Sligo’s name - ‘the Place of Shells’ comes from the fact that there was an abundance of shellfish found at the river and estuary - the river was also called the Sligeach (now called the Garavogue River). The Ordnance survey letters of 1836 state that ‘cart loads of shells were found underground in many places within the town where houses now stand.’ At that time shells were constantly being dug up during the construction of foundations for buildings. This whole area, from the river estuary of the ‘Shelly River’, around the coast to the river at Ballysadare Bay was rich in marine resources and was a prime reason for large settlement of the region during the prehistoric period.