Under bare Ben Bulben’s head
In Drumcliff churchyard Yeats is laid,
An ancestor was rector there
Long years ago; a church stands near,
By the road an ancient Cross.
No marble, no conventional phrase,
On limestone quarried near the spot
By his command these words are cut:

Case a cold eye
On life, on death.
Horseman, pass by!

-from “Under Ben Bulben” by W.B. Yeats

After departing from Gill, Massachusetts at 2:00pm on Monday, our group of 15 travelers arrived finally here in Yeats Country, County Sligo, Ireland somewhere around 1:00pm on Tuesday, after some 18 hours of travel. The five-hour time difference from Eastern Standard Time has shaken a few nerves, but all are healthy and happily bedded for our first night. Our wearied group traveled by van, two planes, and a bus before coming to rest here in the Benwiskin Centre in Ballintrillick, some 20 minutes north of Sligo Town. Our trip across the Atlantic from Boston was smooth and enjoyable, with our students encountering their first bits of the Irish brogue on-board our Aer Lingus flight; it seemed the excitement grew somewhat during our quick transfer in Shannon en route to Dublin. With cameras and camcorders out virtually constantly, this trip will surely produce some terrific (and humorous) footage.

We were greeted at the airport by Debby McNair; she and her husband Keith, and their Discovery Tours, have essentially constructed our itinerary for our stay here and will act as our in-country guides. A huge amount of effort has gone into putting this trip together, and much thanks are due to our hosts, particularly given the amazingly rich and varied program that we will be enjoying over the next 17 days. In any case, Debby escorted on the coach bus through about 3.5-hours of scenic Irish countryside. Unfortunately, much of the country is struggling with flooding due to the recent and uncharacteristic rains. For example, we drove through Carrick-on-Shannon, and the little part of the downtown area we could see was covered in up to several feet of water with storefronts surrounded in sand bags. Still, much of the group slept for much of the trip. We also made a put-stop at an electronics store on the south end of Sligo to pick up last-minute power adapters and the like.

As we left Sligo Town, we were able to appreciate some of the scenic beauty of the area, first in catching glimpses of Sligo Bay and the shore before sneaking peaks between the clouds of the stunning Dartry Mountain range slightly inland. We passed Drumcliffe and its St. Columba’s Church, where W.B. Yeats is buried with the enigmatic closing lines to his “Under Ben Bulben” inscribed on his gravestone. Of course, we were able to see Ben Bulben itself, but its majesty was limited significantly by the low cloud cover. As we came around the north side, we came to our current lodgings at the Benwiskin Centre, here in the shadow of Ben Wiskin. We will spend the next four nights here, making daily forays into the surrounding countryside.

This evening, after a quick lunch of soup and bread and a brief orientation session with Keith (followed by a naps all around), the group gathered to put together a dinner of Shepherd’s Pie from scratch. It seemed a fitting meal to begin our time here. Then we gathered for our first “Programme Workshop”, essentially a mini-lecture and seminar to prepare the students for tomorrow’s events. The itinerary tomorrow includes visits to a pre-historic site, a Cromwellian site, and a center of Irish music. I appreciated the energy of the students this evening given their exhaustion! Keith ably guided the students through a discussion of the physical landscape of the area, the far-reaching political memory of the Irish, and the tradition of music here… and an interesting mixture of all three.

Moving forward from here, I will arise and go now, as Yeats himself might have said, and allow the students’ voices to be heard. Each day a different student will produce and post here a journal entry of sorts, reflecting on our day. Our Internet access will likely and understandably be limited on some days, so some entries might come in bunches, but check back for our updates!