monday mural - a new Yeats

Unfortunately, early in 2017 the building which carried this magnificent painting was deemed to be in a dangerous condition by Sligo County Council, and the building was demolished with little or no notice being given to the general public.  A lot of people were devastated by the demolition of the building, not for the sake of the building itself, but the fact that this wonderful painting had also disappeared.

Then, in the middle of May 2017, a new painting of W. B. Yeats was erected on an adjacent building. Not quite as big or imposing as the original, but equally as welcome an addition to the streetscape of Sligo Town as the painting it had just replaced.

This new painting has also received highly complimentary comments from everyone who has seen it, and I personally think its a fantastic, very life-like, photo-realistic painting of one of Sligo's most important ex-patrons who is now a major attraction in the towns tourist industry.  The painting is the brainchild of Sligo Tidy Towns Committee, who commissioned Nik Purdy to once again paint W.B. Yeats on this building, and to breathe some life and colour into an otherwise drab looking corner of the town.
Courtesy of the Sligo Town website

Which version do you like?
I like this one but the old one was pretty impressive too.  It's too bad you couldn't have both.


Linking to Monday Mural

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)

William Butler Yeats

St. Columba's Church of Ireland church.  It is located in Drumcliff, Co Sligo and is the site where W. B. Yeats is buried.  When we were there, a few bus loads of people showed up.  Inside the church there was a free program with a map to tell you where Yeats' grave was located.  There was also a coffee cafe on the grounds with a small gift shop with everything a tourist would be interested in.

 The photos below are taken from the back of the cemetery wall.