Name: Thoor Ballylee Yeats Tower
Address: Ballylee, Gort, Co. Galway, H91 D8F2, Ireland, IE
Telephone: +353 91 631 436

Thoor Ballylee Yeats Tower is a point of interest, located at Ballylee, Gort, Co. Galway, H91 D8F2, Ireland. They can be contacted via phone at +353 91 631 436, visit their website yeatsthoorballylee.org for more detailed information.

Location :

Ballylee, Gort, Co. Galway, H91 D8F2

Contacts :

Added by Jopie, at 07 March 2016

Monday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Tuesday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Wednesday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Thursday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Friday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Saturday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Sunday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM

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Anonymous

27 November 2017

Very scenic. Plenty of parking .
Anonymous

30 September 2017

Nice place. Good bit from the main road. Good few parking spaces. Seeks tea and coffee
Anonymous

08 September 2017

Lovely place, really enjoyed the coffee and brack which came free with our entrance fee.
Anonymous

19 August 2017

Very interesting historical attraction in beautiful rural setting. Friendly welcoming staff and lots of information on display about WB Yeats and his family.
Anonymous

12 August 2017

Very interesting tribute to William Butler Yeatswell worth a visitnear Fort CO. Galway.
Anonymous

29 July 2017

A quiet 14th-century stone tower overlooking a river is the stuff of poetry. Irish poet extraordinaire William Butler Yeats saw this too, and immortalized his tower house Thoor Ballylee in several of his most well-known works. This Hiberno-Norman tower in rural Galway was, for several years, the summer residence of the poet. Originally known as Islandmore Castle, Yeats renamed it Thoor Ballylee in order to connect it more with its Irish heritage. The tower was built as a fortress by the de Burgo family, and was bought by Yeats in 1916 from his friend Lady Augusta Gregory for a mere £35. It was, then, in a rundown condition, and Yeats worked with an architect to renovate and restore it.

Yeats was a hugely influential figure in modern Irish literature. He was the driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival in the 19th and 20th century along with Lady Gregory, Sean O’Casey and J.M. Synge, and co-founded the Abbey Theatre with Lady Gregory. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1923, for “for his always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation.”

It is no wonder then, that Thoor Ballylee has been described as the “most important building in Ireland” by fellow Irishman Seamus Heaney. Yeats, along with his family, spent many summers in the tower house, and it became the backdrop of many of his poems like “A Poem For My Daughter” and “The Tower.”

Yeats had a keen interest in spiritualism and the occult and was involved in many practices such as seances and automatic writing. He believed the tower to be haunted by the ghost of an Anglo-Norman soldier and there have been a number of unexplained sightings since, such as a curator who claimed to have witnessed an apparition floating up and down the famous winding staircase and an English tourist who snapped a picture which, when developed, seemed to show the dark shape of a young boy.

The tower was closed for many years due to extensive damage from heavy flooding, but reopened in 2015 to celebrate Yeats’s 150th birthday. The ground level houses a small gift shop and an exhibition on Yeats, as well as a tea room where you can enjoy a free cup of tea and toasted brack and a friendly chat with the volunteers.

Know Before You Go
While the grounds of the tower can be visited year round, the tower suffers heavy flooding during the winter time, so the interior of the tower is only open to visitors during the summer months. Admission costs €7 for an adult with concessions available. Free parking is available all year.
Anonymous

07 September 2016

Really pleased to see this place open to the public. Excellent displays. Minimally dressed. Admission includes hot drinks and log fire which is most welcome. Highly recommend this visit. Part of a literary heritage trail if you want to make a day of it.
Anonymous

10 August 2016

Ooo, what a surprise magical experience here. I was here for a drama concert themed on the story of Yeats' Women. The visitor's area is large and informative and great for a concert. Terrific warm acoustics. The tower worth exploring, especially the seance room. The grounds area, though small is very postcard picturesque. Lovely river and bridge. This is a must visit if in the area.
Anonymous

14 March 2016

It doesn't seem to be open at the moment and the area around the tower is a little rough in the aftermath of the recent flooding in the area. But it's still a beautifully peaceful area to wander about.