Sligo, Sligeach in Irish, means 'shelly place' referring to the abundance of shellfish found in the estuary of the river Garavogue, previously called the Sligo River. 

The town of Sligo is the chief town of its county and my base was close to here, my friend who lives in the county informed me that it was recently voted most beautiful or most scenic county in Ireland. I'm not sure where that poll was from, but I can see why it would be a contender.  Sligo sits on the newly created Wild Atlantic Way a Scenic Drive from Co. Donegal to Kinsale in Co. Cork.

My journey to Sligo on the previous day had seen some of the best weather the west of Ireland can get in the winter, sadly on the day that I was in Sligo it was experiencing none of that. Rain and low cloud dominated my photographic day in the northwest. Oh well, time to make the most of it and head to somewhere that might be interesting. I had previously been to the Sligo coast and have a number of images in preparation so with a few OSI maps in hand I headed off without much of a plan.

On this occasion I headed to the north of the county, close to its border with Leitrim and Donegal just a few short miles beyond.

Several magnificent scenes were evident in front of me, even if the low cloud was obscuring the mountain tops. Today wasn't going to see the typical tourist brochure type of image but that wasn't what I was looking for. 

The strange geomorphological features of the Sligo landscape make it quite unique in Ireland, there are sheer-sided mountains rather than the soft contours of much of our upland areas.

Photography is really all about the journey, how you plan and prepare, adapt to the conditions and it is about making the most of it. Finding a scene that suits the weather and your mood.

Who needs the perfect weather anyway?

You can read more about my visit to the Sligo coastline on a previous trip here.