Westlife's Ireland: Sligo

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We know the very name Westlife was chosen because 3/5 of the band are immensely proud of their west of Ireland, Co. Sligo roots. Perhaps it's time to discover more...

So whaddaya want to know then? That the town's name is derived from a Gaelic name, Sligeach, meaning 'place of shells'? That, with a cathedral built in 1874, the place is officially a city? That, situated in Eire's northern corner, it take three hours to get there from Dublin (well, if you drive fast like Shane, maybe?!) Or that here's where Shane, Mark and Kian grew up, here's where they hung out. And here's where you just might find the lads when they nip back to the city following months on the road. After all, why not? There's no place like home...

Ahh...Sligo. If you are looking for that place in Ireland that has enough town, but definitely enough countryside, this is your place. Read on to see what the WL guys have to say about their fave places in their home town...

...Left to right: (1 & 2) The Record Room, where Shane bought his first record. Westlife's faces are above the door and their posters in the upstairs window; (3) A signed disc in the Record Room, celebrating westlife getting five number 1 singles (Thanks to Sophie & Sarah for these photos).

The Record Room - Shane: "My mother got me my copy of Uptown Girl from The Record Room, way before I remember. There are two record shops in Sligo, Star Records and The Record Room. We'd hang out in the Record Room. The earliest record I remember buying from the Record Room would have been Boyzone's first album, Backstreet's Back, and Now 38... The shop's quite cool cos our pictures are hand painted above the door. Bono and Van Morrison are up there too."

The river in Sligo

Garavogue - Shane: "I used to fish on the river with my Uncle Joe, who passed away a couple of years ago. We had a good time back then, I would have been eleven or twelve and we'd hang out down there. He was a great fisherman, and even Nicky is as well, but I'm not that great to be honest with ya! It's nice and relaxing, but I think I've caught two tiddlers my entire life!"
Mark: "Nah, on hot days it was nice to go down there - but I'd be too busy playing tennis most of the time. I'd tennis courts near my house and I played in a lot of tournaments, all round the country and a couple of times abroad as well. It's always good to look at though!

Sligo's Gaiety cinema - Mark: "There's one main cinema in Sligo and this is it."
Shane: "I used to come here every Friday night! I started going every week with my mates to see all the new releases. It was a big thing as a young fella to be allowed to go out by myself."
Kian: "You'd always meet up with a bunch of people you knew down there as well, even by accident."
Shane: "Yeah, I went with my mates til I was old enough to go with the girls, I'd probably take a girl every second Friday. I was pretty lucky with the girls at school. Much luckier than I am now, I think!"

...Toff's nite club. (photo thanks to Sarah)

Toff's & MJ Carrs - Mark: "Sligo is very small for a city but we have hundred of pubs - I think we have more pubs per square mile than anyone else, something like that. When we were growing up, a lot of clubs would run Under 18's nights. And then we'd go to 18th birthday parties in places like Toffs and Equinox." (The 'Equinox' nightclub has now been renamed 'Envy')
Kian: "Most people just hired out the back room of a pub. I did that for my 18th, in a plae called MJ Carrs. We had a karaoke night; I remember Mark sang I Believe I Can Fly, Shane sang Forever Love, I sang Babe, the Take That song. Our mate Graeme, who was in the band at the time, sang Mustang Sally and Brown Eyed Girl."

...Cathy in MJ Carrs. (photo ©westlifeweb.com).

The Open Air Pool - Shane: "It's been shut for a while now but it was open when I was a kid. Now there's a big indoor place in the sports centre, but I was never a big swimmer. I was usually horseriding instead. Or playing football." Mark: "I would've gone down a few times. Everyone knows where it is in Sligo, just as you cross the bridge on the road to Donegal. I drive past it whenever I'm home!"

Sligo Weekender offices (photo thanks to Dora)

The Sligo Champion - Kian: "The main newspaper at home is The Sligo Champion, and there's The Weekender too. Before the band I would have been in the Sligo Champion, like, 100 times. There's all the sports stuff, football, Gaelic football, all the musicals we did, and all the bands I was in, easily, 100 times.

The Hawkswell theatre (photo thanks to Dora)

Hawkswell & The Factory - Mark: "There are two theatres in town, The Hawkswell, and The Factory. The Factory does the more arty-farty highbrow productions. I've done a couple of perper acting shows at The Factory. And at the Hawkswell we did Grease, twice, Annie... everything!"
Shane: "The earliest show I remember seeing was Bugsy Malone wen I was maybe seven. and we did our second show as IOU at The Hawskwell; our first performance was in a hotel."
Kian: "That night was just as exciting for us as playing in Wembley. The theatre has 350 seats, backstage is quite big, with 5 dressing rooms. When you walk in there's a bar on the right, and a box office on the left, before the auditorium."

...Sligo town hall. (photo thanks to Sarah)

Sligo Town Hall - Shane: "We got our Freedom Of The City from Mayor Rosaleen O'Grady at the Town Hall. In the days of her reign of power. Getting the key to our home town was a big honour, wee accepted it with great pleasure and great pride. I still have the key and all, there's a big box and the key is lying inside on a bit of red carpet, it's cool."
Kian: "That was a good night, we went out with our family afterwards for a bit of a celebration."

EJs (photo thanks to Sarah)

Shops - Shane: "Tesco's, Penney's and Dunnes Stores are the main stores in Sligo. The three big shops."
Kian: "Penneys would have been the upmarket one out the lot, and I was always upmarket! But I remember getting excited when my mum let me push the trolley round Tesco as a kid. Now, as well as these ones, the main clothes store was AJ's Menswear, which did the best men's clothes. And I worked there as well so..."

Marvel - Kian: "I used to hang out around my street mostly really. There was a green area at the end of my street, with a pitch, and we used to always play football there. There was also a commmunity hall nearby called Marvel - we used to play basketball down there and there were outdoor courts for tennis. I split my time between those two places, me and my cousin Michael, the guy around the corner, David, and our mate McGooks, No, I've no idea how he got that nickname!"

...Left to right: (1) The infamous Carlton Cafe, that Shane's parents owned and ran up until they retired in early 2002. It's now a Morgan clothes store run Shane's sister Mairead; (2) The Westlife pictures in the window of the cafe; (3) The menu.

Carlton Cafe - Shane: "My mum and dad have owned it forever. I remember falling asleep at the tables when the cafe stayed open late - I must've been about six. Then I would come downstairs and wander around sleepwalking sometimes. By the age of seven or eight I'd go down to the shops to run messages, buying in whatever we ran short of. Then eventually I began to do some waiting on the tables and finally learned to do the cooking - I can cook anything on the menu, you know!"

...Morgan, the store run by Shane's sister; Shane's platinum disc, in Morgan (what used to be the Carlton Cafe as it is now). (photos thanks to Sarah)

Burger King - Mark: "This is where I worked! I still pop in nowadays to see if there is anyone there I might know, but mostly everyone's moved on now. I always prefer to go to Burger King than McDonalds when I'm at home, which is weird, cos everywhere else in the world I prefer it the other way around!"
Kian: "I never go to McDonalds or Burger King, very rarely."

...The Four Lanterns. (photo thanks to Sophie).

The Four Lanterns - Kian: "I always preferred the local chippers. There's a 4 Lanterns in Sligo which is much better than the big chains. It does a big 4 double burger with special sauce - it's so much nicer!"
Mark: "I love coming out of a pub or club and heading down to the Four Lanterns for something to eat. Food tastes fantastic then!"
Kian: "The other good place is The Happy Eater, where they do a great chicken fillet burger. They even make their own coleslaw which tastes amazing."

...Abrakebabra in Sligo, the place where Kian got beaten up. Left: In the window above is the denture clinic sign where Kian went after the punch up to get his tooth fixed. (Thanks to Sophie for this pic); Right: Susan & Cathy outside Abrakebabra (photo ©westlifeweb.com)

Train and Bus Stations - Shane: "I felt grown up when I was allowed to go to Dublin with my mates. I'd go for the day, or even for the weekend, about four times a year. My mother would make sandwiches for us to take to eat on the way. Or I'd just lift whatever I wanted from the cafe, everything was ready to go from there..."
Mark: "I'd go to visit my auntie by train in the school holidays, and it felt like a big adventure. By the time we got to Connolly Station in Dublin I'd be so excited!"

More sights in & around Sligo...

The General Hospital, where Shane, Kian and Mark were born (photo thanks to Dora)

Summerhill, where Kian, Mark and Shane studied; The Institute of Technology (photos thanks to Dora)

Left: Sligo Abbey (photo thanks to Dora); Right: There are all sorts of religious shrines and things in Sligo...this one is right out of town.

Left: Feehilys Pub (photo thanks to Dora); Right: The Belfry pub as featured in the 'westlife story' video (photo thanks to Sarah)

Left: Sligo Bay; Right: Ballinode (photo thanks to Dora)

Drumcliffe Churchyard : Kian - "Drumcliffe is a town just outside Sligo and the poet WB Yeats is buried in the churchyard there. All kids in Ireland learn a lot of Yeats' poetry at school, and in Sligo there was an annual competition for schoolkids called the Yeats' Cup. The idea is that you win prizes for reciting Yeats' poetry. I won it a few times... in fact (bashfully) I won it five years in a row! We used to go to the town hall from the competition. I knew the inside of the building well be the time we got the Freedom Of The City!"

Strandhill : beautiful beaches only five miles from Sligo town. (Photos below thanks to Dora)

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