Deerpark Court Tomb is unlike most other types of court tomb in Ireland in that it has three galleries leading off from its large central court. It has a single gallery at the Western end of the court and two smaller galleries located side by side at the opposite end. Of the three galleries, only one still has a lintel over its entrance, although it has a large crack running through it. The lintels have fallen off the entrances of the other two galleries. As with the Creevykeel Court Tomb there is no remaining cairn over the galleries.

Until quite recently the tomb was surrounded by trees but these have been felled and there are now fantastic views from the tomb to Knocknarea, Lough Gill and of the surrounding countryside. A 3.5 km looping walking trail leads past the tomb and through the woodland back to the car park.

The ruins of this old church are located near Streedagh.  Very little is left of the church, which may be linked to the monastic settlement on Inishmurray Island.

Captain Francisco de Cuellar was a  survivor of the one of the three Spanish Armada ships that were wrecked at Streedagh in 1588.  He mentions in a letter composed in Antwerp on his journey back to Spain that he reached a church close to where he had been washed ashore.  He recounted that the church had been burned and that inside he saw twelve Spaniards hanging, hung he said by, “Lutheran English”.  It is possible that Staid, being so close to the area of the Streedagh shipwrecks is the church de Cuellar describes.

Followers of Sligo Rovers will be familiar with one of Ronan’s number one spots in Sligo, the legendary “Shed” in Rovers home ground, the Showgrounds.  The Shed was the place where arguably the most vocal of Rovers supporters congregated on match days.  A packed Shed could provide an intense atmosphere as can be attested by anyone that ever took their place on its terraced steps.  Although now demolished Ronan says “I used to love being a kid in there with my Dad meeting the old characters and the cheering and the view of Benbulben and the smell of soup in the cold air and the banter”.

When it was time to get away from it all there were other places to go.  Ronan says he had a small motorbike that he would take over “the back roads…down a small rubble overgrown road” from near where he lived to “the third beach behind Cregg House in Ballincar”.

From this quite place he would write poetry and songs.  He would not be the first person to find inspiration from settings like this in Sligo of course.  Some of the writings of W.B. Yeats are inextricably linked places around the county.  With the scenery on offer it is not hard to see why. As Ronan explained, from this particular location “you had a full on view of Benbulben and the beach”.

Some of Ronan’s other favourite places were the “Casual Corner” on Wine Street which is no longer there today.  The Casual Corner was a well known games arcade that was popular with secondary school students in the 1990’s.  It provided teenagers on their school lunch break an hour of entertainment on the coin op games of the day such as Streetfighter II and Mortal Kombat.  The Trades Club and the T N’C, both of which were places famous for their musical sessions over the years were also on Ronan’s list of places he loved to visit before leaving Sligo.

“Finally” Ronan says, “I loved our shed”.  This is the place “where we used to rehearse”. Every band needs its own space and this was a special place for the emerging musician, “not so much for the look of it but for the many happy rehearsals and parties we had there”.

He has never forgotten the support the band got in those early days “the fact that we had our friends come help us build it and donate whatever they could to make it happen, there was and is a sense of achievement which is golden”.

For more on Ronan’s band The Hooks, please visit www.thehooksmusic.com

Labby Rock situated in the townland of Carrickglass is said to get its name from the Irish word “leaba” meaning bed.  This is one of Ireland’s most dramatic looking portal tombs.  Its enormous capstone must be seen up close just to appreciate the sheer size of it!  A walking trail that starts off at the Cromlech Lodge before going through some forestry leads the walker right up next to the tomb.

Like some other places around Sligo, Labby Rock is associated with the story of Grannie and Diarmuid.  They are believed to have slept here whilst evading the pursuing Fionn MacCumhail.  The tomb is also said to be the burial place of the Tuatha Dé Danann King, Nuada of the Silver Arm.

Knocknarea and Queen Maeve’s Cairn at Dusk

Sligo Docks at Dusk