July 20, 2024

July 20, 2024

From Kilrush in southern Clare County, we drove north along the coastline. It is drizzling so I am driving slowly hoping the sun may decide to make an entrance. It doesn’t. Our first stop is at Trump’s Doonbeg Golf Course and Hotel. We watch golfers in shorts attempt to tee off in the blustery cold into a fairway surrounded by dune grass. It is pretty but Aimee and I have no interest in golfing here. Give me sun and warmth.

We continued north until we reached the Cliffs of Moher. This is now a major league tourist attraction. When we last visited twenty-five years ago, we walked right to the edge and wondered at the sheep feeding on ledges below. Today, it is packed with tourists and there is a big wall between us and a long drop to the ocean below. We also have to pay to park and there is now a large Visitor Center and gift store. Oh we long for the old days of wandering the earth. We hike along the cliff edge in both directions. We are confined to a narrow stretch next to the cliff. There is an electrified fence to discourage me from entering the adjoining farm fields.

Back in the car, we head inland to the Burren National Park. We intended to do one of the listed trails but we don’t like what we see. We have to travel pretty far to see interesting features. I drove down one rocky lane before I realized I was probably on the trail. I had to back up quite a ways before finding enough room to make a three point turn. Thankfully we rented a tiny Irish-friendly car. Instead I hop the rock wall and explore the immediate vicinity. The Burren is a vast Karst limestone landscape formed when glaciers swept the surface bare. I realized why the trail probably doesn't pass through here. The rocks are heavily and deeply corrugated. It is difficult to traverse, almost like scrambling atop boulders.

Instead we backtrack and head to Poulnabrone. This is a Stone Age portal tomb. I remember it being in the middle of the Burren on our last trip. Unfortunately it was pouring rain then. This 6000-year old Stone-Age burial chamber is simply a few slabs of rocks. It is not mentioned but I believe it is just the now-exposed internal stone framework of a passage tomb. The overlying soil has been eroded away.

Aimee and I explore the Burren area surrounding it. It is pretty cool. I am surprised how varied the Burren terrain is. It has hills and ravines like a soil landscape. The Burren is also not contiguous at all. The exposed rock alternates with farmland. I bet it is like our Caliche rock at home. It is just below even the most fertile soil.

We continue our drive north. We stop frequently to take photos of the Burren landscape. In the north, whole hillsides are solid rock while just below lie green farm fields.

We end in the town of Kinvarra. After checking in to our accomodations, we walk through town and along an arm of Galway Bay to Dunguaire Castle. We took some photos but it is now closed to visitation. We have dinner on the pier facing it. The weather is starting to clear up and we can see some blue sky.