A weekend away is always well spent and needed as far as I'm concerned. I love travelling, even if it is travelling within Ireland. I'm a student and touring Ireland is a great way to travel without huge expenses and it offers many great experiences and adventures! My latest venture was to Yeats Country itself... County Sligo! Even when the weather is being typically Irish (wet and windy with a touch of freezing cold) Sligo is a real beauty!
We stayed in a lovely hotel on Rosses Point, The Yeats Country Hotel with a great view from your bedroom window! The area was so scenic, with lovely beaches, a few charming pubs with good grub, and a golf course (for those interested...because I haven't really gotten into golf just yet). The hotel had a lovely swimming pool and leisure centre, with great opening hours & a lovely gym area too. It was free to use for hotel guests and since I don't get to go swimming very often, it was nice having a pool so I could go for a swim in the evening.
Sligo itself is full of lovely places to eat, such as cafés and restaurants... and it's also dotted with statues and memorials to WB Yeats or The Famine Memorial (below).
Drumcliffe : Grave of WB Yeats
A short drive out of Sligo town, will bring you out into the countryside, and through Drumcliffe Village, where the Drumcliffe cemetery lies. The graveyard lies under Ben Bulben mountain and is home to the final resting place of WB Yeats.
A short drive out of Sligo town, will bring you out into the countryside, and through Drumcliffe Village, where the Drumcliffe cemetery lies. The graveyard lies under Ben Bulben mountain and is home to the final resting place of WB Yeats.
The graveyard is dotted with tributes to Yeats, including this statue below of a man crouching on paving stones with a verse from one of Yeats' poems carved into them.
The monument that gives tribute to WB Yeats poem 'Clothes of Heaven'
"Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams."
Yeats' grave is very humble and plain, but still a huge tourist spot with people constantly coming and going. There is a lovely gift shop full of crafts and paintings by local artists, which was great for a look around.
Lissadel House and Gardens
I'm a sucker for looking around old houses and gardens and this was no different. When you arrive, you park up and walk to the old Courtyard & Coach House. They have a lovely restaurant/cafe in the old horse stables, which is actually so well done up!
They have an exhibition for the 1916 Centenary this year full of old documents, and paintings by Countess Markievicz.
The house, too, is spectacular looking, facing out towards the sea and surrounded by huge lawns and walled gardens.
The Gardens include a kitchen garden of animals and fruit and vegetables, and an Alpine Garden overlooking the sea!
Ben Bulben
Although I really wanted to go for a hike up Benbulbin/Ben Bulben we decided against it as it was too windy even on ground level! It's just as beautiful to look up at, as it towers above the countryside. |
| 'Under bare Ben Bulben head' |
I highly recommend going to the tourist information centre as soon as you arrive, as there is so many things to do in the surrounding area to Sligo, and they are so helpful in there. They will really help you plan your days and provide all the information you need.
Until my next adventure,
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