Many sites across Ireland were important to Yeats; the following are a selection of those he dramatized in his verse.
Travel to Drumcliff. Yeats' great grandfather, John Butler Yeats, was the Rector of Drumcliffe from 1811 to 1846 and it was there that he set the poem "Under Ben Bulben." (Ben Bulben is a mountain!):
"Under bare Ben Bulben's head
In Drumcliff churchyard Yeats is laid.
An ancestor was rector there"
Glen-car---or Gleann an Chairthe---inspired "The Stolen Child" and is a beautiful site. The waterfall above makes for an impressive view of the woodland below.
The scenic Innisfree inspired "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" and is still a beautiful spot to plan your own tour.
"Red Hanrahan's Song about Ireland" was inspired by Knocknarea. The Knocknarea Mountain dominates the famous Siglo region of Ireland, an area near and dear to Yates' heart. It is an important landmark of the region.
Yeats bought a tower in Thoor Ballyee built by the Burke Family (family de Burgo). He, his wife and their children lived their from 1919 to 1929. "The Tower" poem collection was written during his years at Thoor Ballyee. In 1965 it was restored and is now a Yeats museum. Definitely worth a visit for any Yeats aficionado!
Casterbridge Tours offers a Yeats' Literary Tour that allows his readers a chance to see the sites he wrote about in a comprehensive and organized fashion. The tour includes Dooney Rock, the Isle of Innisfree, and Glencar Lough. It also includes the Church of Ireland Cemetery where Yeats is buried.
The touring company was founded in 1979. It offers private tours for your personal group.
The Sierra Club runs a tour of many sites related to Ireland's literary giants. While the tour spends many days dedicated to the other writers---including James Joyse, J. M. Synge and Patrick Kavanagh---the sixth through eighth days of the tour are dedicated to sites important to Yeats. During those days, you will visit Yeats former home, County Sligo, where you will be able to climb Knocknarea, visit Yeats' graveside at St. Columba's Parish Church in Drumcliffe and the Lissadell House, which Yeats made famous in his poem "In memory of Eva Gore Booth and Constance Markiewicz," writing:
The light of evening, Lissadell,
Great windows open to the south,
Two girls in silk kimonos, both
Beautiful, one a gazelle.
The Yeats section of the tour ends at Loch Gill, with a hike through Hazel Wood, where Yeats drew much inspiration.
