minutes, Carrowkeel passage tombs twenty.
Next stops →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.
Roads quiet, country opening up.
Long evenings on the back roads.
Best light of the year on the Bricklieves to the south-west.
Wet, dark, slow.
If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.
It is a road sign on the R284. The reasons to be in the area are around Lough Arrow and Riverstown.
Sligo to Sooey is 20 minutes on the R284. Riverstown is 10 minutes south-west.
Local Link routes cover this corridor on some days.
No station. Nearest is Sligo MacDiarmada (20 min) or Boyle (35 min).
Ireland West Airport Knock (NOC) is 1h 15m.