Our Travelers' Diaries
Writers, Myths, and Legends - A Journey to Ireland
Submitted by Lois

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On Wednesday, Day 8, we returned to the Republic of Ireland, and Euros for currency, in County Galway. We visited Coole Park, which was the home of Lady Gregory, an important literary figure in Irish history. The home originally belonged to her husband, and was passed to her son, who died in World War I. Unfortunately, Lady Gregory's daughter-in-law inherited and sold the contents of the house and let the house itself go to ruin, and so it was demolished. This site shows a picture of the house.
http://www.gortonline.com/coolepark/index.asp

Fortunately, the grounds are still as beautiful as they were when many famous Irish writers, including WB Yeats, visited Lady Gregory. He wrote several poems about the area. Another feature is the Autograph Tree. I have a picture of the whole tree, and then a closeup as best I could capture it from afar, as it has been fenced off due to vandalism. GB Shaw, Yeats, Masefield, Synge, and other writers carved their initials in the Copper Beech Tree over the years she L. Gregory lived there and entertained them. For more on her:
http://www.runet.edu/~kkitchene/eurotrails/Coole%20Park.html

In another photo, you will see the path down to the lake, which flows into the Galway Bay. This lake is actually a turlough, which means a dry lake. It only exists when the bedrock becomes saturated and the water surfaces and collects in depressions in the terrain. So, in the warmer, dryer summer weather you are not likely to see them. Looking the other way from the photo I took, we could see a flock of migratory swans. Obviously, since the lake does not exist all year long, they do not live here all year long. Yeats wrote a poem about them.
http://www.artofeurope.com/yeats/yea4.htm

and a poem for Lady Gregory
http://www.artofeurope.com/yeats/yea7.htm

This was another spot where I wish my dogs were with me. Note the photo of a beautiful walking path! You will also see a photo of part of a small herd of red deer that live in a compound at Coole Park.

We then visited the Kiltartan Gregory Museum, which was a school founded in 1892 with the help of Sir William Gregory, Lady Gregory's husband. I include a picture of the outside of the school and 2 of the rooms inside. Our speaker at the museum was Sister Mary, who attended the school before it closed in 1960. She has written a book about the parish in the area. She needed a ride back to her home in Gort, and so accompanied us to Kilmacduagh, which was on the way. What luck for us! With her friend and Gort historian, Tom Hannnon, we were treated to a wonderful afternoon. More on that experience tomorrow.
http://www.gortonline.com/gregorymuseum/default.asp

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