Great Days Out for Groups - Discover Northern Ireland

GARDENS • CULTURE • LITERATURE • LOCAL History • MYTHS & LEGENDS • HERITAGE • CHRISTIAN HERITAGE • CREATIVE • NATURE • ACTIVEA Hoke In Heaney CountryTake a ‘hoke’ in Heaney country and find out more about the people, places and landscapethat inspired the area’s most famous son, poet and Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney on theultimate Seamus Heaney tour.Begin this unique and absorbing tour at Laurel Villa Townhouse 1 in Magherafelt,Ireland’s only poetry guesthouse and winner of the Highly Commended award in the2010 Northern Ireland Tourism awards. Blue Badge guide Eugene Kielt will give youan introductory talk while you enjoy a welcome cup of tea or coffee before you viewLaurel Villa’s unique collection of rare Heaney special editions and memorabilia.You will then retrace the footsteps of the young Heaney as he makes his way to school inthe townland of Anahorish – ‘My place of clear water’ as he calls it. Visit ‘Devlin’s Forge’,a place the famous poet immortalised in his writing and experience many other placesthat inspired him.After lunch in one of the district’s many fine eateries and an opportunity for someshopping, visit Bellaghy to meet ‘The Turfman’, a life-size representation of Heaney’smost famous poem, ‘Digging’. Then it’s up the hill to Bellaghy Bawn 2, a 17th centuryPlantation house and walled enclosure where you can have a look at the Heaney Library,consisting of a media archive, a unique collection of radio and television broadcastsfeaturing Seamus Heaney and some of his books and manuscripts.TO BOOK CONTACTEugene Kielt, Blue Badge Guide T: (028) 7930 1459 E: info@laurel-villa.comVisit contacts1Laurel Villa Townhouse60 Church Street, Magherafelt,Co. Londonderry, BT45 6AW.(028) 7930 14592Bellaghy BawnCastle Street, Bellaghy,Co. Londonderry, BT45 8LA.(028) 7938 6812WHILE YOU’RE in THE AREAEating Out - Bryson’s Bar; Ditty’s Coffee Shop; The Terrace Hotel.Retail therapy - Mid-Ulster Garden Centre; Meadowlane Shopping Centre;Saville Row Factory Shop.Extending your visit - Springhill House; Ardboe High Cross; Tirkane Sweat House.When I hoked there, I wouldfind an acorn and a rustedbolt. If I lifted my eyes,a factory chimney.And a dormant mountain.An extract from Terminusby Seamus Heaneyyour day outAt a glance6HOURS214For additional information and more group day visit ideas, please visitdiscovernorthernireland.com/groups©National Portrait Gallery, London, Seamus Heaney by Ross Wilson