Heather's travel notes: July 24-25 The Burren

Two days ago we arrived in The Burren, Co Clare. It is desolate, barren and overwhelmingly beautiful. It is a magic place - rock and more rock as far as the eye can see! The Burren borders on Galway Bay which, as legend would have it, was once the site of one of the three largest loughs in Ireland. Sea levels rose and the Atlantic broke through - all that remains on the seaward side are the Aran Islands.

The limestone rock of the Burren is 100s of millions of years old eroded over time by the huge ice sheet that once covered it and then by rainwater which filters down dissolving the rock to form fissures and karsts (like we saw in Tassie last year). Over 30,000 hectares of the region are designated as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) to protect these rare and threatened habitats. The limestone pavement of The Burren is listed as a Priority Habitat and is protected by law (I didn’t know there was such a thing - the things you learn!).

I love the desolation of this place. The hills are awesome and the shoreline, where not towering cliffs, is a crazy smattering of lumpy, clumping low rocks crusted with a thick, slippery coat of seaweed. One tiny village offered seaweed baths - they are supposed to be good for what ails you. In days of old at the onset of winter the cattle farmers would drive their cattle down onto the limestone pavement to graze on the tender grasses which continued to grow around the rocks. The rock retained its heat well after the surrounding soil had cooled. In amongst all that rock are gorgeous flowers. We found over a dozen different species in one roadside stop at Murrooghtoohy. This is within The Burren and Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark. More to come on that ......