W.B. Yeats
W B Yeats drew inspiration from county Sligo all his life. The landscape of Yeats’ Sligo Ireland is wonderful…a post Ice Age drama pitted with blue lakes, megalithic remains of early man and at every turn a line from William Butler Yeats that captures forever the magic of the place. His brother, Jack B Yeats, did the same in line drawings and later impressionist oils saying that “everything I paint has something of Sligo in it” They wrote and painted in the late 1800s but today a great deal of it can still be seen now as then.
Visit his grave at Drumcliffe church.
Damien Brennan knows all of its history, all of its poetry and delights in taking visitors along with him on a tour of discovery. He accompanies coach groups, small bus tours and private individuals around the Land of Hearts Desire, as Yeats referred to Sligo. He will accompany you in your vehicle or you can join him in his comfortable car. yeatssligo@gmail.com
Lissadell House is renowned as the childhood home of Constance Markievicz, her sister Eva Gore-Booth, and their brother Josslyn. Constance, a leader of the 1916 Rising, was the first woman elected to Dáil Éireann and served as Minister for Labour — the first female minister in a modern European democracy. She was also elected to the British House of Commons but declined her seat. Eva was a distinguished poet and suffragist who famously debated Winston Churchill on barmaids’ rights in 1908. Josslyn developed Lissadell into one of Europe’s foremost horticultural estates, now beautifully restored. The poet W. B. Yeats, a close friend of the Gore-Booth sisters, stayed at Lissadell in the 1890s and immortalised them in verse:
“The light of evening, Lissadell,
Two girls in silk kimonos, both
Beautiful, one a gazelle.”
Today, Lissadell House and Gardens is home to Edward Walsh and Constance Cassidy, whose extensive restoration has revived its historic charm. It remains one of Sligo’s must-see attractions — just 35 minutes north of Temple House.
The Model Arts & Niland Centre
Housing their permanent collection including works by Jack B. Yeats, the Centre also hosts exhibitions of major Irish and international contemporary art.
This award-winning building is home to one of the most notable public art collections in Ireland, which features one of the largest public holdings of work by Jack Butler Yeats in existence. The Niland Collection also features a broad range of both traditional and contemporary works by artists including Norah McGuinness, Dorothy Cross, Alice Maher, Clodagh Emoe, Eamon O’Kane, Sean McSweeney, Estella Solomons, and Paul Henry amongst many others.
Drumcliffe Church
Drumcliffe, County Sligo is set against the striking backdrop of the Benbulben Mountains. It is best known as the final resting place of W.B. Yeats, one of Ireland’s greatest poets.
Found in the churchyard, his grave is marked with a simple headstone with the inscription, “cast a cold eye on life, on death, horseman, pass by.” This was Yeats’ self penned epitaph together with the instructions that the grave consist of “no marble, no conventional phrase”. The graveyard also contains a high cross and nearby is the site of a 6th Century Columbian monastery.
Coffee shop and craft shop on site offering home baking and quality crafts.
