Burren Things to Do

Yes, the call of the wild, In Ireland!!

1. You can experience the magic of dolphins frolicking in the water along with the spectacular cliff scenery at the MOUTH of RIVER SHANNON, home to Ireland's resident group of BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS.

DOLPHINWATCH CARRIGAHOLT offers 2 hrs. daily boattrips with a qualified skipper and his staff.

They have new 48 persons ferries which offer the best possible comfort & safety!

Imagine: SEABIRDS, HIGH CLIFFS AND DOLPHINS........what could be more attractive??

2. WEST CLARE guards one of Ireland's best-kept secrets, the country's only known group of bottlenose dolphins.
There is a sightseeing Ferry. M.V. DOLPHIN DISCOVERY that sails from KILRUSH MARINA and observes these exuberant creatures: such a pity that I haven't seen them on my trips......still have to return there, I suppose....

Over a 100 dolphins have been identified using the estuary at different times and each year between May & August calves are born.....

MOST INTERESTING, ISN'T IT??

www.dolphinwatch.ie
info@dolphinwatch.ie

To all of you Wallace and Gromit fans,(or Monty Python!) definitely stop at the cheese shop for some incredible Golden Burren cheese-----crackin' good! Aging in the caves makes the flavor wonderful!
No Wensleydale.....

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Poulnabrone Dolmen is the most popular and also the most impressive Dolmen of Ireland but in fact it has many siblings, especially in the area of the Burren. In a distance of just about 50 meters you may find another similar such construction next to the parking where you have a small space to park your car, when visiting Poulnabrone Dolmen. You simply have to step over the stone-wall and turn to the right instead of heading towards the much more famous Poulnabrone Dolmen.
The Dolmen in my picture looks less spectacular, but it reminds me a lot more of a tomb - Don't miss it, when you are in the Burren.
In my4th picture you may see my old motorhome, parked in the street, and - unfortunately quite dark - the other Dolmen in front.

Leamaneh castle dating back to the 17th century is a well known landmark at the crossing of the roads R480 and R476 and you may use it when driving from Aillwee-cave in order to remember to turn right and drive to Kilfenora.
Once upon a time Leamaneh Castle was one of the most impressive buildings in the Burren, but nowadays it is just a giant ruin right in the middle of a meadow with lots of sheep and cows around of it and unfortunately you cannot get any closer to the building, so I had to take that picture from the fence.

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The Cliffs of Moher are not at all the most spectacular cliffs that you will find in Ireland,(Slieve Leage in Co. Donegal for instance is much higher and more scenic ) but still they are one of the most popular tourist-attractions of Ireland.
Back in the 19th century a clever farmer had built O'Brien's Tower for the many tourists coming to the Cliffs of Moher and this is how the tourist-streams had started.
To see the Cliffs of Mohair you dont have to pay an entrancefee (except for the fee for the large carparking), but for O'Briens Tower you will have to pay a small fee and then you may climb up the steps in order to have a better view of the landscape around, but I am not sure, if I could recommend it or not, as the cliffs are even further away than at places, where you may walk directely along the cliffs - free of charge !
To step up O'Briens Tower might make sense on a clear day, when you want to have a better view of the Aran-island in quite a distance !
The walk along the Cliffs of Moher is the main attraction for the tourists, BUT only at a very few places you may look down the dangerous cliffs, that have a hight of 200 meters at some places.
No matter how far you walk along the cliffs of Moher, you will NEVER have a chance to find a path going down to the shore!
The best place to look down the cliffs and maybe see some birds is next to the parking, where you may lay on the floor and take a look down !!

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The Aran Islands (Inis Mor, Inis Meain and Inis Oirr) are also part of the Burren and they are also one of the most unique places in Ireland. There isnt any cartrafic on the aran Islands, but you may rent a scooter, a bike or take one of the many horse-carriages waiting there for the tourists and taking you uphill to the most famous attraction of the Aran Islands :
Fort Aengus is a part of the irish heritage, that is still almost totally unexplored by science. It is eighter a pre-historic castle or maybe a ring-fort built by several circles of stonewalls, BUT the ring is not complete, as the ring is "open" towards the sea and the high cliffs at the backside.Be careful, when walking around inside of Fort Aengus, these cliffs do not have a fence and the rocks will fall down about 100 meters. There seems to be a small entrance-fee today, during my visits a lot of years ago it was free of charge.
You need to be able to climb a bit and walk on a ground of loose rocks and stones, not really a good place to walk with elderly people or small children !!
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Some links for Innismore and the other Aran islands:
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www.visitaranislands.com
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www.aranislandsdirect.com

The Burren Centre in Kilfenora is an interesting museum about the special flora and fauna of the Burren and you will see what it looks like underneath the surface in the landscape. So maybe it is best to start to explore that museum first, before you enter the real landscape of the Burren, so you have an idea already about the special and most interesting facts of that unique geological formation, that you may find only in that restricted area at the west part of Ireland.
Something that you will realize, when walking over the rocks of the Burren is the special sound that it makes, when you hit the stones by your shoes, maybe you even find a hammer or other tool in your car...
Of course it is forbidden to take any stones home, BUT knocking on the rocks is not at all forbidden and it really makes a funny and unique sound!

Plenty of tourists are coming to the Burren mainly because of these caves, that are highly advertised in brochures all over Ireland, but in my personal opinion they are not really worth visiting, except on a rainy day maybe.
It is also a pity that Aillwee Cave DOES NOT show at any place, what the Burren looks like 1-2 meters beneath the surface - THAT would be really interesting to see with all the small gorges and gaps, where the different exotic plants start to grow out...
The best I may say about Aillwee cave is that they have a good self-service restaurant and great toilets there. In my personal opinion the rest is a giant tourist-trap: you just may walk inside a cave and see places, where obviously bears hibernated a long time ago. And around that simple fact they constructed a gigantic program, light-effects in the cave etc.
Under all of the Burren there are several caves, BUT Aillwee Cave is the only one that you may enter,decide for yourself if you want to see it, many other VT-ers obviously enjoyed it a lot...
Aillwee Cave is open for visitors daily
all year long after 09.30a.m.
entrance-fee is 10 Euros / children : 5 Euros !
see their web-page : www.aillweecave.ie