The Story of the Easkey Name

The name Easkey comes from the Irish Iascaigh, meaning “abounding in fish.” The name comes from the Easkey River, which flows through the village and into the Atlantic. Salmon and sea trout were once plentiful in the river, making the name a natural description of the place.

Easkey stands on the west coast of County Sligo, where the river meets the sea. The coastline is rugged, with rocky cliffs, beaches, and tidal waters, while the Ox Mountains rise inland. The meeting of river, mountain, and Atlantic has shaped the character of the community for centuries.

The area has a long history of settlement. Forts, ancient monuments, holy wells, and ruined buildings scattered throughout the parish reveal a landscape inhabited and remembered across many generations.

The medieval period left one of Easkey's most distinctive landmarks: Easkey Castle, built near the mouth of the river. The castle dates from around the thirteenth century and became associated with the MacDonnell and O'Dowd families, powerful Gaelic families who controlled much of west Sligo.

The sea was also central to everyday life. Fishing provided food and income, while seaweed was gathered along the shore for kelp-making and fertilizer. The river supported salmon fishing, connecting the inland countryside with the Atlantic.

Christian tradition remains part of the local landscape as well. St Faranan is associated with the parish, and his holy well was once a place of pilgrimage. Such wells were important places of prayer and healing throughout rural Ireland, preserving traditions that often reached back centuries.

The nineteenth century brought the familiar mixture of hardship and change. The Great Famine affected Easkey deeply, bringing hunger, emigration, and the loss of population. Yet the village remained connected to the sea, the river, and the surrounding farming communities.

In more recent times, Easkey has become known for a different relationship with the Atlantic. Its powerful waves and rocky coastline have made it an important destination for surfing, bringing new generations of visitors to a place whose relationship with the sea is centuries old.

But the name is older than tourism, older than the castle, and older than the modern village.

Iascaigh — abounding in fish — remembers the river.

The fish gave the river its reputation. The river gave the village its name.

Easkey is a place where the Atlantic still meets the river, and where an ancient name continues to describe the abundance that once drew people to this remote corner of Sligo.