Killala celebrates Yeats connection

‘Mr Yeats’ Visit to Killala’, an evening of poetry and song celebrating the ways in which Killala, its people and events influenced William Butler Yeats’ life and works, takes place on Friday, August 28. The evening is part of the national celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the poet’s birth.
The last invasion of Ireland, that of General Humbert and his French troops near Killala in 1798, was made immortal by Yeats’ in the first of his one-act plays, ‘Cathleen Ní Houlihan’.  Co-written by Yeats and Lady Gregory, it was staged at The Irish Literary Theatre, the precursor to The Abbey Theatre, in 1904.  
Celebrating that association, as part of National Heritage Week and with support from Mayo County Council, Mr Yeats returns to Killala for a night of poetry, music and song in St Patrick’s Cathedral.
The event will include a reading of some of Yeats’s best-loved poetry, handpicked by a host of Killala locals and natives who will read their personally selected poems on the evening.  Musical entertainment will be provided by the Lawlor School of Music, whose music will combine well-loved classics such as ‘Down by the Salley Gardens’ with contemporary and original pieces created especially for the evening.  
A Department of Foreign Affairs touring exhibition on the poet and his work will also visit St Patrick’s Cathedral as part of the event.

‘Mr Yeats’s Visit to Killala’ takes place at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Killala, on Friday August 28 at 8pm. Admission is free, with donations to the RNLI.