The Shimmering Poetry of Yeats Country
 Ireland’s West gets under your skin like no other place in the world, offering an unparalleled experience from the haunting drama of the Donegal landscape to the breathtaking Aran Islands to the legendary beauty of the majestic River Shannon. Encompassing the counties of Clare, Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Limerick, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo, Offaly and Tipperary, this region is filled with an array of opportunities, including sightseeing and shopping, as well as the chance to experience traditional Irish music and culture in the untouched Gaeltacht areas.
“Now they ride the wintry dawn/where Benbulben sets the scene.” So wrote W. B. Yeats, summoning spectral horseman on the slopes if Benbulben, the towering limestone ridge that gazes down on the green fields of Sligo and Leitrim. “Cast your mind on other days,” he declared, evoking the soul of a place peppered with five thousand archeological sites, including the massive megalithic grave complex at Carrowmore. Yeats himself is buried at Drumcliff. A trip from Sligo on board the Wild Rose Waterbus to the 17th-century Parkes Castle takes in much of the countryside that inspired Yeats’s poetry.
History and poetry, nature and art still meld to potent effect. There are vibrant theaters in Sligo—the Hawk’s Well and the Blue Raincoat. The Model Arts Centre houses a significant collection of paintings by Jack B. Yeats, as well as work by the artists Paul Henry and Louis le Brocquy. Writers of world renown find a popular platform for their work at the Scriobh Literary Festival and the Yeats International School.
A sea-swept coastline with good reefs and beach breaks includes Easkey, one of Europe’s best surfing beaches. Farther inland, Lough Allen is perfect for kayaking, open boating and windsurfing. Have the fun of a flutter at the Sligo Races. Or you could take off to the busy market town of Tubbercurry, with its thriving traditional scene—its summer school is a mecca for musicians who want to learn from the masters.
Other marvels await: the Rainbow Ballroom at Clenfarne, novelist William Trevor’s famed “Ballroom of Romance”; the Cavan and Leitrim Railway Museum’s fully operational narrow-gauge steam railway; a journey into Ireland’s agricultural past at the Glenview Folk Museum, with its array of farmyard equipment, horse-drawn machinery and threshers. Stride along mountain ranges and rugged coastlines; go horseback-riding where the heroes did; watch eagles flying high; be inspired by Glencar’s cascading waterfall. All this is but a glimpse of the shimmering poetry of Yeats Country.
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