Drumcliffe Churchyard (Yeats's Grave)
Droim Chliabh
The rural churchyard where Nobel Prize-winning poet W. B. Yeats is buried, with Benbulben Mountain at its back and a medieval high cross nearby.
Yeats asked to be buried at Drumcliffe, “under bare Ben Bulben's head.” His gravestone bears the epitaph he wrote himself: “Cast a cold eye / On life, on death. / Horseman, pass by!” The grave lies beside St. Columba's Church (Church of Ireland), where Yeats's great-grandfather once served as rector. The churchyard also contains an elaborately carved 11th-century high cross and the remains of a round tower. In the 6th century, St. Columba founded a monastery on this site. Entry is free. A café and a car park are on site. Drumcliffe is about 8 km from Sligo, right off the N15, and it is often combined with Lissadell House and Glencar Waterfall.
Opening hours
Open all day (church approx. 09:00–17:00)
Nearby sights
- Benbulben
- Sligo County Museum
- Sligo Abbey
- The Model
- Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery
- Rosses Point
- Lissadell House
- Tobernalt Holy Well