Toorlestraun — also written Tourlestrane — is a small village in the parish of Kilmactigue in south Sligo, near the Mayo border. It is the smaller of two villages in the parish; Aclare ten minutes north-east is the larger.
The village core is small — a parish church, a school, a pub. There is no signposted attraction here. The countryside around is typical south Sligo / north Mayo borderland — small farms, blanket bog further south on the Ox ridge, the headwaters of the Moy system. Lough Talt is a short drive west.
Treat Toorlestraun as part of a south-western Sligo loop. The trad parishes of Kilmactigue and Aclare have produced singers and players for generations; if the South Sligo Summer School week in mid-July is on in nearby Tubbercurry, the parish pubs around here pick up the spillover.
Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.
Toorlestraun — also spelled Tourlestrane — is the smaller of two villages in the parish of Kilmactigue. Aclare, ten minutes north-east, is the larger.
Stories & lore → 02 The countryOn the south-west edge of the county. Foxford and Swinford in Mayo are the nearest market towns. Lough Talt and the Ox ridge to the north.
Next stops → 03 The honest takeChurch, school, pub. There is no signposted attraction. Use as part of a south Sligo or Moy-country drive.
Skip →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, roads quiet.
South Sligo Summer School in July — sessions spill out across the parishes.
Light on the hills at its best.
Back roads exposed. Pub by the fire.
If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.
It is a parish village. The reasons to be here are music and the wider south Sligo drive — not the village itself.
Sligo to Toorlestraun is 50 minutes via the N17 and back roads. Tubbercurry is 25 minutes east. Foxford (Mayo) is 25 minutes west.
No direct service. Local Link covers parts of south Sligo on certain days.
No station. Foxford (Mayo) is the nearest, on the Dublin–Westport line.
Ireland West Airport Knock (NOC) is 25 minutes.