A common man marvels at uncommon things. A wise man marvels at the commonplace. CONFUCIUS

Wednesday, 20 July 2011

Sligo And Yeats Country

It was somewhere near Matt Molloy's Bar in Westport that I encountered 'Poppy' ...




... and later Seamus Heaney - well his photo - in Hargadon's Bar and Restaurant, Sligo Town ...




Hargadon's has a fine, authentically restored interior ...




After all these heady sensual and intellectual delights, it was a relief to stroll round the wonderfully ordinary, untouristy town of Sligo. Most visitors fail to stop at Sligo in their rush from Galway to Donegal. Which is a pity, as there's much to see. Such as the Yeats Memorial Building, home of the Yeats Society. We spent a very interesting couple of hours in this delightfully old-fashioned place. Upstairs were a few paintings by Yeats's incredibly talented brother, Jack. But most of the time we just walked about, admiring the old bridge ...




... the river Garavogue ...




... the Yeats statue near the Ulster Bank ...




... and the river Garavogue again ...




Not sure about the Glasshouse Hotel, though this is an award winning design ...




Many of Yeats's poems were inspired by features in the Sligo landscape - such as the iconic mountain of Ben Bulben just north of town, and Lough Gill to the south with its Isle of Innisfree ...

9 comments:

Dan Gurney said...

I would love to see some of Yeats brother's paintings. Were many of them on exhibit there?

ksam said...

The Glass House Hotel made me laugh as I found my self automatically tipping my head to one side!

The Weaver of Grass said...

You seem to have crammed a lot into your Ireland tour. How long were you there?

George said...

Another interesting post on your Ireland trip, Robert. A few years back, Margaret and I spent a little time in and around Sligo. What I remember most was the grave of Yeats, outside of Silgo as I recall. I've always loved the epitaph carved on his tombstone, "Cast a cold eye on life, on death. Horseman pass by." If memory serves me correctly, those are also the last words of "Under Ben Bulben."

Ruth said...

My English department has a long-running study abroad program in Dublin and West Ireland every summer, which always stays a week in Sligo. Though I've been to Ireland several times, I haven't been to the west side yet. I would love to wander those streets too.

Dominic Rivron said...

I never realised Yeats was such a funny shape.

The Solitary Walker said...

Only a very few, Dan ...

Stand up straight immediately, Karin!

10 days or so, Pat. I think we crammed in too much, actually. Next time I'll stay put, and hide myself away in a tiny cottage in Donegal ...

George - you read my mind (see next post)!

Ruth - the Yeats International Summer School is world renowned, Ruth ... My mother-in-law has been several times.

Dominic :)

MermaidLilli said...

While on the Camino Frances, in Spain, I met and walked for several days with a man from Sligo. We exchanged emails. Once home I looked up information about Sligo and found at the bottom of the Wikipedia article that Sligo and my town of Tallahassee are sister cities, or twin cities. One of those synchronicities that seem so common on the Camino.

The Solitary Walker said...

Yes, MermaidLilli, when we are open, receptive and far from our normal routine, synchronicities seem to happen all the time, don't they?