The next stop in Ireland was Sligo, or "Yeats Country"

The sites we visited in and around Sligo are listed in pink at left. 

Click on them for more information and pictures.

Among the great things about our week in Sligo were the dinners.  We had three literary dinners while we were there, and they were all excellent.  The first one was "the Yeats dinner" at the house of a top chef and head of the Yeats fan club!  This house was gorgeous and one side was all glass which gave us a view of Yeats Country.  From the table we could look out and see Lough Gill and Innisfree.  Damien Brennan was our host and he read us Yeats poetry in between courses and gave us some Yeats history.  The dinner consisted of nettle soup, ham, cabbage, potatoes, carrots and a desert.  One of the famous Yeats poems we heard that night was "The Stolen Child," which fit perfectly with the scenic view in front of us.  Another poem we heard, in the form of song, was "Down By the Salley Gardens."  Dr. Wawrzycka sang and Mr. Brennan's son played the tin whistle.  The whole evening was phenomenal- it got us all ready for our next two days of pure Yeats sightseeing. 

Another dinner we attended was at Markree Castle.  This castle lies in the heart of Yeats County.  It is now a hotel and a restaurant and is still maintained by descendents of the original owners.  We had a very nice dinner here...ending with Bailey's Cheesecake!   The pictures below show Debbie and her daughter, Lucy with Lindsey and Bliss just inside of Markree Castle and the outside of the castle.  

The last and very serendipitous literary dinner we had was with local author, Joseph McGowan.  He is the author of "In the Shadow of Benbulben," "Echoes of a Savage Land," and most recently of "Constance Markievicz: The People's Countess."  Like our tour guide, Keith, Dr. Wawrzycka admires Constance Markievicz and brought this new book for Keith.  Little did we know that Keith is an acquaintance of Mr. McGowan!  Keith was able to set up a dinner with him at the restaurant La Vecchia Posta in Sligo.  We were lucky that Mr. McGowan had time to meet with us on such short notice.  We all had different books by Joe McGowan and he spoke with us all and signed our books.  It was a really neat experience.