B B In Lisadell Sligo

Irish Journeys: The Land of 1000 Welcomes: August 5, 1998

Here we are in Sligo and neither one of us wants to travel very far in the car today.  It seems there's plenty to do in the immediate area.  Even with the mists driving in last night we could tell it was a very beautiful area.  We woke to a cloudy sky, but Marie, who runs the B&B said it would clear later.  We decided to go to Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery, only a short drive away.  When we arrived there were only a handful of people there.  This is a location where the stone circle is virtually intact.  Anywhere else in Europe it would be mobbed with tourists.  It was fantastic to be in the presence, yes and be able to touch something so ancient (3600 B.C.) that humans had erected for some purpose outside of sheer usefulness.  The site is being excavated by the Swedes.  I guess I can understand that a small country with such an overwhelming number of antiquities couldn't excavate them all themselves.  The site is otherworldly with some mist still hanging around, the mountains in the distant background and the ancient carins in the foreground.  It really is amazing that you can barely find the signs to direct you to this place! The day started to clear.  We've had some amazingly sunny weather for Ireland.  Hope it holds out.  We decide to go to Drumcliff where Yeats is buried.  I'm not really all that big a Yeats fan, but there is supposed to be one of the finer high crosses in the graveyard there.  We arrive after a short drive.  The high cross is stunning.  We walked along the Drumcliff river which is quite pretty and peaceful.  We decide to drive on to Lissadell House where Yeats stayed on several occasions.  It is known as the residence of the Countess Markievicz.  She was beloved by the Irish people, even though Protestant, because she was a revolutionary for separation from English rule and was the first woman elected to the British House of Commons.

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