Tobercurry: Discover traditions and landscapes

Traditional music, lively craft demonstrations, and a trail through woodland and open bog reveal different sides of Tobercurry. You can plan your stay around a cultural event or focus on the landscape and nature. Which holiday accommodation suits you also depends on the experiences that shape your travel dates and interests.

Music and dance in the town centre

The South Sligo Summer School of Traditional Music, Song and Dance takes place annually in Tubbercurry during the second week of July. Its programme includes masterclasses, céilithe, workshops, lectures, concerts, and sessions. The offering ranges from guided courses to events centred on music and dance. In recent years, all Summer School activities have been held in Tubbercurry town centre.

If traditional music is an important reason for your trip, the second week of July gives you a specific timeframe for your stay. The various programme events offer different ways to take part: you might be interested in masterclasses and workshops, or prefer to focus on concerts, lectures, and sessions. Céilithe add dance to the programme. This lets you plan your trip around the events that appeal to you most, rather than limiting your stay to a single format.

Crafts and heritage at the Old Fair Day

The Tubbercurry Old Fair Day features craft and heritage villages, as well as demonstrations of spinning, weaving, thatching, and butter-making. These demonstrations showcase a range of traditional crafts: from working with fibres and making cloth to thatching a roof and producing butter. If you are planning a trip together, these hands-on activities offer different points of interest for anyone interested in crafts and local heritage.

The Tubbercurry Old Fair Day Festival 2025 is a separate event: a five-day festival that celebrated Tubbercurry’s heritage and community spirit. The year refers to this festival and marks it as a past event; it does not indicate a future date. When choosing your travel dates, you can therefore distinguish between the music programme, which takes place annually during the second week of July, and the festival specifically associated with 2025.

Woodland, bog, and views

The Tubbercurry Trail is a woodland and bog trail on the R294, Ballina Road, in Tubbercurry. It runs through deciduous and coniferous woodland as well as open bog. Along the way, there are views of nearby Rathscanlon Bog and the Ox Mountains. The contrast between wooded sections and open bogland shapes the character of this trail; the views add two specific landscape features to the natural setting.

The place known as the “Hill of the Fairies” is also near Tubbercurry, on a spectacular limestone plateau. From there, views extend across the North Connacht plain. Its size and commanding position suggest that it was a regional centre from the Neolithic period into prehistory. Landscape and history come together at this remarkable site, which is distinct from the Tubbercurry Trail.

A cultural event or nature experience as a reason to travel

The Lough Easkey Loop may also help you plan your trip: Tubbercurry is the nearest town to the loop at both its starting point and its finish. Tubbercurry Golf Course, a 9-hole course in County Sligo, is also nearby. These options cater to different interests from the Summer School or the woodland and bog trail.

When looking for holiday accommodation in Tobercurry, you can start by deciding what you want to focus on: the second week of July is the timeframe for the annual South Sligo Summer School; the trail offers woodland, bog, and views. The Lough Easkey Loop and the 9-hole golf course add other interests to the mix. This way, choosing where to stay starts with the experiences you actually want to plan.

More places to discover: Ballisodare, Cloonacool, Derry, Gorteen, Ballymote, Derrybeg, Inishcrone and Castlebaldwin.

For the wider travel overview: County Sligo.