From the Olympic Games to the Aintree Grand National; from the world’s major golf tournaments to the Premier League – Sligo’s fingerprints are to be found across a galaxy of spectacular sporting achievements. Now, in the most comprehensive collection of Sligo sports stars ever assembled, award-winning local journalists Jim and Leo Gray tell the gripping stories behind the headlines. Local Heroes: A Celebration of Sligo Sport features more than sixty essays across 15 separate sports, illuminating a vast array of events, personalities and glorious victories which have punctuated the county’s rich sporting history.

With a foreword by former RTE journalist and Sligo native Tommie Gorman, the book casts a new spotlight on the county’s big occasions at iconic venues, but there’s also a deep dive into the local cauldron of sporting activity, highlighting events and characters who could only be found in a dedicated Sligo book.

There are big names, too. Irish soccer legend Packie Bonner tells how the legendary Sean Fallon nurtured his early career; and Seamus Coleman reveals how his career was almost scuppered before it even started at Sligo Rovers. Alongside the intriguing behind-the-scenes insights are a series of inspirational stories revealing how some of the county’s top stars have courageously coped with personal grief and serious health issues and how sport has been their therapy.

As well as in-depth coverage of Sligo Rovers and the GAA, the field is broadened in a series of unique interviews with personalities from the full gambit of sports, including athletics, rugby, golf, horse-racing, paralympic cycling, swimming, ladies GAA and soccer, cycling, surfing, hockey, boxing, rowing, basketball, handball, and more. To top off a sumptuous package, a host of prominent Sligo-born journalists and broadcasters bring a unique insider’s view to the big stories they’ve covered across a range of sports. Whatever your sporting preference, it’s all here, in an epic, must-read book for all Sligo sports fans.