Racontour Archive 2008 - 2019

Non Yeats POI: Parkes Castle. GPS location 54.264611, -8.33396  A restored plantation castle of the early 17th century, picturesquely situated on the shores of Lough Gill, once the home of Robert Parke and his family. The Courtyard grounds contain evidence of an earlier 16th century Tower House structure once owned by Sir Brian O'Rourke who subsequently was executed at Tyburn, London in 1591. The Castle has been restored using Irish oak and traditional craftsmanship. Access for visitors with disabilities to ground floor.  Next to the castle is the Wild Rose waterbus which takes you out on Lough Gill. George McGoldrick is your affable host on this one hour trip. It sails daily at 12.30, 3.30, 4.30 and 6.30, but check in advance lest there be a change of plan - Mobile:+353872598869 Opening Hours: 9th April - 30th Sept: Daily 10.00 - 18.00 Last admission 45 minutes before closing   Average Length of Visit:  1 Hour DIRECTIONS: This is the last proper stop off on Day One of the tour. If heading back in to Sligo, take a left after the car park and we'll have some poetry for you along the way.

Non Yeats P.O.I. Dromahair. GPS location 54.220799, -8.297467 Dromahair lies in the hilly north west of Leitrim amid some stunning unspoiled natural landscapes. The "Sleeping Giant" mountain formation (comprising Keelogyboy, Leean and Benbo) is visible on approaches to the village, as is Lough Gill below the Slieve Dae?ne and Killerry mountain. The village itself is also idyllic, located on the banks of the River Bonet, which flows into Lough Gill. Much of Dromahair was modelled on a village in Somerset by the Earl of Leitrim, and the central streetscape still follows the pattern set down by him. Looking for a good lunch before getting the waterbus in the afternoon? Try the The Riverbank Restaurant. Stay on the R287 by taking a right coming into Dromahair - the restaurant is on the left and is marked on the map. It has a full licence and is open from Friday to Sunday. Evening meals are from 6.30 pm to 10 pm and Sunday Lunch from 12.30 to 3.00 pm.Bar Food is Served, daily from 12.30 to 9pm The poem Sean quotes in the audio piece is from Yeats's 1893 collection, The Rose: - The Man Who Dreamed Of Faeryland He stood among a crowd at Dromahair; His heart hung all upon a silken dress, And he had known at last some tenderness, Before earth took him to her stony care; But when a man poured fish into a pile, It Seemed they raised their little silver heads, And sang what gold morning or evening sheds Upon a woven world-forgotten isle Where people love beside the ravelled seas; That Time can never mar a lover's vows Under that woven changeless roof of boughs: The singing shook him out of his new ease. He wandered by the sands of Lissadell; His mind ran all on money cares and fears, And he had known at last some prudent years Before they heaped his grave under the hill; But while he passed before a plashy place, A lug-worm with its grey and muddy mouth Sang that somewhere to north or west or south There dwelt a gay, exulting, gentle race Under the golden or the silver skies; That if a dancer stayed his hungry foot It seemed the sun and moon were in the fruit: And at that singing he was no more wise. He mused beside the well of Scanavin, He mused upon his mockers: without fail His sudden vengeance were a country tale, When earthy night had drunk his body in; But one small knot-grass growing by the pool Sang where - unnecessary cruel voice - Old silence bids its chosen race rejoice, Whatever ravelled waters rise and fall Or stormy silver fret the gold of day, And midnight there enfold them like a fleece And lover there by lover be at peace. The tale drove his fine angry mood away. He slept under the hill of Lugnagall; And might have known at last unhaunted sleep Under that cold and vapour-turbaned steep, Now that the earth had taken man and all: Did not the worms that spired about his bones proclaim with that unwearied, reedy cry That God has laid His fingers on the sky, That from those fingers glittering summer runs Upon the dancer by the dreamless wave. Why should those lovers that no lovers miss Dream, until God burn Nature with a kiss? The man has found no comfort in the grave.

Tour curator John Ward welcomes listeners about to embark on a range of sites that inspired a young Yeats to conjure up his Celtic Twilight. All of the well-known sites, plus a few non-Yeats treats are included culminating in a visit to Yeats's grave at Drumcliffe.  Please see the dedicated Yeats page https://www.racontour.com/yeats/ which has an overview of what the ful tour entails including pointers on the planning of the route over three days. To really get the most out of this guide though, you need to listen to it on our Yeats Country Guide playlist on Spotify where the stories are combined with songs: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7MFBdeOsoiScwyxo0zVty9?si=98c7331a3bad4451 Assuming you are doing so, after this audio piece, we have The Waterboy's epic version of a Celtic Twilight poem from the 1899 collection, The Wind amongst the Reeds: - The Hosting Of The Sidhe The host is riding from Knocknarea And over the grave of Clooth-na-Bare; Caoilte tossing his burning hair, And Niamh calling Away, come away: Empty your heart of its mortal dream. The winds awaken, the leaves whirl round, Our cheeks are pale, our hair is unbound, Our breasts are heaving our eyes are agleam, Our arms are waving our lips are apart; And if any gaze on our rushing band, We come between him and the deed of his hand, We come between him and the hope of his heart. The host is rushing 'twixt night and day, And where is there hope or deed as fair? Caoilte tossing his burning hair, And Niamh calling Away, come away. You'll have noticed Mick changed some of the lines around, but if someone is going to tamper with the master, let it be Mick! Besides, it was artistic licence. we love how he turned the opening lines into the chorus. It also made for the most perfect opening track as we ask you to come away with us on our epic tour of Yeats Country.   An Appointment with Mr Yeats, the Waterboys album of WB Yeats poems-become-songs first released in 2011, was recently remixed and remastered with six previously unreleased bonus tracks. It was released in late May 2022. Highlights of it feature throughout the playlist, including Steve Wickham's rendering of Come Gather Round Me, Parnellites which features straight after a visit to Connolly's where Parnell had been in Sligo.  Says Mike Scott: "I remixed the Yeats album during the 2020 lockdown, using all the skills I picked up while making the last several Waterboys records. Then it was mastered by my colleague Don Jackson. I'm thrilled with how it's come out. Not distractingly different, but fuller and richer, more powerful." No word of a lie, Mike!

Rosses Point GPS Location: 54.304105, -8.561783  Yeats loved Rosses Point and first experimented with the paranormal here, encouraged by his cousin's housekeeper who had the ˜second sight'. Today excellent restaurants and pubs meet all your needs, even if they can't predict your future! Yeats stayed at Elsinore House when he was in Rosses Point. It is now a ruin and is just below the statue in the picture above on the way to the pier. There's talk every few years of doing up the derelict site, but as you'll see, nothing has happened! DIRECTIONS: After Rosses Point, make your way back to Sligo Town. In town, we have listed the key Yeats sites you may wish to visit.

Rathcormack GPS Location: 54.31955, -8.48289 Rathcormack is a small village at the base of a valley. You may wish to take note of an art installation honouring Countess Markievicz by the roadside. Rising on a brae from it towards Sligo, get ready to turn right at the top of the brae for Rosses Point - it is signposted although, please note the sign is for Kintogher. Directions - get to Rosses Point via Google Maps ensuring you take the right turn off at the top of the brae and NOT be taken into town only to double back! GPS Location: 54.304105, -8.561783 

Location: Yeat's Grave, Drumcliffe Yeats's grave is marked in front of you with Ben Bulben visible through the cemetery trees. If the church is open, ensure you pay it a visit. If the excellent booklet by Derick Bingham entitled 'The Eye of the Heart' is still in print, it's well worth a read. The resting place of Ireland's greatest poet, William Butler Yeats, is as near perfect a location as you'd expect for such an evocative wordsmith. In the final two stanzas of Under Ben Bulben, Yeats declared: - Irish poets, learn your trade, Sing whatever is well made, Scorn the sort now growing up All out of shape from toe to top, Their unremembering hearts and heads Base-born products of base beds. Sing the peasantry, and then Hard-riding country gentlemen, The holiness of monks, and after Porter-drinkers' randy laughter;  Sing the lords and ladies gay That were beaten into clay Through seven heroic centuries; Cast your mind on other days That we in coming days may be Still the indomitable Irishry. Under bare Ben Bulben's head In Drumcliff churchyard Yeats is laid. An ancestor was rector there Long years ago, a church stands near, By the road an ancient cross. No marble, no conventional phrase; On limestone quarried near the spot By his command these words are cut: Cast a cold eye On life, on death. Horseman, pass by! DIRECTIONS: We'll be turning left on to the N15 coming out of the car park and heading towards Rosses' Point via Rathcormack village.

Drumcliffe   GPS Location: 54.325334, -8.493741    You are now in the village of Drumcliffe, firmly put on the map when W.B. Yeats was interred here some nine years after his death in France in January 1939. After a long and somber route back from Roquebrune where it lay in state both there and in Sligo Town, he was laid to rest as per his instructions in "Under Ben Bulben". In an ironic twist, the Government was represented by its Minister for External Affairs, Mr. Sean McBride, son of Maud Gonne. Hear more about the return from RTÉ Radio's John Bowman Sunday archive show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaNplPvSbx4

Lissadell House GPS Location: 54.344031, -8.57777 Please note that Lissadell House has a limited opening season.  Best to check the Lissadell website when planning your visit closer to the time.  One of the great coups for Lissadell is getting Leonard Cohen to play here in 2010. Thw riter was lucky enough to see the show and it was magnificent hearing him sing - and also quote Yeats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5vYpWCbHsE  Lissadell is famous as the childhood home of Constance Markievicz, one of the leaders of the 1916 Rising; the first woman to be elected to Dáil Eireann, where she served as Minister for Labour, and also the first woman to be elected to Westminster Parliament in London.Her brother Josslyn created at Lissadell one of the premier horticultural estates in Europe. Yeats was friendly with the Gore Booths, and has immortalised Lissadell in his poetry.  In Memory Of Eva Gore-Booth And Con Markiewicz  The light of evening, Lissadell, Great windows open to the south, Two girls in silk kimonos, both Beautiful, one a gazelle. But a raving autumn shears Blossom from the summer's wreath; The older is condemned to death, Pardoned, drags out lonely years Conspiring among the ignorant. I know not what the younger dreams – Some vague Utopia – and she seems, When withered old and skeleton-gaunt, An image of such politics. Many a time I think to seek One or the other out and speak Of that old Georgian mansion, mix Pictures of the mind, recall That table and the talk of youth, Two girls in silk kimonos, both Beautiful, one a gazelle. Dear shadows, now you know it all, All the folly of a fight With a common wrong or right. The innocent and the beautiful Have no enemy but time; Arise and bid me strike a match And strike another till time catch; Should the conflagration climb, Run till all the sages know. We the great gazebo built, They convicted us of guilt; Bid me strike a match and blow.  DIRECTIONS: After here, you'll be making your way back to Drumcliffe on the N15. Want to be brought to the car park of Drumcliffe church via Google Maps? Use these coordinates: 54.325334, -8.493741

Carney village GPS Location: 54.336437, -8.527212 Narrators: Pro Yeats Mary vs Anti Yeats Sean! You are driving through Carney, a small but well-serviced village, with two good restaurants and pubs, a Chinese take away and even a football team called Yeats FC! DIRECTIONS: Carry on to Lissadell House. In our audio piece, Mary and Sean give their honest opinion of Yeats and his legacy - it makes for a lively debate! Want to be brought to Lissadell by Google Maps? Use the coordinates: 54.344031 -8.57777

By the shores of Glencar lake GPS Location: 54.33762, -8.404841 One of the many tranquil spots along the lake where the scenery is worth stopping for. In our audio piece, we move onto Irish mythology as under Ben Bulben is where the Fianna warriors hunted and where we tell you the story of Diarmaid and Grainne. However, the good people are never too far away in these parts. Yeats wrote A Faery Song where the two worlds meet where the sleeping lovers get the blessing of the area's oldest residents. A Faery Song (sung by the people of Faery over Diarmaid and Grainne, in their bridal sleep under a cromlech) Better still, sung next by The Waterboys if listening on the Yeats Country Guide playlist on Spotify.  We who are old, old and gay, O so old!  Thousands of years, thousands of years,  If all were told: Give to these children, new from the world,  Silence and love; And the long dew-dropping hours of the night,  And the stars above: Give to these children, new from the world,  Rest far from men. Is anything better, anything better?  Tell us it then: Us who are old, old and gay, O so old!  Thousands of years, thousands of years, If all were told.  As they were on the run from her husband Fionn McCumhaill, Diarmaid and Grainne (Diarmuid and Grania) are said to have spent the night in the shelter of a cave in Benbulben, known as Diarmaid and Grainne's Bed. DIRECTIONS: we'll be guiding you along Ben Bulben on your right until you get back to the N15 main road. Take a left here, but please note just before Drumcliffe, take the signs for Lissadell House on the right. if in a hurry, skip this step, but ensure you hear the lively Yeats debate!   Want to be brought to the N15 turnoff by Google Maps? Use the coordinates below to bring you to the next Point of Interest: 54.341436 -8.502989

Glencar lake and waterfall GPS location: 54.340271, -8.37323 We've guided you to the car park by Glencar lake. It's got clean WCs available and adequate parking for everything from buses to motorhomes. This car park may be the best place from which to do a proper walking tour of the area. The waterfall is believed to be the site which inspired The Stolen Child, this is an enthralling place. Make sure you you climb the 100 or so easy steps on the looped walk, right past the waterfall and past the hazel bush where rags or votives have been tied to it where believers have made wishes.  WHERE dips the rocky highland Of Sleuth Wood in the lake,  There lies a leafy island Where flapping herons wake  The drowsy water rats; There we've hid our faery vats,  Full of berrys And of reddest stolen cherries.   Come away, O human child!  To the waters and the wild  With a faery, hand in hand,  For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.  Where the wave of moonlight glosses  The dim gray sands with light,  Far off by furthest Rosses  We foot it all the night,  Weaving olden dances  Mingling hands and mingling glances  Till the moon has taken flight;  To and fro we leap And chase the frothy bubbles,  While the world is full of troubles  And anxious in its sleep.  Come away, O human child!  To the waters and the wild  With a faery, hand in hand,  For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.  Where the wandering water gushes  From the hills above Glen-Car,  In pools among the rushes  That scarce could bathe a star,  We seek for slumbering trout  And whispering in their ears  Give them unquiet dreams;  Leaning softly out  From ferns that drop their tears  Over the young streams.  Come away, O human child!  To the waters and the wild  With a faery, hand in hand,  For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.  Away with us he's going,  The solemn-eyed: He'll hear no more the lowing  Of the calves on the warm hillside  Or the kettle on the hob Sing peace into his breast,  Or see the brown mice bob  Round and round the oatmeal chest.  For he comes, the human child,  To the waters and the wild  With a faery, hand in hand,  For the world's more full of weeping than he can understand.  DIRECTIONS: After the waterfall, you'll be continuing your anti-clockwise journey around the lake taking you near Ben Bulben. We'll be guiding you to a scenic spot to pull over and enjoy the view. Use the coordinates below to bring you to the next Point of Interest: 54.33762, -8.404841

DAY TWO Starting point is the N16 to Manorhamilton GPS Location: 54.282961, -8.45329 Narrators: Mary Murphy and Sean McMahon In our audio piece. Mary and Sean set the scene on Yeats's fascination with the Celtic twilight. Today's route encompasses its famous sites before coming to Yeats's resting spot. The N16 is a scenic route that will take you high above Glencar valley on your left within the next five miles. DIRECTIONS: Ignoring the first sign for the Glencar waterfall, we'll be taking you anti-clockwise around the lake to get to the waterfall. Carry on out the N16 and look out for a viewing park of the lake on the left. After this, you will be driving another 2 kilometres before turning off left where signposted.  Want to get brought to the viewpoint by Google Maps? Use the coordinates below to bring you to the next Point of Interest: 54.332011, -8.39793

We finish Day One overlooking Lough Gill from a viewing point with good parking. Actor Neil O'Shea recites The Song of Wandering Aengus from 1899 The Wind amongst the Reeds collection. This is one of the pieces from his full length show, The Irish Writers Entertain which mixes verse, poetry, comedy with some fine anecdotes about Ireland's literary elite. To be brought to the Lough Gill viewing point via Google Maps: 54.26881, -8.35031

OPTIONAL The banks of Lough Gill by Inishfree GPS Location: 54.215204, -8.350232 Narrator: W.B. Yeats (no kidding!) NB: not recommended in an SUV! Best to see the famed isle via the waterbus. The road down to this Point of Interest is signposted, but is about 4 kilometres along a windy road - there is parking once you get to the end of it. Listen to the voice of the great man himself, recorded by the BBC in 1932 reciting The Lake Isle of Inishfree. DIRECTIONS: After your time here, make you way back to the main road and follow the signposting for Dromahair. GPS coordinates be brought to Dromahair by Google Maps: 54.220799, -8.297467

Dooney Rock GPS Location: 54.239091, -8.42733 Narrators: Mary Murphy and Sean McMahon You are now at Dooney Rock, a huge rock covered in foliage and trees. This was a favourite spot for dancing and romancing and Yeats would have seen a blind fiddler who regularly played here on Sundays. "When I play on my fiddle in Dooney, Folk dance like a wave of the sea." The panoramic views from the top of Dooney are well worth the stiff flight of steps, and show the magnificent brow of Benbulben in the straight distance, and to the left, Knocknarea. When I play on my fiddle in Dooney, Folk dance like a wave of the sea; My cousin is priest in Kilvarnet, My brother in Moharabuiee. I passed my brother and cousin: They read in their books of prayer; I read in my book of songs I bought at the Sligo fair. When we come at the end of time, To Peter sitting in state, He will smile on the three old spirits, But call me first through the gate; For the good are always the merry, Save by an evil chance, And the merry love the fiddle And the merry love to dance: And when the folk there spy me, They will all come up to me, With a ˜Here is the fiddler of Dooney!' And dance like a wave of the sea. Next up, there's an option to make your way to the famed Lake Isle of Inishfree. Well, by the banks of Lough Gill and in full view of it at least! Be warned, it is at the end of a windy 4 kilometre narrow road, so don't do this in an SUV/Winnebago! There is parking on the right just before the slipway that is the closest vantage point of this hallowed spot. The waterbus option of seeing the lake isle is the more sensible and enjoyable option! Turn off point for getting to the lake isle: GPS Location: 54.215204, -8.350232

Tobernalt Holy Well GPS Location: 54.244666, -8.445053 Narrator: Sean McMahon Non Yeats Point of Interest Tobernalt Holy Well is a place of reflection and nurturing serenity. It predates the advent of Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century. Its importance as a meeting place and a sustainer of life predates our Celtic ancestors. Somewhat tenuously, there is a holy well in County Sligo with a Yeats connection called Hawk's Well - it is on Tullaghan hill near Coolaney 10kms south west of Ballysadare for those who really want to get all Yeats locations in the northwest! At the Hawk's Well is a one act play by William Butler Yeats, first performed in 1916 and published in 1917. It is one of five plays by Yeats which are loosely based on the stories of Cuchulain, the mythological hero of ancient Ulster. It was the first play written in English that utilised many of the features of the Japanese Noh Theatre. The Hawk's Well, also called Tubber Scanavin, can be found on top of Tullaghan Hill near Coolaney. Like all wells in Ireland, it is attributed to St Patrick, and even though the Ox Mountains stretch between the well and the sea, its water level rises and falls with the tide. There is also a Hawk's Well theatre in Sligo Town, more of which can be found on our sister guide, the Sligo Town Guide. Synopsis of the Play: The play is set by a dried up well on a desolate mountainside which is guarded by a hawk-like woman. An old man has kept camp there for fifty years, waiting to drink the miraculous waters from the well which occasionally rise up. Cuchulain arrives at the spot, having heard a story that the waters bring immortality. The Old Man urges Cuchulain to leave the well, telling of his wasted lifetime there and how, even when the waters did rise up, he was thwarted by a sudden urge to sleep. But Cuchulain is determined to stay and convinced that he shall soon drink the waters. While they speak of a hawk which had attacked Cuchulain earlier in the day, and which the old man claims is a supernatural being which carries a curse of discontent and violence, the Guardian of the Well seems to fall into a trance, arises, and begins to dance with hawk-like motions. She then leaves the stage as the well waters bubble up. Cuchulain pursues her, but unable to find her he returns to the well to be informed by the Old Man he has missed the waters. Oblivious, he rushes out again to face the warrior women the Guardian of the Well has called out to battle, ignoring the Old Man's pleas to stay with him. (Source: Wikipedia) DIRECTIONS: After the holy well, you will be continuing about 100m further on the Holy Well road before taking a sharp left to get you to Dooney Rock - as long as you have the lough close on your left, you are on course to find it. Better still, be brought by Google Maps GPS Location: 54.239091, -8.42733

Lough Gill scenic brow GPS Location: 54.250261, -8.45164 Narrators: Mary Murphy and Sean McMahon Your first view of it is a spectacular panorama well worth stopping off to take some pictures. Park on the left just before the brow descends. Directions: go down the brae and turn right at the sign for Tobernalt holy well which you will find further down the road on the right.

Ballysadare Bridge GPS Location: 54.209507, -8.509383 Narrators: Mary Murphy and Sean McMahon Ballysadare village, 7 miles south of Sligo is where the Pollexfen Company had extensive milling interests. You should be on the bridge where the Ballysadare river is. Facing north, you are now best placed to recall one of Yeats's better known poems, 'Down by the Sally Gardens'. Down by the sally gardens my love and I did meet; She passed the sally gardens with little snow-white feet. She bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on the weirs; But I was young and foolish, and now am full of tears. The poet often stayed at nearby Avena House, just off the main street down from the bridge which remains a private dwelling. Salley rods were grown here, for basket making etc, and Yeats once heard a tinker woman sing the ballad he later reworded so delicately. After Ballysadare, you'll be driving to Lough Gill and Dromahair by going under the N4 road onto the R290 traveling 3kms and turning right onto the R287. Get brought to brow showing spectacular Lough Gill via Google Maps: GPS Location: 54.250261, -8.45164 Another poem from Yeats's early work features the Crossways collection of 1889, published when he was 24. It references several nearby places. The Ballad Of Father O'Hart Good Father John O'Hart In penal days rode out To a Shoneen who had free lands And his own snipe and trout. In trust took he John's lands; Sleiveens were all his race; And he gave them as dowers to his daughters. And they married beyond their place. But Father John went up, And Father John went down; And he wore small holes in his Shoes, And he wore large holes in his gown. All loved him, only the shoneen, Whom the devils have by the hair, From the wives, and the cats, and the children, To the birds in the white of the air. The birds, for he opened their cages As he went up and down; And he said with a smile, 'Have peace now'; And he went his way with a frown. But if when anyone died Came keeners hoarser than rooks, He bade them give over their keening; For he was a man of books. And these were the works of John, When, weeping score by score, People came into Colooney; For he'd died at ninety-four. There was no human keening; The birds from Knocknarea And the world round Knocknashee Came keening in that day. The young birds and old birds Came flying, heavy and sad; Keening in from Tiraragh, Keening from Ballinafad; Keening from Inishmurray. Nor stayed for bite or sup; This way were all reproved Who dig old customs up.

Queen Maeve's Cairn, Knocknarea GPS Location: 54.272091, -8.47533 Narrators: Mary Murphy and Sean McMahon 325 metres high overlooking Yeats country is this imposing megalithic tomb to the legendary Maeve, Queen of Connacht. The great mound of stones on top of Knocknarea's flat-topped summit is known as Miosgan Meadhbha or Maeve's Grave. Maeve is one of the primary characters in the Taín, one of Ireland's most famous legends which concerns Cuchulainn, who defends Ulster against Maeve's attack. There are many indications that Maeve was in fact a goddess of sovereignty, one of the group of Irish female deities of war, territory and sexuality. The legend of her death is quite bizarre, as an 11th century text explains that she was killed by a sling-shot consisting of a lump of hard cheese, by her nephew on the shores of Lough Ree! We reference Carrowmore in the audio and if it appeals, here are the GPS coordinates: Location: 54.250931, -8.51908 If skipping Carrowmore and going direct to Ballysadare Bridge, here are the GPS coordinates: GPS Location: 54.209507, -8.509383 Look out for the Yeats poem 'Red Hanrahan's song about Ireland' which references Knocknarea and Maeve's cairn. Yeats also penned the following poem about Maeve: - Excerpt from The Old Age of Queen Maeve (from In the Seven Woods, Being Poems Chiefly of the Irish Heroic Age, 1903) Maeve the great queen was pacing to and fro, Between the walls covered with beaten bronze, In her high house at Cruachan; the long hearth, Flickering with ash and hazel, but half showed Where the tired horse-boys lay upon the rushes, Or on the benches underneath the walls, In comfortable sleep; all living slept But that great queen, who more than half the night Had paced from door to fire and fire to door. Though now in her old age, in her young age She had been beautiful in that old way That's all but gone; for the proud heart is gone, And the fool heart of the counting-house fears all But Soft beauty and indolent desire. She could have called over the rim of the world Whatever woman's lover had hit her fancy, And yet had been great-bodied and great-limbed, Fashioned to be the mother of strong children; And she'd had lucky eyes and high heart, And wisdom that caught fire like the dried flax, At need, and made her beautiful and fierce, Sudden and laughing. Full version of the poem can be found here.  http://www.online-literature.com/yeats/792/

Sligo Tourist Office,  Old Bank Building, O'Connell Street, Sligo GPS Location: 54.272091, -8.47533 Narrators: Mary Murphy and Sean McMahon The office is the nominal Sligo Town base from which you'll commence your two-day Yeats Country guide. The helpful staff will be able to provide you with a free map of Sligo and environs - best to get your bearings before embarking on the tour. Please review the various places featured on this guide and note the directions where indicated. Outside of the tourism office, you will see that the neighbouring building on the right is the headquarters for the Yeats Society, which is the epicentre of all things Yeats during the annual Summer school. Across the river with the backdrop of the sandstone-coloured Ulster Bank, you will see Yeats himself, well his famous statue at least. All of the town sites associated with Yeats can be found in our Sligo Town tour. A prevailing feature of Yeats Country and Yeats inspiration from this area comes from the Sídhe or faery folk. In our first piece, our wonderful narrators Mary Murphy and Sean McMahon tell us more about them. The first place you will be visiting on the guide is Queen Maeve's cairn on Knocknarea overlooking Yeats Country. Be taken to Knocknarea car park on Google Maps. GPS Location: 54.272091, -8.47533 The Hosting of the Sídhe The host is riding from Knocknarea, And over the grave of Clooth-na-bare; Caolte tossing his burning hair, And Niamh calling, 'Away, come away; Empty your heart of its mortal dream. The winds awaken, the leaves whirl round, Our cheeks are pale, our hair is unbound, Our breasts are heaving, our eyes are a-gleam, Our arms are waving, our lips are apart, And if any gaze on our rushing band, We come between him and the deed of his hand, We come between him and the hope of his heart.' The host is rushing 'twixt night and day; And where is there hope or deed as fair? Caolte tossing his burning hair, And Niamh calling, 'Away, come away'

PULL OVER POINT #1 - Athleague LOCATION: 53.569574, -8.261633  The old Protestant church opposite the mill has been converted into an Angling and Visitors Centre called the Riverside Cafe. Here one can get all the local tourist information - angling, walking, cycling and is a central booking office for local accommodation and tours. The Centre is open all year round and offers conference facilities. Opening Hours: June - September: Daily, 9.30am - 5.30pm Rest of year: Mon - Fri, 9.30am - 5.30pm Coffee and craft shop Here one can begin a stage of the "Suck Valley Way", a 100km long way-marked walk, which incorporates part of the famous O'Sullivan Beara trail. Ask at the Centre for a detailed map guide. 

Location: 53.629072, -8.191069             This Protestant church is dedicated to the saint who gave his name to the town and the county and has us saluting one of the true heroes of the area before we get to the good stuff on the sinners! 

The Suck river meanders ponderously as it makes it way down towards the Shannon. To the left is Galway and to the right is Roscommon. It's a valley that is renowned to fisherman across Europe, but it has some interesting historical facts associated with it. Did you know the finest ancient treasure in Ireland was made here, that this was destined to be the training hub for law and order or that Ireland's greatest orator gave his last speech in these parts? Beyond this, there are tales regarding saints from St. Ciaran to St. Coman, of dastardly landlords and inventive publicans and of the serpentine-like river itself giving the trail its subtitle of the serpent, saints and sinners tour.  The good, the bad and the ugly has all passed through this area and we aim to tell you some of the more colourful stories from over the centuries in the hands of Eamonn Gleeson and a man who can both see and maybe even raise Eamonn on the talking stakes in the form of Fuerty farmer, Charlie Clarke. Join us on a journey that has scenery that is both haunting and ethereal in the hands of two great Roscommon raconteurs. Please note we would ask you to pull over and savour the full audio of the lads talking loquaciously at five pull-over locations along the way: - 1. Athleague 2. Castlestrange, 3. Fuerty 4. Castlecoote 5. Donamon Castle 

Location: 53.63385, -8.305836    You may wish to observe the river up close by turning right at the T-junction. You will see about twenty fishing docks for the nearby Cuisle Holiday Centre a.k.a Donamon Castle. This is Ireland's leading wheelchair accessible resort and is the Irish Wheelchair Association's National Holiday Centre. It is located within the magnificent 50 acre site of Donamon Castle. Cuisle is a truly unique place where you can escape, unwind and relax. The centre has a fleet of wheelchair accessible transportation that guests can use to travel to and from their homes as well as on day trips, which they regularly organise.  After crossing the Suck once again, you may wish to park up and enjoy the river as it passes by. There are some ornate passing docks along the bridge to allow to fish or observe in comfort. Charlie Clarke's sister, Jane Clarke is a poet and was instrumental in making the audio pieces on this guide happen. Her hearty laugh can be heard with her mother, Dora, on many of the funnier pieces. Many of her pieces are inspired by the river itself:  The River  What surprises me now is not that you're gone  but how I go on without you,  as if I'd lost no more than a finger.  My hand still strong, perhaps stronger, can do what it must,  like carving your name on a branch from the beech by the Suck,  letting the river take you, so I can call myself free.  Only sometimes, like yesterday or the day before, last night or this morning,  the river flows backwards, uphill to my door.  Jane Clarke 

Location: 53.620883, -8.320577  Turn right for Stonehams lough  Stonehams is the place to go if you really want to get away from it all and get some peace and quiet. The area is partial to flooding so if traveling by car, park up where you see somewhere safe and walk the rest of the way.  There are a number of important coarse and pike fishing venues in the area where you will find suitable access and facilities to fish, many developed by the Inland Fisheries Ireland - Limerick over the years. The River Suck and its surrounding lakes offer some of Ireland's best pike fishing areas and are well worth considering on your itinerary of fishing venues to Ireland. The River Suck produces many fine double figure fish each year with numerous specimens verified by the Irish Specimen Fish Committee year in year out. 

Location: 53.642628, -8.304913             The existence of the railway line you've just gone under is thanks to the efforts of Lord Crofton back in the 1860s as the audio piece explains. 

There isn't an acre of land in Ireland that doesn't have place names. Here, Charlie Clarke rolls off just a few of the ones he can think of in the area.            

After your stop off in Fuerty, you will be taking a left at the T-junction and making your way to Castlecoote. It's a short, but beautiful drive through some of the best countryside in Ireland all the while surrounded by the swooping Suck river. Take note of the old schoolhouse on the right. Here we present a poem by local poet, Jane Clarke, whose family still farm the lands you are traveling through right now and for whom the Suck is a recurring theme: - Where the river deepens Bewildered among pillows, tubes and drips, she grips my hand with every kick of pain. I ask if she remembers those days in June, humming with sunshine and hoverflies in purple  loosestrife when she'd meet us at the mill gate  on our way home from school. She carries a basket, heavy with sadness, buttered scones, bottles of lemonade, a crochet hook, balls of unravelled wool. We run through flaggers to where the river deepens, leap from low branches, stub our toes on stones, splash and scream. She watches from the beech-shaded bank, loops wool through her fingers, closes her eyes for a while. Jane Clarke  From the sublime to the ridiculous, the accompanying audio piece also features Jane, this time enjoying Eamonn's wit. 

PULL OVER POINT #2 La Tène stone  Location: 53.586747, -8.272093           On arrival, go through stone gates and find the stone some 50m on the right. Known as the Castlestrange Stone, this dramatic granite boulder displays the characteristic curvilinear ornamentation of Celtic flourishes called La Tène. These date from the Iron Age (c. 400 BC), and were named from the site in Switzerland where such designs were first noted in artefacts. Picnic table on site. 

Fuerty raconteur Charles Clarke solves a riddle where he once took a piddle!

PULL OVER #3 Fuerty   Location: 53.610687, -8.269272  Just after the tree in the picture, there is parking space just before the church on the right. Pull over here to enjoy the audio pieces and to wander around this wonderful village. The graveyard here is one of the most interesting in the county. In it are the ruins of a Franciscan church in which 100 priests were massacred in Cromwellian times by Colonel Ormsby, the local tyrant. Some of the gravestones date back to 1720 and there are graves and tombs of many priests. Two headstones are of special interest. One, erected over the grave of a blacksmith, is carved to show anvil, bellows and smith's tongs. The other, over the grave of a shepherd, shows a sheep and shepherd's crook. 

PULL OVER #5 Donamon Castle          Location: 53.631712, -8.318195  Donamon Castle is one of the oldest inhabited buildings in Ireland. There was a fort here from early times, but the first recorded reference is in the Annals of the Four Masters for the year 1154. It was the seat of the O'Finnaghys, the Chiefs of Clan Conway, who held the land for miles around. In 1232, Adam de Staunton, a Norman Knight, improved the buildings, but they were demolished by the O'Connors the following year. The rebuilt Castle was occupied in 1294 by de Oddingseles. He died the following year. The de Birminghams then took over but it was again destroyed by the O'Connors. 1307 saw the last of the O'Finaghys and the first of the Burkes. The McDavid Burkes occupied it for the next 300 years.  

Eamonn Gleeson tells a story about how one canny publican got the better of the Gardaí one night, thanks to his pet cat!

According to Irish annals, supported by the inscriptions on the cross itself (which refer to known historical personages), the cross was made in County Roscommon. In the annals, the cross is sometimes called in the Irish language "an Bacall Buidhe", which translates as "the yellow staff" — a reference to its golden colour. The cross was commissioned by King Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair. In A.D. 1123, according to the Irish annals, a small piece of the purported True Cross arrived in Ireland and was enshrined at Roscommon.[n 2] The cross then appears to have moved to Tuam. At an early date, probably in the mid-12th century, the cross was moved from Tuam to Cong Abbey, an abbey founded by the Augustinians on a much earlier Christian site. In later centuries, the exact location of the cross in the Cong area is uncertain but it appears to have been hidden by locals and ecclesiastics in their homes because of religious persecution against Catholics, which reached its peak in Ireland under the penal laws. Source: Wikipedia Find out more about it where it currently resides: https://www.museum.ie/en-IE/Collections-Research/Irish-Antiquities-Division-Collections/Collections-List-(1)/Early-Medieval/The-Cross-of-Cong

To see you back into town in style, Eamonn and Charlie tells us about their memories of cattle and cattle marts in days gone by.

PULL OVER #4 Castlecoote    Location: 53.613399, -8.290644  Our fourth Pull-Over point is Castelcoote picturesquely located beside the Suck River. Look out for possibly Ireland's smallest museum in the yellow phone box! The village of Castlecoote as it is known to-day got it's name from ‘Coote. Literally translated it means Cootes' Castle. The original name was Baile Mhic Oireachtaigh, which can still be seen over the Post Office in Castlecoote. Some traces of the castle still survive, the ruins were probably used to provide stones for the new residence which was built in the 1790's by the resident Coote family. Predecessors of these built the castle and one of these, Sir Charles Coote was the president of Connaught in the 1640's. The castle was the centre of much activity, being under attack and siege many times. In the vicinity stood a house lived in by Brian Gunning, grandfather of the famous Gunning sisters or "Hibernian Beauties" as they were known. 

Location: 53.585474, -8.271482 Aleen Cust made history as the first female vet in either Ireland or Britain and faced great opposition despite females surely being infinitely more knowledgeable about giving birth than men! Cust nevertheless went on to practise in County Roscommon with William Augustine Byrne MRCVS,[3] having received a personal recommendation from William Williams,[6] and lived at Castlestrange House (location of the Castlestrange stone, in the Suck Valley) near Athleague.[4] The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography states that there is reason to believe that Byrne and Cust "lived as man and wife and that she had two daughters, born in Scotland, who were later adopted".[1] In 1904 she was briefly engaged to Bertram Widdington, the son of her former guardian, but following objections from his family regarding her career, the wedding did not go ahead.[8] Cust was later appointed as a veterinary inspector by Galway County Council under the Diseases of Animals Acts, an appointment that was denied by the RCVS due to her lack of professional recognition.[6] The post was advertised again, and when Cust was again selected for the post an agreement was reached under which she carried out the duties of the position with an amended title.[6] Upon the death of Byrne in 1910, Cust took over the veterinary practice.[4] She practised from Fort Lyster House near Athleague.[9] (Both Castlestrange and Fort Lyster were later demolished.[10]) Source: Wikipedia

Location: 53.278611, -8.046389 These fortifications are an outstanding example of early 19th century artillery fortifications, built following the 1798 rising, to guard against a further French invasion. Four guns were arranged along the front of the redoubt. Remains of the pivots and circular track indicate that they were mounted on traversing platforms. The roof of the barracks carried three guns. There is a newly opened looped walk adjacent to the fort. There is a restaurant in the fort and by arrangement with the local tourist office in Shannonbridge there are guided tours of the fortification. 

Location: 53.345, -8.01004  Park beside the road. Known to the present day as "The Caoinna Marbh" (crying of the dead), this Wake house was frequently used in early Christian times to rest coffins and coffin carriers when funeral corteges passed through on their way to Clonmacnoise. The interior is furnished with a limestone funeral bearer intended to replicate the recumbent coffin position, the practices and customs of old time wakes in rural Ireland when snuff and clay pipes were much used during the waking period. 

Location: 53.36842, -8.07234     The cemetery and the very fine Naghten mausoleum were both restored in 1997-1999 by Drum Heritage Group, as was the adjacent early Christian Church known locally as the Blind Church (no windows). Its interior wall carries a limestone plinth to the memory of the Forgotten Dead many of whose remains were interred within the surrounding one acre cemetery site. Thomastown House for several generations was the seat of the Naghten family who were owners of 5,000 acres of land in Drum right up to the twentieth century. The house is now demolished. Muddy approach so wellies needed! 

Location: 53.39827, -8.03146     Drum Heritage Centre has a large display area containing one of the largest collections in the midlands of historic documents relating to Drum and the local area, including Mass Display paths. There is also a large collection of the literary works of Tadgh O'Neachtain including those of his son Sean, the papers of the old Gaelic family, the Naughten's, a display of all local families in the 1911 census and the Boston Pilot papers. There is a fine example of Holy Well adjacent to the Monastic Site which stands on an embankment within the Monastic enclosure. Known to locals as "The Monastery", the Abbey appears to have been the place of worship for a Community of Patrician Monks whose living quarters are located to the rear of the Abbey building. The Monastic site also contains the ruins of a Medieval Church and the remains of at least four small buildings believed to have been one-time solitary penitent places of prayer, in addition to three hundred and fifty well maintained memorials to the dead. Entry is free. Toilets in the Centre.

Location: 53.41071, -8.04632 Park on road beside school. Not many ruins of Hedge Schools are to be found today in rural Ireland. Described as a wretched cabin on the 1826 Survey of Schools, the records state Curraghaleen Hedge school had an attendance of 12 males and 4 females and the Hedge School Master was a Patrick Hawkins. The interior of the refurbished one-room school contains sixteen life-size models of barefooted pupils attired in dress of the period. The stern faced School Master is seated across from his class where he points to an old-time griddle which he uses as a blackboard. The Gaelic translation of the town-land points to Curraghaleen being originally known as the low-land of linen. Flax growing and homespun linen appears to have been a large scale farming activity in Curraghaleen during the 16th-17th Centuries. The interior of the restored old school-house contains Information Wall Panels depicting photos of the laborious task involved in flax growing and the tedious work of converting the crop for the making of linen. Drum Heritage Centre has the keys to the school. Tel 00353 87 9918966. 

Location: 53.41188, -8.01972 Park at tomb sign beside road. The 300 metre long Bridle Pathway at Meehambee, Drum leads to the prehistoric monument, the 3500 BC megalithic burial tomb, Four separate information panels are presently in place at different locations along the pathway. The site of Lios na Dreoilin (Fort of Wrens) has now become a Bird Watchers Paradise and its peaceful surroundings attracts walkers to stop at the Wayside Sign and listen to the singing birds. The garlic patch when in full bloom over the summer months provides walkers with a sweet scented aroma. The descriptive information panel offers walkers a look back in time when garlic was extensively used for cures in humans and animals alike. Picnic table on site. 

Location: 53.38421, -8.14489 Holy wells are sacred sites that have continued in use since prehistory. A bride might hope for good luck; an invalid might search for a cure. St Ronan's Well is reputed to have curative powers for eyesight. Often a special Mass is said. The prehistoric ritual of circumambulation or making structured rounds of the well continues. Rag trees are normally close to Holy Wells, as is the case on this site. Usually the rags are placed there, often by the traveller community, believing that if a rag from someone who is ill, or has a problem of any kind, is hung the symptoms will disappear. 

Location: 53.45278, -8.08888 A superb example of a well-maintained holy well in the centre of the village. Good location for a refreshment break. This well is one of the earliest Christian sites in Ireland and has a traditional Pattern day on the last Sunday of July (Garland Sunday). Pilgrimage to this well helped Roman Catholics preserve their faith in the difficult years of the Penal Laws. Local folklore has it that the fine 17th Century coat-of-arms of Randall McDonnell, the Earl of Antrim, erected in 1625 and found beside the well, is in recognition of a favour granted. The water has no known curative powers but is visited infrequently by women for fertility purposes. 

Location: 53.48409, -8.11094 Located on East wall beside the road. A rare roadside pillar showing 6 Irish miles to Athlone. It was probably part of a turnpike or toll on the Curraghboy road. Tolls were abolished in1858. One Irish mile is equivalent to 2,240 yards or 1.27 statute miles and 2.048 kms.