May 8 - Coole Park

Last Saturday we drove just 25km south to visit Coole Park, the place with the strange tree we said we'd return to.

A Brief History of Coole Park
(taken from the Coole Park & Gardens website)

Coole estate was purchased in 1768 by Robert Gregory on his return to Ireland following service with the East India Company. It remained with the Gregory family until 1927 when it was sold to the state. Residing there at that time was Lady Augusta Gregory, already a legend in her lifetime as a dramatist, folklorist and co-founder of the Abbey Theatre with W.B. Yeats and Edward Martyn. Lady Gregory's love of Coole and its 'Seven Woods', immortalised by Yeats, is manifested in her writings and those of her literary guests.

She was one of the most important figures in the Irish Literary Revival of the early 20th century, not only because of her achievements as a playwright, but also because of the way she transformed Coole into a focal point for those who shaped that movement, making it a place they would return to time and time again to talk, to plan, to derive inspiration.

But the woods and lakes at Coole were richer than Yeats understood. The 'Seven Woods', which so enchanted Lady Gregory and her guests, held whispers of a more ancient ancestry, of which the literary visitors were scarcely aware: remnants of the earlier natural forest cover, and the disappearing lake and river are part of the finest turlough complex not merely in Ireland but in all the world.

Lady Gregory died on May 22, 1932. In one sense, the magic of Coole has been in abeyance since the demolition of the house in 1941, a time when more immediate concerns occupied the minds of most people. Coole is now a statutory Nature Reserve managed by the Nat'l Parks & Wildlife Service, whose aim is to preserve its rich natural and cultural heritage.

Entering the Walled Garden

The 'Autograph Tree'

Starting on our walk through the 'Seven Woods'

(We don't know how many of the 'seven' we walked through.)

Not ideal for a stroller.

"I'm writing." - with a stick.

This is the stable yard and the ruins of the coach and harness rooms.

Don't do it; the grass may not be greener on the other side.

This is a modern Irish cottage that caught my eye. I should be taking more pictures of the cottages here - old and new. They really are 'lovely' as they say here.

I love that in Western Ireland traditional farming practices are still the norm. Grass-fed beef around every bend!

Not the typical stone fence - these rocks are huge!

We drove past Thoor Ballylee, the summer home of Yeats during the 1920's. It was a ruined Norman tower house that Yeats bought and restored.

On the drive home Aaron was entertaining Moriah - they are a fun pair lately!