County Sligo

Ben Bulbin
Co. Sligo, Ireland

The Lake Isle of Innisfree
Co. Sligo, Ireland

Just north of County Mayo is County Sligo. When people talk about the magical land of Ireland it is still Sligo that I think of. There is something about lay of the land and the spirit of the place that makes you think twice about not believing in the spirit world. Looming up in the middle of Sligo is the mountain named Ben Bulbin. Local lore has is that there is a fairy world deep inside the mountain with a door hidden somewhere on the mountain through which the dead must pass through, but which the living cannot see.

"Cast a cold eye
on Life on Death
Horseman Pass By"
W.B. Yeat's Grave
Co. Sligo, Ireland

All around Sligo the hills pitch and roll, concealing little valleys and hidden lakes. Just off the road going North and South is a church yard where the grave of W.B. Yeats sits in a little courtyard. There is something larger than life about Yeats' grave, just like there is something larger than life about Ben Bulbin. This spot feels like the center of something spiritual. There is a sense that I got in many places in Ireland that there is a chorus of Ireland's sons and daughters who's spirits still live in the Old Country. You can almost see them and almost hear them whispering in places like Sligo.

I passed through Sligo twice on my way to and from the northern part of the country. Each time I was enthralled with the beauty of the place.