Fair as Clare
A long weekend trip to the Emerald Isle is most certainly not long enough. But it is what time we had, so to make the most of our quick trip to Ireland, we prioritised a trail of natural beauty and headed across the country to the rugged and wild County Clare.
On our way to Kilkenny (for our first Irish Stew and pint of the town's namesake red ale), we made a short detour the magnificent Brownshill Dolomen.
Brownshill Dolmen, County Carlow Ireland
This Megalithic portal tomb was built between 4000 and 3000BC and the giant capstone; balanced atop two triangular portal stones and a square gate-stone, weighs in at 100 tonnes clocking in as the heaviest capstone in Europe. How the ancient Celts got it up there remains a mystery as the site has never been excavated and no clues have been gathered.
Although we travelled down the long road to Tipperary (made famous by the WW1 song), we skipped the town itself and instead stopped to explore the ruins of Hore Abbey in County Tipperary.
Hore Abbey, County Tipperary Ireland
The Abbey was a haunting rocky ruin, the highlight of which was the high moss-covered ceiling of the tower connecting the Choir to the Chancel.
The ruin also gave a picturesque vantage point, peering through the crumbling walls up towards the historic Rock of Cashel. The castle on this rocky outcrop is where ancient Irish Kings were crowned, and the monks of Hore Abbey were we stood, once served those Kings.
Rock of Cashel, County Tipperary Ireland
Onward through the rain we made it to the beautiful County Clare and finally our hometown for the evening – the Irish Music destination of Ennis. A night of Irish seafood and live music of dueling fiddles, pipes and tin whistles rounded off a great first day.
County Clare is most famously home to the Cliffs of Moher, but it also covers the ‘Cliff Coast’ section of the Wild Atlantic Way – a driving route that runs the length the West coast of Ireland. This was our route for Day Two of our trip.
We set off towards the ‘other Clare cliffs’ at Loop Head – on the most westerly point of County Clare. There has been a lighthouse on this headland since 1600s, and when you approach the cliffs on foot, it is clear why. Sheer 30 metre high cliffs plunge into the wild Atlantic ocean below.
The enormous seastack at the end of Loop Head – is known by many names, but Lovers Leap is my favourite and seems appropriate as it is summer; seabird nesting season.
The cliffs all around are dotted with pairs of loverbird Kittiwakes and a single ledge below us is full of chattering Gulliemots.
It is spring and the fields are filled with wildflowers – bright pink Sea Thrift the most common.
The sedimentary layers of stone are horizontal in the seastack and across much of the cliff face, but walking slightly north along the edge and the view changes.
The top most layers of rock are slipped, pouring over the edge of the cliff and pooling at the bottom like spilt honey gathering on the table.
Except of course this rock is not flowing, and this amazing folded rock formation is caught in time for us to enjoy. I’ve never seen a cliff like it and I doubt many non-volcanic such formations exist.
And it is windy, like most rugged places we have been, so we regrettably pile back into the car and drive for coffee. A quick stop in the charming Kilkee and we are off towards the second most visited attraction in Ireland.
The Cliffs of Moher tower 214 metres (at their tallest point) above the rumbling Atlantic ocean. The cliffs stand resolutely, staring across to the clouds and down at the waves that crash at it’s ankles; a truly stunning sight. One that is definitely worth the visit; the other 3000 people who were also there that day must surely have agreed.
I am glad we went to admire these world famous cliffs, but I must say our experience at the Loop Head cliffs – alone in awe with maybe 5 or 10 strangers, trumps our time at Moher – bustling with tourists, all well within their right to be excited at what we were experiencing, but somehow detracting from the beauty of the place.
One last stop for Saturday was at the end of a drive through The Burren. A glacier carved landscape dominated by dark grey limestone pavement, The Burren is in sheer contrast from the rolling patchwork hills of typical Irish vistas.
Sure enough, the rain rolled in so we skipped our planned hike and headed to the Poulnabrone dolmen. Excavations have revealed that 33 people were buried in this portal tomb around 3800 BC – the tomb itself dating to 4200 BC.
In the pouring rain, the start grey dolmen is scarcely visible from a distance, camouflaged amongst The Burren’s stony pavements. As we approach, and appreciate the vastness of this area (although later learning that it probably would’ve been a flourishing woodland at the time of the tomb’s construction) it is no wonder The Burren is rich with hundreds of Neolithic sites such as this one.
Rainjackets drenched, we head back to the car and drive out of County Clare, to Galway for the evening and the best Beef and Guinness Stew of the trip! A Sunday spent in Dublin, on a great walking tour through the old town rounded off a lovely weekend.
Ireland is the Celtic relative of Scotland and so many things felt familiar to us, with six months of Scottish travel under our belts. We will head back to Ireland to find more of its rugged beauty and of the places that make it feel so different from Scotland.
I imagine we will seek out those places that we can explore on our own – the solitary experience of travelling in wild places is something we are now sure we like best.
