Sligo, Drumcliffe, & The Yeats Country
Sligo is at the heart
of "The Yeats Country," where touring such Yeatsian places as Lough Gill, the
Glencar, or the Drumcliffe village cemetery overshadowed by Benbulben will give
a new meaning to Yeats' poems that feature those sites. In Sligo, my groups are taken care of by Keith and Debbie McNair who run
DISCOVER SLIGO
TOURS enterprise.
There are two full day tours devoted to W. B. Yeats--click on the buttons below.
William Butler Yeats |
Sligo is a charming town
with touches of metropolitan aura--great food nooks, great shopping, art centres, and bookshops... Yeats spent his young years in and around Sligo and we visit all the sites associated with his early life and work
during two full days worth
of tours to the sites that offer invaluable insight into Yeats's writing. This page as the two Yeats's Tour pages will, hopefully, offer a taste of what's it like to travel around this enchanted area. |
|
|
Drumcliffe: St. Columba's Parish Church (1) and 11th-c. Cross (2), overseeing the cemetery with Yeats' final resting place "under Benbulben" (3) visible from the grave (4)...
See all the Yeats places (and my students) at Yeats's Tour Day 1 and Day 2 for more photos from Drumcliffe, but also from Innisfree, Sleuth/Slish Wood, Dooney Rock, Hazelwood, Lissadell House, Glencar, Benbulben, etc. |
|
1 2
3 4
Below: the roll-over of Strandhill Beach
On location in Drumcliffe: in 2002,
The JonesGroup Film crew traveled with us to film a study abroad documentary titled Discover Ireland, available from the RU Library.
Other leisurely attractions: we go horseback riding.
Alison's horse was particularly happy!
1 2 3
We also dine in style: photos 1 & 2 represent our Yeats Literary Dinner at the spectacular and elegant home Damien Brennan, Yeats' specialist and an exquisite chef. Between the courses, Damien treats us to the story of Yeats' life and work as we ponder the unsurpassed view (photo 3) of Lough Gill at the junction "the rocky highland of Sleuth Wood" dips
into the lake water...
Another Literary Dinner: here is my group dining with Joe McGowan, a writer based in Sligo who happily autographed his books for us.
The elegant ambiance of the Markree Castle
offers a welcome and restful retreat after sightseeing and other adventures of the day...
See also
for more Yeats-related photos: Drumcliffe, Innisfree, Sleuth/Slish Wood, Dooney Rock, Hazelwood, Lissadell House, Glencar, Benbulben, etc.
Glencar Waterfall
immortalized in Yeats' poem "The Stolen Child,"
with its "wandering water" whose pools among the rushes "scarce could bathe a star..."
Back
|