Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [318]
Such appeal comes at a price: mobs. This is check-off tourism big time and busloads come and go constantly in summer. A vast visitor centre handles the hordes. Set back into the side of a hill, it’s impressively unimpressive – it blends right in. As part of the development, however, the main walkways and viewing areas along the cliffs have been surrounded by a 1.5m-high wall. It’s lovely stone, but it’s also way too high and set too far back from the edge. The entire reason for coming here (the view – unless you’re a bus-spotter) is obscured.
But, like so many oversubscribed natural wonders, there’s relief and joy if you’re willing to walk for 10 minutes. Past the end of the ‘Moher Wall’ south, there’s still a trail along the cliffs to Hag’s Head – few venture this far. There’s also a path heading north, but you’re discouraged from it, so use your common sense. With binoculars you can spot the more than 30 species of birds – including darling little puffins – that make their homes among the fissure-filled cliff faces. On a clear day you’ll channel Barbra Streisand as you can see forever; the Aran Islands stand etched on the waters of Galway Bay, and beyond lie the hills of Connemara in western Galway.
For uncommon views of the cliffs and wildlife you might consider a cruise. The boat operators in Doolin offer popular tours of the cliffs.
Information
The visitor centre (Map; 065-708 6141; www.cliffsofmoher.ie; 8.30am-9pm Jun-Aug, 8.30am-7pm May & Sep, 9am-6pm Mar, Apr & Oct, 9.30am-5pm Nov-Feb) – actually, revealingly, it’s called the ‘Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience’ – has glitzy exhibitions about the cliffs and the environment called the ‘Atlantic Edge’ (adult/child €5/3). Staff lead tours outside and answer questions.
The car park costs €8. Vendors of ‘authentic’ sweaters and other tat have stalls near the cars and buses. The basement cafe seems designed to urge you up to the views at the pricier restaurant. Careful readers will note by now that if you don’t need to park or see the exhibits, this natural wonder is free.
Getting There & Away
Bus Éireann runs one to three buses daily past the cliffs on the Doolin–Ennis/Limerick routes. Waits between buses may exceed your ability to enjoy the spectacle so you might combine a bus with a walk.
The Doolin area is 6km away. If walking stick to the minor road right near the cliffs that runs for the final half. Liscannor is under 2km along a path that is part of the Burren Way.
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THE BURREN
The Burren region is rocky and windswept, an apt metaphor for the hardscrabble lives of those who’ve eked out an existence here. Stretching across northern Clare, from the Atlantic coast to Kinvara in County Galway, it’s a unique limestone landscape that was shaped beneath ancient seas, then forced high and dry by a great geological cataclysm. The sea is not muted here by offshore islands or muffled promontories, as it sometimes is on the coasts of Kerry and Galway. In the Burren, land and sea seem to merge into one vast, exhilarating space beneath huge skies.
Boireann is the Irish term for ‘rocky country’, a plain but graphic description of the Burren’s acres of silvery limestone karst pavements. Known as ‘clints’, these lie like huge, scattered bones across the swooping hills. Between the seams of rock lie narrow fissures, known as ‘grikes’. Their humid, sheltered conditions support exquisite wildflowers in spring, lending the Burren its other great charm: brilliant, if ephemeral, colour amid so much arid beauty. There are also intriguing villages to enjoy, especially along the coast and in the south Burren. These include Doolin on the west coast, Kilfenora inland and Ballyvaughan in the north, on the shores of Galway Bay. The Burren’s coastline is made up of rocky foreshores, occasional beaches and bare limestone cliffs, while inland lies a haunting landscape of rocky hills peppered with ancient burial chambers and medieval ruins. If driving, take any road – the smaller the better – and see what you discover: