CLARE COUNTY
THE BURREN
The Burren’s name derives from the Irish word boireann, meaning “stony place” – an apt description of this desolate plateau occupying Clare County’s northwest. Its northern and western edge hugs the coast road from Ballyvaughn to Doolin. To the south and east, the rocks gently slope towards lush green fields.
They are formed of fissured limestone pavement forming mountains, valleys and ominous cliffs. Limestone rocks litter everywhere. It is a thoroughly otherworldly place with barely a sign of life. The starkness of the landscape, a crisp white in sunlight, deep grey-brown in rainfall, has a primeval fascinating allure.
Few now live within its bounds, but many endured this harsh environment in the past. Ancient burials are in Stone Age monuments and later Iron Age people built ring forts and circular stone dwellings, many remain well preserved. On its coastal outskirts is Ballyvaughan and tiny Fanore, while inland lie the spa town of Lisdoonvarna (8km east of Doolin and famous for its September matchmaking festival that runs nearly a month) and Kilfenora (traditional music).
The Coast to Ballyvaughan. The R477, now part of the Wild Atlantic Way is one of the most charismatic routes around the Burren. It goes inland from Ballyvaughan to just northwest of Lisdoonvarna. Old ‘green roads’ offer upland walking and majestic panoramic views. The coast road from Ballyvaughan to Doolin hugs the shoreline rounding Black Head from where it is an easy climb up Caheerdoonferjus ring fort for great views to Galway Bay. Just north of the Doolin turn is Ballynalackan Castle, a 15th century tower house perched high above the road.
DOOLIN. This tiny town 7 miles north of the Cliffs of Moher has had a reputation for traditional Irish music since the 60s drawing tourists to its pubs throughout the year (now bastardized). More traditional music is found in other places in Ireland. Doolin Cave has a 7m silver-gleaming stalactite hanging from the dome-like central cavern. Most of its tourists come for boat trips to the Aran Islands and to view the Cliffs of Moher.
ARAN ISLANDS. Inishmore, Inishmaan and Inisheer – once part of a land barrier across the south side of Galway Bay, these islands are a geological extension of the Burren with all its unusual limestone landscape. Until recently, their isolation allowed the continuation of an ancient Gaelic culture, traces of which still remain (all signs are in Gaelic only). Fishing and farming are to this day still the main economy on Inishman, while tourism has taken over on the other two. Craft stores sell the famous Aran sweaters.
History. In archaeological circles, the islands are famous for their prehistoric forts of dry stone masonry. From the 5th and 6th centuries, they were a centre of monastic learning with St Enda’s monastery on Inishmore being the first of Ireland’s dozens of island monasteries. It trained Brendan, Ciarán and Colmicille. After decline in the 13th century, they emerged as an Anglo-Norman trading port. For controlling piracy, the O’Briens received an annual payment from the city of Galway. Queen Elizabeth I annexed the islands to the Crown. In 1588, they were sold to the Lynch family but forfeited them when they remained loyal to the king during the English Civil War of the 1640s.
Thereafter, they had a succession of landowners whose main interest was the income from ever-increasing rent. They escaped the worst of the Famine of the 1840s using seafood. It wasn’t until 1922 that the farmers finally came to own their land.
The Arans are actually in Galway County but I have included them in Clare as I accessed them from Doolin and their geology and landscape are a continuation of the Burren, in Clare.
Ferries. The Arans can be reached from Rosaveel in Connemara or Doolin in Clare. I took the ferry from Doolin to Inishmore leaving once per day at 10am and returning at 4pm (€30, 1½ hours). The 3 companies offer 6 sightseeing trips to see the Cliffs of Moher, and 4 day trips to Inishmaan and Inisheer. They depart from the pier 2kms from the town. Reserve or buy early as they often sell out.
INISHMORE (Árainn). The biggest and most westerly of the three, has a stark, easily appreciated topography. Sheer cliffs run the entire 14kms of the south coast. Northward is the geometric grey limestone with its parallel grooves overlaid by 10,000kms of dry-stone walls and dry-stone ring forts. More greenery and a smattering of villages lie towards the sheltered north coast, lined with rock pools and several sandy beaches. The ferry arrives at Kilonan about a quarter the way along the north coast.
Almost everyone rents a bicycle and rides to Dun Aengus and then returns. I walked the coast road via the seal colony to Dun Aengus. Arrive at a huge bicycle park and the visitors centre (€5) and walk the 10-minute uphill rocky path to the stone fort perched on the edge of the cliff. It is a little underwhelming with tons of people and the stone walls. The real beauty is the cliff and views. Then I walked along the coast to the Worm Hole, a rectangular hole in the limestone near the cliffs edge that looks down into a sea cave. Head for the closest houses and walk the paved/gravel road back to Kilonan. Pass a lovely memorial garden to Liam Faherty, an author form the Arans. This gives you perspective on the amazing maze of rock walls enclosing small pastures. Many have stone dwellings and new concrete watering tanks. I estimate that I walked about 16kms and was certainly the outlier by not renting a bicycle. But that allowed me to see the worm hole. The 4+ hours was more than adequate to do this. A little longer might have allowed being able to walk the entire south coast.
Dún Eochla. Standing near the island’s high point is an oval hill fort heavily reconstructed during the 19th century. Access from the main road.
Teampall an Cheathrair Alainn is a ruined chapel reached a couple of kilometres further along the main road from a signposted path through grassy fields and over stone walls.
The middle and coast road meet at the beach of Kilmurvey.
Dun Aengus. The islands most compelling ancient site, it is the object of almost all the tourist activity. It is semicircular in shape with 3 concentric enclosures hard up against the edge of the sheer, 90m cliffs. The fort is named after Aengus of the Fir Bolg, a legendary ancient race, said to have been of Greek origin and to have ruled Ireland for 37 years. The inner citadel has a 6m tall and 4m wide wall where they lived with livestock in the outer enclosure. Some time after 500 BC, Dun Aegus contracted but a 1.8m high field of standing stones was planted to slow down attackers.
Dún Eoghanachata. About 2kms above Kilmurvey, it is a 20-minute walk from the main road and was built between 650 and 800 AD as a circle of brick-like grey limestone.
The Seven Churches. This is actually the ruins of two churches and 5 domestic dwellings founded by St Brecan who arrived on the island in the 5th century, succeeded Enda at the abbot of the main monastery at Killeany and was famous for his piety and severity. Temapall Bhrecáin dates from the 8th century and was gradually enlarged with some fine arches. Tempall A’Phoill is 15th century and used as a parish church until recently.
Dún Dúchathair (Black Fort). To the south of Kilonan, it is a massive 60m-long wall that slices across the neck of the headland and surrounded by cliffs on three sides. This church is one of the smallest in the world at 10.75ft x 7ft.
INISHMAAN (Middle Island). The most unspoilt of the Arans, and the most thoroughly Irish speaking, the people are still largely engaged in farming and fishing. The islands historic sites are on a smaller scale than Inishmore. A bptanical paradise, it has over 300 flowering plants from places as far apart as the Arctic and the Mediterranean region.
Dún Conchúir. Near Inishmaan’s highest point, it is still an imposing oval ring fort with 5m thick and 6m high walls and with a number of hut formations. Conchúir was the younger brother of Aengus. The last inhabitant was a 19th century man called Malley who, after accidentally killing his father, hid out here for several months before escaping to America.
Cill Cheanannach, immediately SW of the pier, is a tiny, roofless church with steeply pitched gables built some time before 1200. In the graveyard is a limestone tomb-shrine pierced with a hole through which pilgrims could touch the bones of the saint inside.
Baile an Teampaill is a 1939 church with gorgeous stained glass windows made up of glass of varying thicknesses by Harry Clarke. Next to Dún Conchúir.
Dún Fearbhai. A stone fort dating to the first century with excellent views of the north of the island. In the east centre of the island.
INISHEER (East Island). The smallest (1,400 acres) and least dramatic of the islands, its historic sites are not as appealing. It attracts crowds of teenagers and day-trippers from Doolin. The everyday language is Irish and their songs and stories enshrine much of Ireland’s folklore and ancient culture. The 10km Inis Oirr Way follows a circular route around the north of the island. O’Brien’s Castle with a two-story tower and dry stonewalls has good views of the harbour and north half of the island. Teampall Chaomháin just SE of the pier, is a roofless church on the summit of a sand dune. A slab marks St Cavan’s grave. On the east side is the Plassey, a freighter wrecked on the rocks and washed ashore in 1960. Inis Oirr Lighthouse, on the south tip, was built in 1857 and automated in 1913.
CLIFFS OF MOHER. 10kms south of Doolin, these 200m cliffs on the edge of the Atlantic extend for some 8kms from Hag’s Head west of Liscannor to just beyond O’Brien’s Tower constructed in 1835 at their highest point. They take their name from an old promontory fort, Mothar.
The Visitor Centre is hidden in the hillside. The interactive touch screens, computer games and 3-D film are a ludicrous electronic counterpoint to the actual nature outside. Head up to the cliffs where you can walk south towards Hag’s Head or to O’Brien’s Tower to a viewing platform that offers the best sight of the wave-battered cliffs below. The boat trips from Doolin give a different prospective of their prodigious nature (3-6 daily €20).
BUNRATTY CASTLE & FOLK PARK
About 7kms NW of Limerick, the present castle, last of a series on the same site was built in 1425. During the 16th and 17th centuries it was an important stronghold of the O’Briens – kings and later earls of Thomond or North Munster. It has 3 floors furnished in a 15th and 16th style and four towers of six stories each.
Constructed east of the castle is the folk park, a living reconstruction of rural farmhouses, a village street complete with every possible shop and business, homes, and Bunratty House with its formal gardens replicating the environment of Ireland over a century ago. Many of the buildings including a church were moved stone by stone and reconstructed on site. It is very well done similar to the Ulster Folk Museum near Belfast. €16.50
LIMERICK COUNTY
LIMERICK
A major road, rail and air hub, Limerick is Ireland’s third city. A lovely promenade along the Shannon River, three universities, and a lively downtown with pedestrianized streets make it a lovely place to visit. The town is synonymous with rugby.
History. Vikings established a settlement in 922 that was seized by the Anglo-Normans in 1197 and fortified with walls that kept out the local Irish who retreated the ghetto of Irishtown. In the Jacobite Wars, the Williamites finally won in 1691 and the English went back on their word promising to give the Catholics religious tolerance. In 1692 and 1704, the Irish Parliament passed the harshly anti-Catholic penal laws.
The prosperous 18th century saw a grid of broad Georgian streets constructed to the south of the fetid, medieval city. In 1919 protests against British military action during the War of Independence and reprisals followed. During the Troubles, the rich were persuaded to move out of the city and the city became more homogenized.
King John’s Castle. The city’s most eye-catching building on the banks of the Shannon is an imposing 5-sided fortification inaugurated by the king himself in 1210. A rectangular bastion was added in the troubled 17th century. In 2013, a new visitor centre facilitated its 21st century rebirth with displays on the Normans whose 1169 arrival made Limerick a Royal city, the conflicts of the Reformation and the 3 horrendous sieges in 1642, 1651 and 1690-91.
Hunt Museum. Art and antiquities dating from the Stone Age to modern times were collected by John and Gertrude Hunt in the 20th century. It is especially known for its religious works with the 9th century Antrim Cross and the 11th century Beverly Crozier (walrus ivory carved with the miracles of healing) are the showpieces. €5
St Mary’s Cathedral. This Church of Ireland has an interior of rough stone walls, brightly coloured stained glass and a barrel-vaulted ceiling. The highlight are the dark-oak carvings of symbols of good and evil and the tomb of the cathedral’s founder King Donal Mór O’Brien. €5
Limerick Museum. The usual city museum. It is not where it is marked on the Rough Guide map but on the west side of the Sarsfield Bridge.
Limerick City Gallery of Art. At the NE corner of People’s Park has many foreign contemporary exhibits and Irish art from the 18th to the 20th century.
Walking to and from this museum took me through the downtown core of Limerick. Just east of the art museum is a lovely Catholic church with dark oak wainscoting and some very modern stained glass.
ADARE HERITAGE TOWN. 15kms SW of Limerick, this lovely town has preserved several thatched cottages and two very nice churches. The village fountain has at its centre a lovely large Celtic cross in front of Holy Trinity Abbey, the Roman Catholic Church in Adare. Initially a Trinitarian Priory dating from 1230, the Trinitarians were an order founded in France in the 12th century to rescue hostages taken during the Crusades in the Holy Land. The monasteries recruited monks to do the work and collect ransom money and became hospitals for the rescued captives. After the crusades, they became like any other order. As the monks wore a white habit, the church is sometimes called the White Abbey. The St Nicholas Church of Ireland occupies the original Augustinian Priory NE of the town centre. Across from the RC Church are several thatched cottages dating from the 1820s. The castle ruins passed coming in from Limerick is the Desmond Castle, closed to the public. Just east of it is the Church of St Nicholas & Chantry Chapel. The Adare Manor is the home of the local lords who donated the land for the Public Park with its washing pool beside the bridge.