Rosses Point

Rosses Point (Irish: An Ros) (co-ordinates 54.3090 -8.5705) is a lovely seaside village situated about five and a half miles north-west of Sligo Town.

The beach at Rosses Point is very safe, with none of the unfortunate dangers which are present in the neighbouring resort of Strandhill.

Rosses Point has three beaches, each of which is divided by a rocky outcrop, with fairly shallow water and hardly any large waves, making Rosses Point an extremely safe day out for all the family.

The poet William Butler Yeats and his brother, the artist Jack B Yeats, spent many of their summer holidays at Elsinore Lodge (now sadly in ruins), in Rosses Point.

Elsinore Lodge belonged to the Middleton Family, grandparents of the famous Yeats brothers and owners of the Sligo Shipping Company and was built by a smuggler called John Black and is said to be haunted by the ghosts of smugglers tapping on the windows at night.

The Metal Man is a 3.7 metre (12 ft) high marker buoy statue, placed offshore by local seafarers in 1821 to point boats towards the deep channel in towards Sligo Harbour. The Metal Man is maintained by the Commissioners of Irish Lights.

The “Waiting On Shore” Statue is located at the entrance to the cark park of the RNLI lifeboat station, and depicts a woman holding her arms out to sea, reaching out for lost soul’s.

A plaque at the base of the statue reads as follows:

Lost at sea, lost at sea
Or in the evening tide
We loved you, we miss you
May God with you abide.

The Rosses Point Golf Club clubhouse was was designed by George O’Connor and built on its current site in 1912, this was updated and modernised in 2005 with the modern clubhouse retaining the beautiful Tudor style facade that exudes old world charm.

The Rosses Point Golf Club, hosts the annual West of Ireland Golf Championship.

There are also plenty of walks, things to see and beautiful scenic views all scattered around Rosses Point.