Ireland; Co. Sligo; city of Sligo: statue of poet and writer William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939); winner of Nobel Prize in Literature 1923; by sculptor Rohan Gillespie (1999). W. B. Yeats is buried near city of Sligo in village of Drumcliff. William Butler Yeats; in 1899; founded with Lady Gregory the irish Literary Theatre; which; in 1904; became Abbey Theatre; in Dublin. the literary work of W. B. Yeats was heavily influenced by celtic mythology; by Shakespeare and Shelley. He had strong biographic connections to city and county of Sligo. The statue dedicated to the national poet was unveiled; in 1999; by his son; commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of W. B. Yeats. The sculpture was realized by Irish sculptor Rohan Gillespie. In 2005; a drunken car driver demolished the statue. it had to be restored.