In Ireland there is a place called Ballylee, and in that place you can find a tower, which is now home to bats, mice, and mold. It also harbors a piece of the legacy of William Butler Yeats. This tower is called Thoor Ballylee, and it inspired much of his work.
Over the years, though, the “Norman tower has encountered natural challenges so daunting that the Irish government had to shut it down as a tourist site”. However, that has not stopped a devoted neighbor and other local residents from working hard to keep the tower alive and open to the public. As a result, you can see this wonderful tower in all its glory during select tourist seasons. It has become an attraction once again, offering the inspiration of the poet’s faint presence to readings, seminars and musical events.
Yeats would never even speak to his neighbors. He would simply remain holed up in his building, writing for hours on end, completely engrossed in the task of perfecting his works.
He paid a very small sum for the tower. It was rumored to have been built in either the 15th or 16th century, and was in need of considerable repair, as it had become sort of a shed. in 1917, Yeats bought the tower that had long-enchanted him and began working on it with his wife, George Hyde-Lees, and an architect in order to transform the tower into a place of inspiration. The walls and curtains were all strikingly colorful, and the poet often wrote on a table adorned with wildflowers. Yeats used the upstairs quarters–a study, a master bedroom and a guest room–as inspiration for his work, as well as the winding staircase that led to the upstairs.
During his time at Thor Ballylee, Yeats and his wife had two children. He was appointed to the Senate of the newly founded Irish government, and he won the Nobel prize in Literature in 1923. However, it wasn’t all good times at the tower. The civil war in Ireland came to his doorstep in the early 1920s. According to R. F. Foster, the author of a biography of Yeats, the Irish Republican Army arrived one day to announce that the bridge beside the tower was about to be blown up, and to suggest that Yeats’s wife take the children and maid upstairs for their safety. Sure enough, Yeats’s wife was said to have heard two loud explosions, with the I.R.A. officer saying that all was clear afterwards.
In 1928, Yeats published an anthology of poems that he named after his beloved home, “The Tower”. It contains important poems like “Sailing to Byzantium” and “Among School Children.” Soon after, though, he had to abandon his precious tower for reasons of convenience and his failing health, which left it to the abuse of the elements. Thanks to residents in his old community, a part of Yeats remains after more than a century, through stories shared by neighbors he barely knew.
Wow it’s simply astonishing to think that a piece of architecture can provide so much inspiration to writers! Yeats was definitely not the first and definitely not the last to draw upon the inspiration of buildings. It’s interesting that you view nature’s toll on the building as something destructive. On the contrary, I view nature as a paint to a piece of architect. Nature signifies the time and gives a somewhat sentimental feel about the building. It embodies artwork and alters it with the passage of time. Truly, it is wonderful.
What about you?
Can you see nature as a piece of decoration to the tower?
I commend all the neighbors of Yeats’ famous tower. It is truly incredible that they decided to preserve such a meaningful and historic landmark. When a building contains so much history, culture, symbolism, and meaning such as this one, it should be a international law that the structure should never be destroyed. These simple places of mere inspiration should be just as important as the works that are created from them. On a side note, the building itself happens to be magnificent and if I ever had the chance I would make it a must to go visit.
Art is inspiring. But the place and person who created the art can also inspire peopler. It’s nice that a place of inspiration and memory is not hidden due to the natural disasters and lack of funding. It is so nice of the neighbors, who never have spoken to Yeats often, would choose to help maintain the tower and open it to tourist for inspiration. It is with the old residents’ and neighbors’ help that even after a century, the building carries Yeats’ legacy and continues to inspire others.
The first thing that stood out to me after reading our response to the article, were the words family and community. It was inspiring to see that Yeats’s neighbors were willing to help him preserve his home even though he did not engage with his neighbors. I think that in this sense, Yeats is very similar to me because I also do not engage in conversation with my neighbors, but rather concentrate on my own life. I think that the people of the future will appreciate the effort that the people are putting in to fix-up Yeats home. I would love to visit the tower to see what stories I can makeup from observing the tower itself.
I don’t think there is one specific way to describe art because it comes in all kinds of forms and ideas. It’s kind of amazing that, even till this day, Yeat’s neighbors were willing to protect his home, despite him never leaving his home. Furthermore, it is even more inspiring that the presence of Yeat’s home is inspiring writers to keep on writing. Home’s of famous people should be preserved because they hold so much history, value, and inspiration for the world to learn about. People experience so many things in there home and it would be a waste for a historic site to be demolished.
I find the process of creative writing fascinating; one place, one event, one person can completely change the thought process of a writer. One single home can inspire them to create pieces of literature that will survive the passage of time. Also, it’s really amazing how Yeats’ neighbors appreciated him enough to maintain his tower and make sure it stayed open for others to see.
I really enjoyed reading Dami’s comment about community. Among the many things that art does, it creates community. When two people both connect to a work of art, they can bond over it and in turn connect to each other. Yeats’ works obviously elicited a strong enough reaction to keep that community thriving almost a hundred years later. The architecture of the tower itself is inspiring. I can see why Yeats chose to write in there. It is like a castle out of a fairy tale, with fantasy keeping the bricks together instead of cement. Even though the artist is dead, his inspiration still remains and as such, the community who bonded over Yeats’s works want to sustain it in order to be inspired themselves and to inspire future generations. To lose such a beautiful building would be a shame.
I think that it’s truly interesting how a work of art, especially a piece of architecture can influence a larger scope of other artistic and literary fields. The creativeness and connection that the tower brings to people allows them to inspire other individuals with their own works. This creates, as Chris and Dami says about a never ending community that originated from Yeat’s work.
Towers itself is a very interesting topic to me. Living in the city, I have only heard of them in stories and movies. This article really pushes out the wonders of them. Having such a long history and backstory to just a building made of stone is truly remarkable. It also allows us to take a glimpse in the past. To take a break and appreciate the beauty of the small things. How such a small thing can unite and create a mutual place that people are willing to and want to protect together. Despite time and nature, the fact that the neighbors of Yeats were willing to preserve his home gives us a look at what’s to be really appreciated.
I love when communities bond together to save a little piece of history that is special to them. I don’t know much about Yeats, nor have I read anything by him that I can remember, but I’m happy that a tower is being kept in his honor. I’m surprised they don’t do anything with it, like turn it into a museum or at least clean it up a bit; I think a lot of people, especially scholars well versed in the arts, would love to travel and Yeats’ place of inspiration. Oddly enough, this put me in a very happy mood that they bonded together to save the landmark.
It is truly inspirational to read about the actions of the neighbors Thoor Ballyee. When the Irish government attempted to close down the historic landmark to the public the neighbors had different places. They had restored a tower back to life that had so much meaning to the Irish people. They were the real heroes.
It’s amazing how Yeats’ neighbors band together to preserve the tower when the government cannot. It’s wonderful that this tower can keep inspiring generations of artists long after Yeats’ death. The history of the tower is incredibly important as a remnant of a civil war as well as inspiration to a famous writer. I could easily see this tower being the basis for a fantasy or historical fiction novel.