Top Things to do in Drumcliff
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The 6 Best Things to do in Drumcliff, Western Ireland
Discover the best top things to do in Drumcliff, Ireland including Drumcliffe Church, Teach Ban Gallery and Arts Centre, Drumcliffe Visitor's Centre, The High Cross, Yeats's Grave, Cloghcor Tomb.
1. Drumcliffe Church
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 198 reviews
Reviewed By DERtravels - Upland, United States
This was a morning stop on our way down the road. This location is the final resting place of poet. W.B. Yeats. It was a chilly morning but we had plenty enough time to stroll through the graveyard and the church. The little cafes served very nice coffee and pastries and offered more information on Yeats and his wife.
2. Teach Ban Gallery and Arts Centre
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 3 reviews
Teach Bán features a selection of arts and crafts created in and around Sligo
3. Drumcliffe Visitor's Centre
4. The High Cross
5. Yeats's Grave
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 313 reviews
Reviewed By 442joeo
In his fine poem "Under Ben Bulben" Yeats famously requested his burial place and epitaph, leading to the exhumation of his remains from a grave in France, where he had died in 1939, and their return to this spot in 1949. The final stanza, which concludes with the actual epitaph, reads: Under bare Ben Bulben's head In Drumcliff churchyard Yeats is laid, An ancestor was rector there Long years ago; a church stands near, By the road an ancient Cross. No marble, no conventional phrase, On limestone quarried near the spot, By his command these words are cut: Cast a cold eye On life, on death. Horseman, pass by! The 6th century Catholic monastery was razed by a local Irish Chieftan in the 12th century, and the 19th c. neo-gothic St. Columba's Church of Ireland built upon it is of only slight interest, but the 10th-11th c. Celtic Cross and Tower that remain are worth seeing, as is the river walk, tea shop, and art gallery. Interestingly, the graves contain both Church of Ireland and Catholic dead and are mostly in separate sections of the grounds. However, a woman connected with the Church's tea shop told me that her Protestant family, much liked by the Catholic population, is buried in the Catholic sections, and that relations between both faiths are very amiable these days.
