Rosses Point

Rosses Point is a beautiful maritime village and holiday resort, that boasts two blue-flag beaches. Located five miles from sligo town, the pretty village is a popular holiday resort with locals.

Rosses Point is also famous for having been the subject of both paintings and poems by Yeats brothers, William and Jack, who holidayed there when children (their cousin Henry Middleton owned one of Rosses Point's grand but now dilapidated homes, Elsinore Lodge).

A feature of Rosses Point bay is the unusual "Metal Man", a 12 ft tall statue dressed in the uniform of a 19th century petty officer, which was placed on on Perch Rock in 1822. The Metal Man indicates the safe passage route through Sligo Channel to the the Quay in Sligo town.

Just off the coast from Rosses Point are two small islands, Oyster island and Coney island.

Oyster Island, with its distinctive lighthouse and five cottages, gets its name from the many oyster beds that were found along its shores until the end of the 19th Century.

Oyster is separated from the larger Coney Island by Shrunamile, the channel of a thousand currents. Shrunamile's multitude of eddies give it an unusual whispering sound, which changes with the ebb and flow of the tide.

At the turn of the century, there were five families living on the Island, with the heads of these households listed as Lighthouse Keepers, but as the years rolled by the population dwindled.

Rosses Point is also well-known for its popular and growing yacht club, and its wonderful golf course, which regularly hosts the West of Ireland championship.