"If I die here, bury me up there on the mountain, Roquebrune, and then after a year or so, after the newspapers have forgotten, plant me in Sligo."
Just before his death in 1939, William Butler Yeats' last wish to his wife, Georgie, was for his first burial to take place near Roquebrune, France, not far from where they were staying. He then wished for his remains to be quietly returned to Ireland for reburial at the base of the mountain, Ben Bulben, in Drumcliffe churchyard at County Sligo. Yeats' beloved Sligo is where he spent his early childhood days and began his love of Irish folklore that so greatly influenced his life and writing. His grandfather was once Rector of the Drumcliffe Church. Yeats expressed his burial wishes in the poem, Under Ben Bulben, writing his own epitaph in the last lines.
Yeats was buried at a discreet and private burial at Roquebrune after his death in a French hotel in 1939. Arrangements were finally made in 1948, nine years later, to move him to Sligo. The family wanted a quiet private ceremony, but the Irish government proudly insisted on a State funeral with honors. As often seems to occur when disturbing graves of famous folks, rumors have since circulated saying the remains which were moved were not actually those of Yeats, but belonged instead to another Irish fellow, Alfred Hollis, who died the same day. After Yeats was interred at Roquebrune, fighting broke out near the graveyard during the war, destroying all burial records and many graves. Yeats' last lover, Edith Shakleton, says that she visited her lover's French burial spot and was told that Yeats, along with many others, were moved to a pauper's graveyard during the fighting and all bones were later dug up and placed in a communal ossuary. The story goes that in 1948, when it came time for Yeats to make his journey to Ben Bulben, Hollis' body, which had never been disturbed, was substitued for Yeats' and placed in the chapel to avoid a scandal. Who knows if this story may be true, or only a ruse for Edith to have the "last hurrah." Yeats was a passionate man whose life was often controlled by the women who waltzed in and out of his heart, so he would not expect it all to end with his death.
I think the only answer we really need may have been given to us by Yeats himself before his death, when he wrote Under Ben Bulben and designated his own epitaph (gravestone below). He was a very mystically inclined man who believed in prophecy, visions, and automatic writing. He loved old Irish Folklore. The Horseman he refers to in the poem is probably from the Irish legend of the Death Coach (Coiste Bodhur), or possibly the headless Dullahan, both with the job of collecting souls for transport from earth. Many people say they are confused by the words on the gravestone, but the poem from which they came makes things clear. Yeats' poem, Under Ben Bulben, instructs the reader to not focus on the man, do not judge his life or death, but turn your eye to the joy, goodness and beauty he has left behind for others instead; the "art" any man can create. So it really matters not if the grave you stop to look at contains W.B. or Alfred, pass on by, horseman, there is no one's soul here to carry away, for through his art, a man's spirit will live forever in the minds of others.
The funeral car with the body, entering Drumcliffe churchyard in County Sligo."By the road, an ancient Cross"....from Under Ben Bulben
A large procession of walkers and bagpipers followed the journey of the funeral car.
Yeats' son, Michael, in the middle and Yeats' younger brother to the left join the walkers. I believe the woman on the far right is Yeats' daughter, Anne. I'm not sure who the woman is to Michael's immediate left...maybe wife, Georgie?Somebody got his daddy's good looks...plus some.
The family around the grave at Sligo.
Beautiful Ben Bulben in County Sligo. The church and grave are at its base. 
"Though grave-diggers' toil is long,
The family around the grave at Sligo.
Beautiful Ben Bulben in County Sligo. The church and grave are at its base. "Under bare Ben Bulben's head
In Drumcliff churchyard Yeats is laid,
An ancestor was rector there
Long years ago; a church stands near..." from Under Ben Bulben
"Though grave-diggers' toil is long,Sharp their spades, their muscle strong,
They but thrust their buried men
Back in the human mind again." ...from Under Ben Bulben
The late Senator Michael B. Yeats certainly did inherit W.B.'s beauty--even in age. The first time I met him in 1990 at a Yeats/Pound conference at Orono, Maine, I nearly had a cardiac when he walked into the faculty lounge, for I felt I was beholding the Great Man's ghost! The Senator had not only his father's face, height, and commanding presence, but also his head of pure silver hair, complete with the unruly forelock that fell so casually down his forehead and into his wise and dreaming eyes. The Senator was a gentleman of the old school, terribly sweet, and despite his age, was a woman-magnet nonpariel. His sister Anne, who was a short and very stout woman, looked much like her mother, but her personal charisma and her gift as a storyteller proved her Yeats's child, collaborator, and confidante. As a Yeats scholar, I was so blessed to have known then both, for I heard tales from the both about life with the greatest English-language poet of the 20th century that I've never read anywhere. But I will always regret that I did not move to Ireland before Anne's death and only shortly before the Senator's protracted illness and death. However, if you're interested, Michael Yeats's son and grandchildren live in, believe it or not, Carrolton, Texas. Who knew that the road to Byzantium ended there?
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