Tourist Attractions/Gort, Kilmacduagh and Kiltartan

Coole Park

W.B. Yeats declared that Coole Park was the most beautiful place in the world.  It was the home of the Gregory family from 1768 until the death of Lady Gregory in 1932. It is now under the authority of the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Sadly, Coole House was demolished in 1941 but a beautiful Visitors’ Centre was opened in 1992. All year round people come to Coole Park for peace, health and tranquillity. One can walk in the seven woods, enshrined in Yeats’s poetry .  See  Galway Poems of W.B. Yeats which can be purchased from The Kiltartan Gregory Cultural Society, Gort for €10.60. There is an abundance of wildlife, flora and fauna. The Coole River becomes a Turlough, or temporary lake in winter.

Perhaps one of the most famous trees in Ireland, the Autograph Tree, can be seen in the garden. 

www.coolepark.ie

www.ladygregoryyeatstrail.com

Kiltartan Gregory Museum

My country is Kiltartan Cross

My countrymen Kiltartan’s poor.

W.B. Yeats ascribes those words to Major Robert  Gregory in the poem An Irish Airman Foresees His Death.  Situated at Kiltartan Cross is the Kiltartan Gregory Museum. It was an old red brick schoolhouse which was restored and converted into a museum by the Kiltartan Gregory Cultural Society. It was officially opened by President Mary Robinson in 1996. 

It contains priceless memorabilia, manuscripts, and furniture which belonged to Coole House. It also has an old Irish classroom as it might have looked a  hundred years ago.    The Society recently restored the Gregory Mausoleum nearby.  Contact Rena at 086 8252164 and renamcallen@eircom.net   or Sr. de Lourdes Fahy at 083 3171228 and delourdesfahy@gmail.com .

Places of interest in the town of Gort

• The Weigh-house.  Location:  The Square. Probably the oldest building in Gort. c. 1760
• The Courthouse. Location: The Square. Built in 1815
• The Catholic Church. Location: The Square. Opened in 1829
• The Library. Location: Queen St. Formerly the Church of Ireland. Erected in 1810.
• The Convent of Mercy. Location: Bridge St. Formerly the home of Lord Gort. Built c. 1771
• The Town Hall.Location: Church St. Formerly a national School built in 1847
• Site of Military Barracks. Location: Barrack St.
• Railway Station on Station Road. Opened in 1869.
• Boland's Lane, accessed from Square or Crowe St. Constructed in 1830s
• Old Fever Hospital, part of Workhouse compound. Built in late 1840s.

As Well:

•  Beautiful doorways and arches.
• Old style shop fronts, e.g. Burke's
• Modern shops of all types.
• Facilities: Financial - Post Office, Banks, Credit Union.
• Miscellaneous Facilities: taxis, hairdressers, dressmakers, launderettes, petrol stations, computer facilities, hotels, restaurants, bars, repair facilities,

Above all friendly people!