County Clare – Ireland

This county was a real surprise after feeling a bit disappointed by Dublin. Dublin seems to have lost its identity. These days Dublin seems to be just another big city with plenty of designer shops and department stores. While there are some historical areas there, it did seem to lack a soul.

County Clare is a beautiful area to visit. We spent a few staying at the coastal town of Kilrush (or the Gaelic version Cill Rois, meaning the church of the woods) and is located on the huge Shannon River Estuary. Kilrush has been a seaport and market town. During the famine years in the 1840’s the town suffered much hardship. Many people were evicted from their lands and homes and suffered from fevers and cholera. So much so that the population was reduced so much that the area has never retained its pre-famine population numbers. A landlord by the name of Vandeleur became ‘well-known’ because of his mass evictions with over 20,000 evicted in this area alone. These days, part of the old Vandeleur property is a lovely walled garden that belongs to the people of Kilrush.

At the Vandeleur Walled Gardens now owned & looked after by the people of Kilrush.

 

Today Kilrush is a lovely town with many, many beautiful homes as well as some lovely older cottages that have been renovated and restored. It surprised us enormously just how many beautiful new large homes there are in the whole county. It does appear that a lot of money has been made available during the past few years. There was hardly a home that did not have a new slate roof, been recently rendered & painted, had new double glazed windows, beautiful front doors and had large asphalt driveways. We would consider that most of these homes throughout County Clare are, by Australian standards very large and impressive. One reason for coming here was so MH could do some more family research – this has been a bit more challenging than other places. More research needs to be done.

A typical example of the many 1000's of homes similar to this and larger in this area.

We were close to the Cliffs of Moher a fabulous area to see. We decided to take a cruise to see the cliffs from the sea prior to visiting the Visitor Centre and walking on the cliffs. This is the area where the film ‘Ryan’s Daughter’ was made some years ago. Fortunately we had good weather and the sea was fairly smooth. The cliffs in some way reminded me of a green version of the Great Australian Bight – they are just wonderful to see from both the land and sea.

The Cliffs of Moher taken on the cruise.

From the walking track - spectacular views.

The 'Stack" at the Cliffs of Moher.
 

The ‘Loophead Lighthouse’ is located on a narrow ‘finger-like’ peninsula. Sadly when we got there it has closed as the busy season had finished. But there was some more great coastal scenery to see.

The 'Loophead Lighthouse'

Great views near the 'Loophead Lighthouse'.

We went to the world famous and geologically significant area known as ‘The Burren’. This area was previously the bottom of a warm tropical sea-bed, which over the eons was uplifted to form a vast area of limestone plateau and hillsides. Today, the limestone surface shows the results of weathering by water and wind and has been described as a vast pavement dissected with large fissures and cracks. In these fissures there is an amazing display of flora growing including Arctic, Alpine, temperate and sub-tropical species that are not found together anywhere else in the world. Today, farmers winter-graze vast herds of cattle on the Burren which has fertile areas amongst the pavements where excellent grasses grow.

Some of the vegetation that grows between the limestone pavements.



An assortment of plants growing in the limestone pavements including a tiny Bird's Nest Fern, wildflowers and yes Ivy!

A view of the limestone pavements.

Stone-age man inhabited the rocky Burren and built many defensive forts and wedge burial tombs and burial mounds. Many fossils have been found here including sea creatures and other animals.

A fossilized animal print in the limestone.

Cattle grazing on the grass that grows between the limestone pavements just near where we were.

A 'Wedge Burial Tomb' - a large family group was found buried here.

The views around The Burren are truly spectacular. Corkscrew Hill certainly lived up to its name. The amazing views across Galway Bay and across to the Aran Islands is something we will remember.

At the lovely village of Balyvaughan - donkeys and swans sharing a small area!

I could not resist saying hello to a baby donkey! Just lovely.
A lovely way to say farewell to County Clare.