Spanish Armada
Three of the boats of the Spanish Armada(1588), La Lavia, Juliania and Santa Maria de La Vision, were wrecked along the nearby coastline at Streedagh with the lost of over 1,500 lives.
Divers have recovered canon and other artifacts from the wrecks and there are rumours of pieces of gold washed up on the beach! Artifacts from the boats will form part of the display in the planned Armada Museum in Grange, three miles from Cliffoney. Grange village also hosts an annual celebration of the links between this area of Sligo and Galicia, from where the Armada sailed.
You can see a list of wrecks on the Sligo coast here