ORIGIN
In 1957 as part of a national tourism promotion drive (An Tostal),
a small group of enthusiasts met in Sligo and decided to hold a
Yeats Country Festival. The festival held on 11-15 May 1958 was
a great success. The highlight was 'Salute
to Yeats', directed by Jim McGarry, with Mrs. M. Watson,
Jo Lappin and the Mullaney brothers reciting Yeats poetry.
Elated by that success,
the group - Frank Wynne (Chairman), Nora Niland, Eileen Lambert
(Hon Secretary), Sheelah Kirby,Tom McEvilly, Fr. Tom Moran and Jim
McGarry(all deceased) met again on 20th May and established the
Yeats Society Sligo. Its purpose was to organize a Yeats Summer
School, to which Tom Mullaney was appointed Hon. Secretary on 5th
July 1959. Dr. T.R.Henn of St. Catherine's College Cambridge, a
native of Sligo, was Director of Sligo's first Yeats International
Summer School, held in late August 1960. He remained a guiding light
for many years.
The School, of course, has since grown in strength and prestige
and its story is told in most interesting detail in Jim McGarry's
'The Dream I Knew', 1990.
The warm reception given locally to visitors and the
generous sponsorship by local business people also played an important
part. The diligent work of YSS Presidents, supported by long serving
Secretaries Mrs. Kathleen Moran and Mrs. Georgina Wynne, many council
and other members over the years must also be acknowledged.
Successive
presidents were: F.Wynne, J.Keohane, T.Mullaney,Canon T.P.S.Wood,
Mrs E.Lambert, J.Keohane (2nd time), A.Cantwell, M.McTighe, Edward
J. Wylie-Warren, Michael Keohane, and currently Aleck Crichton.
However, with success came increased student numbers, and accomodation
problems. Thus in 1973, it was with enormous pleasure the YSS greeted
the magnanimous gesture of the Directors of Allied Irish Banks who
presented the Society with their Hyde Bridge premises as a memorial
for the Yeats family.
This building
provided, not only space for offices, meetings and library/archives,
but also enabled it to accommodate two autonomous societies, The
Yeats Society, and since 1977, The Sligo Art Gallery and The Yeats
River Cafe
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