DESTINATIONS DESTINATIONS IRELAND LITERARY LANDSCAPES Sarah Freeman follows in the footsteps of two of Ireland’s literary greats, W.B. Yeats and C.S. Lewis, exploring the bucolic charms of County Sligo to the windswept beauty of Northern Ireland’s coast

Words and Photography: Sarah Freeman

From the contemporary art scene, historic Bund waterfront and leafy French Concession neighbourhood, Sarah Freeman explores the many faces of Shanghai, discovering art-deco treasures and tea ceremonies along the way

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reland, or the Emerald Isle as it is poetically known Irish painter and lawyer, John Butler Yeats, www.lissadellhouse.com) on the shores of Drumclia described due to its brilliant green the poet’s spiritual home was Sligo, “the land of Bay (pictured opposite bottom). The 19th-century countryside, has an illustrious literary past heart’s desire”. Yeats spent much of his childhood neo-classical house and gardens was an occasional and present. Its transformative landscape in Sligo and its beauty, folklore and spirit filled his holiday retreat for the wordsmith. As a young boy, has inspired some of the country’s most early romantic works. “Where the wandering water Yeats visited Lissadell for cricket matches and horse prolific poets and writers, from Samuel gushes / From the hills above Glen-Car”, from his racing, and forged a close friendship with the famous Beckett’s avant-garde works and Seamus Heaney’s poem “The Stolen Child”, describes a misty waterfall Irish revolutionary, Countess Constance Markievicz Ilyrical verse to George Bernard Shaw’s sharp-witted in the county’s north. (née Gore-Booth), who lived there with her sister. scripts. But no verse pays homage to the natural Even after moving to London, Yeats never lost The sisters were immortalised in Yeats’s verse: “The beauty of Ireland’s landscape better than William his cultural roots. In both his plays and his poetry, light of evening, Lissadell / Great windows open to Butler Yeats. The country’s first Nobel laureate and his verses are littered with Irish legends and heroes. the south / Two girls in silk kimonos, both / Beautiful, native son of Sligo is considered to be one of the Far more than simply a wordsmith, Yeats also one a gazelle”. The mansion remained in the Gore- greatest poets of the 20th century. dabbled in politics and was a major playwright – Booth family from 1834-2003, and behind its austere This year marks the 150th anniversary of Yeats’s becoming one of the founders of the famous Abbey façade visitors can find a stunning art collection, birth, and there has never been a better or more Theatre in Dublin. newly opened servant’s quarters, a Victorian kitchen poignant time to visit the Emerald Isle. In the A recurring theme in Yeats’s poetry, and a garden and an alpine seashore rockery garden that’s words of the great poet himself: “There are no geographic touchstone, is County Sligo’s brooding worth exploring. strangers here; only friends you haven’t met”. Today, “table-topped” Benbulben Mountain (pictured If you ever wondered what the man himself Yeats’s legacy remains and his words continue to above), which moved him to write “Under Ben looks like, head to Sligo Town’s Bank on shape the English language – his influence on Bulben”: “Cast a Cold Eye / On life, on death. / Stephen Street to admire his bronze ekgy (pictured today’s writers is thought to be as great as that of Horseman, pass by!”. Fittingly and on his request, opposite top). Crafted by sculptor Rowan Gillespie, William Shakespeare. the poet was buried in the mountain’s shadow, in the billowing sculpture represents the poet as a Perhaps the region that best connects the man the churchyard of Drumclia village, which is worth page of his own work, with engravings of excerpts and his poetry is County Sligo, in the Republic of a visit for the scenery alone. from some of his most cherished poems. Rather Ireland, referred to by many as “Yeats Country”. Another of Yeats’s key inspirations worth the poetically, the statue looks across the river to the Despite being born in Dublin to the son of a well- pilgrimage is (+353 71 916 3150; Yeats Memorial Building.

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SADDLE UP The 347-year-old Leslie Estate has forests, parks and three lakes, while horse-riding enthusiasts will be drawn to the Equestrian Centre with its 56 stables, kilometres of trails, more than 300 jumps and an indoor 200-seat equestrian arena. On a misty morning, you can get (happily) lost in one of the enchanting woodland groves, or take a row boat out from the jetty for a spot of pike fishing on the lake.

SOAK UP SOME HISTORY Castle Leslie is reputed to have acquired Ireland’s first installed bath. If you are a fan of long, luxurious soaks and copper tubs, reserve The Eagle’s Nest Room. Situated at one of the highest points in the house, guests can enjoy sweeping views across the lake and gardens from the romantic balcony (above right).

LIVE LIKE AN ARISTOCRAT Surrounded by ancient woodland, rolling hills and a sprawling 400-hectare estate in the north-east of , in the Republic of Ireland, Castle Leslie (+353 47 88100; www.castleleslie.com) is one the last great Irish castles estates. Now a five-star luxury hotel, the Scottish Baronial-styled country retreat has played host to the likes of Yeats, Pope John Paul II, Queen Elizabeth II and many ambassadors to Dublin throughout its storied history. The poet took a fancy to The Red Room in particular, which, in keeping with the castle’s Italian Renaissance style, boasts a magnificent four-poster bed from Perugia in Italy (above right).

90 November 2015 dotwnews.com dotwnews.com November 2015 91 DESTINATIONS IRELAND DESTINATIONS IRELAND MYTHICAL LANDSCAPES “Of the green hills of Down / The soft low hills of Down”, from the poem “Hills of Down”, is how Lewis described Northern Ireland’s County Down region – a varied landscape characterised by gentle slopes, crystalline lakes and a 321-km golden coastline. Famous for saying: “I yearn to see County Down in the snow, one almost expects to see a march of dwarfs dashing past. How I long to break into a world where such things were true,” the dramatic Mourne Mountains, which he visited as a boy, were the inspiration for Lewis’s fictional, snow-capped kingdom of Narnia. At the heart of the Mournes lies the Silent Valley Reservoir, ringed by mountain vistas near Kilkeel, which you can admire from a bird’s-eye perspective by walking the Ben Crom trail.

LITERARY LEGACY COASTAL CONNECTIONS It’s impossible to visit to Belfast and ignore the cultural and The northern coast of Northern Ireland’s County Antrim was much historical influence of the city’s literary son, C.S. Lewis. As one of loved by Lewis, who speaks of the windswept beaches of the Causeway the intellectual giants of the 20th century, Lewis wrote more than Coast in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe , describing them as 30 books, ranging from children’s fantasy to popular theology. His “towering up above them; before them were the sands, with rocks early Belfast years, growing up in Little Lea in the east of the city, had and little pools of salt water, and seaweed, and the smell of the sea, the strongest influence on his vast body of work – in particular The and long lines of bluish green waves breaking forever and ever on the Chronicles of Narnia, a series of seven books following characters beach. And oh, the cry of the sea-gulls!”. A more bucolic scene along who can reach other worlds through a magical wardrobe. For Lewis, Antrim’s spectacular coastal drive can be seen near Ballintoy, where the portal into Narnia was his beloved Ulster. Born in Belfast in lush areas of green countryside meet the Irish Sea (bottom right). 1898, the renowned author, theologian and academic went on to fight in the trenches of World War I; become a lecturer at Oxford; a LION WORSHIP professor at Cambridge; and a poet, a sci-fi novelist and an expert in There are doorknobs, and then there are lion doorknobs. One such medieval literature. The enduring appeal of the Belfast-born author knob has festooned the door of St Mark’s rectory on Holywood Road is ever apparent. More than 100 million copies of The Chronicles of since Lewis was a rambunctious whippersnapper (middle right). It Narnia series has been sold in 47 languages, putting it in the top 100 was here that the author’s grandfather lived for a time, and was the bestselling books of all time. first rector of St Mark’s Church, known as “The Lion on the Hill”. Many believe this was where a young Lewis took his inspiration for INTO THE WARDROBE Aslan – the great lion character in The Chronicles of Narnia stories. Located congruously outside Holywood Arches Library, “The Searcher” is a bronze sculpture by Northern Irish artist Ross Wilson FORCE OF NATURE that epitomises C.S. Lewis’s most famous work – The Lion, the Witch Irish sculptor Paddy Campbell’s “Wind and Sea” bronze statue and the Wardrobe . The life-sized statue portrays Lewis as one of the (top right) stands in the grounds of Slieve Donard Resort & Spa book’s best-known characters, Digory Kirke, the owner of the fictional (+44 28 4372 1066; www.hastingshotels.com) , set before the Irish Sea wardrobe that acts as the portal into the magical land of Narnia. and the Mourne Mountains – two of Lewis’s key inspirations.

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