The countdown to our Ireland Screenwriting Retreat with Bill Boyle continues. I can’t wait for all of you screenwriters coming with us to experience what we have planned. Here’s another highlight: a day tour to Sligo. As many of you know, Sligo is Yeats country – William Butler Yeats, that is, one of the world’s best loved and most highly regarded poets. W.B., as he is called, spent his childhood summers in Sligo.
We start our “Yeats Experience” at a private Yeats Poetry lunch, just for our little group. We’ll be at Broc House, set on a hill overlooking Lough Gill, the location of William Butler Yeats’ poem, The Lake Isle of Innisfree. Broc House is the private home of Damien Brennan, renowned Yeats expert, and his wife, acclaimed chef Paula Gilvarry. I had dinner with them last year when I was in Sligo and found out that Paula is Ireland’s top female chef. Wait till you taste her creations. Yum! And wait till you hear Damien. In between courses, he’ll speak with passion and deep knowledge about Sligo and Yeats, and he’ll read some of Yeats’ best-loved poetry.
After lunch, Damien will join us in our private coach for a tour of Yeats highlights to Glencar Waterfall, Drumcliffe and Rosses Point. Glencar Waterfall is mentioned in Yeats’ poem The Stolen Child, considered to be one of his more notable early poems. Drumcliffe is Yeats’ final resting place, set against the backdrop of the Benbulben Mountains. Found in the churchyard, his grave is marked with a simple headstone with the inscription, “Cast a cold Eye on Life, on Death. Horseman pass by.” – a passage from one of his poems. Rosses Point is where Yeats and his brother, Jack, spent their summer holidays.
For those of you who have not yet signed up, we have a spot open for you, but you need to sign up soon. Want to join us? Click here for info and registration.