The road from Yeats to Adair to Limerick

24 September 2011


We began our day with an early morning visit to the cemetery & church where William Butler Yeats, an Irish poet, was finally laid to rest in 1947 after the end of the second world war.


Yeats was born and educated in Dublin, but he spent his childhood and vacations in Sligo County.  


When Ireland gained its independence from Great Britain in 1922, Yeats served two terms in the Irish Senate.  He was a Nobel Peace Prize recipient. 

Both the cemetery & church are small.  There is nothing to indicate that such an important poet and politician is buried there

Yeats died in France in 1939 but his wife Georgie promised she would bring him back to Drumcliffe, in Sligo County Ireland.  

The inscription reads:

Cast a cold eye

On Life, on Death, 

Horsemen, pass by!

The only sign lists the name of the church with the days and times of service, not the importance of the occupants.

The swan handles on the church doors were a gift of the Yeats' family.  This picture does not really do them justice.  They are absolutely gorgeous.  


This picture does not show the fine detail of the swans wings.  I wish I had taken a close-up picture, but I didn't - oh well.  If I ever go back, I can take it then. 

Our next stop, a lunch/site seeing stop, was in the town of Adair.  This park was directly across the street from the tourist information center.

We had an hour and a half to tour the entire town.  Most of that time was spent investigating the park.

This is a delightful spot in the Adair Town park.

We were told that if a person takes this path for about a mile or so, he or she would come out on the path where the gazebo is.  We did not have enough time to investigate.

Our next stop was the Irish History Museum. We actually spent a couple of hours here, but were not allowed to take pictures inside the museum.  The grounds at the Museum were lush and well manicured.

While inside the museum, we experienced the daily rain showers.  
When we went outside again the air was crisp and clear.  
The grounds had delightful paths with artistic destination points.  

One of the paths led down to a small lake.

The cottage at the end of this lawn is the caretaker's cottage.  The small lake is immediately to the right of the picture.  I thought "I could live there."  (Laughing - but I would not want to mow that lawn!)