Bodyke to Sligo

Bodyke to Sligo via the Cliffs of Moher.  The Cliffs added about 79 miles to our trip, but they were worth it.  

Rising up to 214m above the Atlantic Ocean the Cliffs of Moher are one of Ireland's top visitor attractions.  We were very lucky with the weather and saw the cliffs in all their splendour.

Continuing on, we stopped for a visit at Dunguaire Castle, although I was just as impressed with the thatched-roof house nearby.

And ultimately here's where we were heading.  We met Cecily and Luke in Barcelona in February, got chatting on the train to Montserrat and have kept in touch since.

Cecily lives in the blue thatched cottaged deep in the heart of Yeats country and her cottage is near the site that inspired -

THE LAKE ISLE OF INNISFREE (1892)

By William Butler Yeats

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a-glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.

We had a delicious dinner at the cottage and then a stroll around the lake and nearby bog.  It was a great evening and a highlight of our visit to Ireland.