04 August, 2017

W.B. Yeats Statue

This original, unusual statue of Ireland’s national poet William Butler Yeats was unveiled by his son in 1989 to mark the 50th anniversary of the writer’s death.  The statue is located on Stephen Street, Sligo, in front of the Ulster Bank.  Fashioned by Irish sculptor Rohan Gillespie, the statue is distinctive for billowing shape, and its engravings of excerpts from some of Yeats’s best-known poems.
In 2005, the Yeats statue was demolished by a drunk driver who failed to stop for police. It was later restored again and returned to its original site.  (Courtesy of Choose Ireland website)





18 comments:

  1. Love this unusual statue. Imagine being the one to take out a statue of Yeats. Hard to live that one down!

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  2. Yes, a very unusual statue. But I like it nevertheless.
    : )

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  3. ...I never knew that he had such long legs!

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  4. I wonder what WBY would have made of Rohan Gillespie's interpretation. I hope he would have thought it a great joke and absolutely loved it!

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  5. He looks like he might take off with the breeze. I think we've walked by his Dublin home, somewhere between a B&B we stayed at on Ball's Bridge Road and a DART station. And quite near Crowe's Pub, I might add.

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  6. That is unusual but I like its sense of movement. And it's nice that it presents bits of his work.

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  7. This is unique, Bill! Thank you so much for sharing.

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  8. I can imagine that looming up towards me through the swirling Irish mist after a night in the local bar - enough to make anyone swerve out of control.

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  9. I have a similar photo made in 2014 in the rain....:)

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  10. This statue is really unusual, but it looks very interesting and lovely.

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  11. That is a poetic piece of sculpture Bill, I feel that Yeats would thoroughly approve ☺

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  12. That really is an unusual looking statue but, I like it!

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  13. I really enjoy memorial statues and sculptures that depart from the norm. This one is wonderful and so appropriate to honor Yeats. An interesting man and wonderful poet.

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  14. This is a fabulous sculpture! I love the realism of his face and the sweeping curves of his body. Without knowing Yeats, the sculpture gives me an idea of his personality.

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