W. B. Yeats
No doubt, you may know more about Yeats than I. You may be familiar with his life, his works, etc. But I found something that has intrigued me to learn more about him.
One early morning, I was driving through County Galway and spotted a sign 'W.B. Yeats' and took the turn. What I discovered was a piece of romantic history. There was not another soul around and I took my time viewing and photographing this wonderful gift to his wife, George (Georgie, Georgiana).
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William Butler Yeats, Nobel Laureate (1923)
Originally called Ballylee Castle, it was built in the 15th or 16th Century by the Burkes, Earls of Clanricarde. However, once Yeats purchased and occupied it, he changed the name from Castle to Tower. it is now called Thoor Ballylee Tower but mostly commonly referred to as Yeats Tower.
In fact, fellow laureate, Seamus Heaney said it was "the most important public building in Ireland" because of Yeats association.
By all accounts, Yeats took great pleasure in the Tower, it's peace and tranquility. He described the spiral staircase as "This winding, gyring, spiring treadmill of a stair is my ancestral stair; That Goldsmith ad the Dean, Berkeley and Burke have traveled there."
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The maintenance sheds (left) and the old farmhouse which serves as the museum and office (above).
A plaque on the tower reads:
"I, the poet William Yeats,
With old mill boards and
sea-green slates,
And smithy work from the
Gort forge,
Restore this tower for my wife, George,
And may these characters remain
When all is ruin once again."
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As beautiful as the tower is, I am drawn to nature (below). I imagine sitting on this lawn, watching the water lazily flow past me, letting the sunshine peek through the slow moving leaves and feel the breath of the wind on my face. Yeats was correct when he said, "to go elsewhere is to leave beauty behind."
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