|
| |
|
DRUMCLIFF |
| |
|
|
| |
If you stick to the main N15 road out of Sligo you'll bypass the
small Rosses Point peninsula, only reaching the sea five miles north of
Sligo at DRUMCLIFF (bus #480 from Sligo), an early monastic site best-known
as the last resting place of W.B. Yeats . His grave is in the grounds of
an austere nineteenth-century Protestant church, within sight of the
nearby Benbulben Mountain, as the poet wished. The grave of W.B. and his
wife, George, has a simple headstone bearing the epitaph from Yeats's
last poem:
Cast a cold eye
On life, on death.
Horseman, pass by!
In 575, St Columba founded a monastery here, and you can still see the
remnants of a round tower to the left of the road and a tenth-century
high cross - the only one in the county - on the right. The east face of
the cross has carvings of Adam and Eve, Cain killing Abel and Daniel in
the lion's den; the west face shows scenes from the New Testament,
including the Presentation in the Temple and the Crucifixion. Local
excavations have turned up a wealth of Iron and Bronze Age remains, too.
A visit to Drumcliff Church (Mon-Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 1-6pm; £2/¬2.54)
includes a guide to the history of the site, "St Columba and Drumcliff",
an accessible film animation portraying the Battle of the Book , and
access to computer interactives in the nearby visitor centre. These last
offer a wealth of material on Yeats, including extracts of poetry along
with biographical material and archival film and photography. The
visitor centre (Mon-Sat 8.30am-6pm, Sun 1-6pm; free) also houses a good
tea shop - a welcome refuge on a rainy day. For something more
substantial, there's good bar food at The Yeats Tavern , about a hundred
yards further along the main road.
At 1730ft, Benbulben is one of the most dramatic mountains in the
country, and its profile changes constantly as you round it. According
to the Fionn Mac Cumhaill legend, it was here that Diarmuid, the ill-fated
young warrior, was killed by the wild boar, its bristles puncturing his
heel - his one vulnerable point. Access to the slopes is easy, but you
need to take care as there are a lot of dangerous clefts into which the
unsuspecting walker can all too easily plunge, especially as the
mountain is invariably shrouded in mist.
Around four miles east of Drumcliff is Glencar Lough , ten miles
northeast of Sligo, squeezed between Benbulben and the range of hills
known as the Sleeping Warrior. This secluded lakelet is known for its
good salmon and trout fishing. To get there from Sligo, take the
Manorhamilton bus, ask to be dropped off at the junction for the lake
and walk the remaining two miles. With your own transport, follow the
road round the northern edge of the lake, passing the recently reopened
barium mine sheds on the left, until you see the "Waterfall" signpost.
From the nearby car park a path leads up to the 50ft-high waterfall ,
especially impressive after heavy rain. There are more waterfalls,
visible from the road, in the upper reaches of the valley, although none
is quite as romantic as this one. For even better mountain walking,
continue along the road to the eastern end of the lake, where a track
rises steeply northwards to the Swiss Valley , a deep rift in the
mountain crowned with silver fir.
|
| |
|
