|
Thoor Ballylee Castle (Irish ''Túr Bhaile Uí Laí'') is a fortified, 15th (or 16th) century Hiberno-Norman tower house built by the septs de Burgo, or Burke, near the town of Gort in County Galway, Ireland. It is also known as ''Yeats' Tower'' because it was once owned and inhabited by the poet William Butler Yeats. ==History== The castle was built in the 15th (or possibly 16th) century and originally formed part of the huge estates of the Earls of Clanrickarde, from the de Burgo or Burke family. The nearby four-arched bridge dates to around 1825. In 1837, the Carrig family was recorded as living in the castle. At the time of Griffith's Valuation (1857), Patrick Carrick was leasing a herd's house, castle and land at Ballylee, barony of Kiltartan, from William Henry Gregory. At the time, the property was valued at £5. In the early 1900s, the castle/tower was still owned by the Gregory family and became part of nearby Coole Estate, home of Lady Augusta Gregory, Yeats’ lifelong friend.〔http://www.gortonline.com/TouristGuide/PlacesofInterest/ThoorBallylee/Thoor+Ballylee.htm "It satisfied his desire for a rooted place in a known countryside, not far from Coole and his friend Lady Gregory. To live in a Tower complemented, perhaps, his alignment with a tradation of cultivated aristocracy which he had envied and a leisured peace which he had enjoyed." Retrieved 28 July 2011.〕 On the estate, Coole House, where Lady Gregory lived, was the centre for meetings for the Irish literary group, a group composed of a great number of preeminent figures of the day. Near this tower, in Coole Park, began the Irish Literary Revival.〔http://www.thinplace.net/2009/04/thoor-ballylee.html "In County Galway near the town of Gort, lies a 16th-century Norman castle with a small cottage attached. The Irish Literary Revival began near this castle - in Coole Park, an estate owned by Lady Gregory where she hosted the likes of George Bernard Shaw, W. B. Yeats and J. M. Synge. It was a haven - a place of retreat for William Butler Yeats." Retrieved 28 July2011.〕 Thoor Ballylee is also known today as Yeats’ Tower, because in 1916 (or 1917) Yeats purchased the property for the nominal sum of £35 because he was so enchanted with it and especially as it was located in a rural area.〔http://www.dochara.com/places-to-visit/castles/thoor-ballylee/ "When Yeats purchased the tower in 1917 for the sum of £35 it was in a state of considerable dilapidation and he spent the next two years restoring it as a family home." Retrieved 28 July 2011.〕 From 1921 to 1929,〔http://comma.english.ucsb.edu/content/thoor-ballylee-home-wb-yeats Retrieved 28 July 2011.〕〔http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/rickard/Coole.html Retrieved 28 July 2011.〕 Yeats and his family lived there as it was his monument and symbol: In both aspects, it satisfied his desire for a rooted place in the countryside.〔http://www.galway.net/galwayguide/showyp.shtml?id=4066 "...who lived there from 1921 to 1929." Retrieved 28 July 2011.〕 The tower retained its original windows in the upper part. Yeats and his architect, Professor William A. Scott, restored the tower for the next two years and installed larger windows in the lower floors.〔http://www.irelandseye.com/aarticles/travel/attractions/castles/ballylee.shtm "It stands four-storeys high and its original windows still survive in the upper part, though Yeats and his architect Professor William A. Scott installed larger windows in the lower floors." Retrieved 28 July 2011.〕〔http://www.dochara.com/places-to-visit/castles/thoor-ballylee/ Retrieved 28 July 2011.〕 As he had an affinity for the Irish language, Yeats dropped the term "castle" in naming the property and replaced it with "''Thoor''" (''Túr''), the Irish word for "tower"; thus, the place has been known as Thoor Ballylee. For twelve years, Thoor Ballylee was Yeats’ summer home as it was his country retreat. In a letter to a friend, he wrote, "Everything is so beautiful that to go elsewhere is to leave beauty behind." Consequently, it is no wonder that Yeats was inspired and compelled to create literary works at Ballylee such as poems like ''The Tower'' and ''Coole Park and Ballylee''.〔http://www.thinplace.net/2009/04/thoor-ballylee.html 'In naming the property Yeats dropped the term "castle" and replaced it with "Thoor" - the Irish word for tower, and the place became known as Thoor Ballylee. Yeats and his wife and their children enjoyed this country retreat, and used it as their summer home for 12 years. He is quoted in a letter to friend regarding Thoor Ballylee "everything is so beautiful that to go elsewhere is to leave beauty behind."' Retrieved 28 July 2011.〕 In 1929, Ballylee was abandoned as the Yeats family moved out and it fell to disuse and ruin.〔http://www.irelandseye.com/aarticles/travel/attractions/castles/ballylee.shtm "Ballylee was abandoned and started to fall into ruin in the early 1930s. For the centenary of Yeats' birth in 1965, the place was fully restored to appear as it was when he lived there. It now also housed an interpretative centre on his life and works." Retrieved 28 July 2011.〕 In 1951, a scene of John Ford's The Quiet Man in which John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara cross a river was shot next to Thoor Ballylee. Mary Hanley (1914-1979) was the founder of the Kiltartan Society. A native of Carron, County Clare, Hanley founded the society in 1961 to foster interest in the literary history of the district, especially that of Lady Gregory, Edward Martyn and W.B. Yeats. She was responsible for the restoration of Thoor Ballylee (with the aid of Bord Failte and the Yeats family). At the time, the Office of Public Works was owner of the property. Hanley persuaded the poet Padraic Colum to open the castle on Sunday 20 June 1965, the centenary of Yeats’s birth, as ''Yeats Tower'' to appear as it was when he lived there and refitted as a Yeats museum containing a collection of first editions and items of furniture.〔http://travel.viamichelin.com/web/Destination/Ireland/Tourist_Site-Thoor_Ballylee-N_66 "This 16C fortified house, used by William Butler Yeats for eleven years as a summer residence, is a common symbol in his poetic works, to which an inscription on the wall across the road bears witness. He spent most of the summer months converting the four floors of the tower, before being forced to abandon it in 1928. In 1964, the Kiltartan Society undertook restoration work on the building, together with the adjoining miller's cottage and the mill wheel." Retrieved 28 July 2011.〕 The adjoining miller's cottage became a tea room and shop. This was later expanded by a newly constructed building in the back. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Thoor Ballylee」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|