As it's International Women's day, here is a short account of one Sligo lady who was considered ahead of her time for highlighting social issues and provided literary inspiration for the gothic novel Dracula. Charlotte Blake Thornley Stoker (1818 - 1901) Charlotte was described as ambitious, intelligent, vivacious and a social reformer. Charlotte grew up… Continue reading Charlotte Thornley Stoker
The Lady Anne Walk that originally connected Hazelwood House with Ardaghowen has received funding for the trail to be extended and renovated. The historic nature walk was built for Lady Anne Butler, the wife of John Arthur Wynne. The couple had married in 1838. It is estimated the walk was built in the mid-1800s and… Continue reading Lady Anne Trail
The author Bram Stoker's mother hailed from Sligo. Her name was Charlotte Thornley and she lived with her parents Captain Thomas Thornley, Matilda Blake Thornley along with her two younger brothers Thomas and Richard. Charlotte lived with her family on Correction Street now Old Market Street in the town. It was here where she resided in… Continue reading Sligo and the Dracula connection
From the newspaper archives comes the late eighteenth-century story of two young boys herding cattle on Doomore mountain near Coolaney, County Sligo. Booleying farming was an agriculture practice carried out in Ireland. This is where younger members of the farming community usually a teenage girl or boy, would go uphill with cattle to higher pastures to… Continue reading Sligo Dark Tales – The perils of travelling alone in the 18th-Century
