We had just set out from Ennis when we saw, in the first town we passed through, a ruined church atop a hill, surrounded by a cemetery. Of course we investigated.
The cemeteries in Ireland have some really interesting features. The graves range from ancient (some stones are so worn they can no longer be read) to only a couple years old, and many were very well cared for. Most of the grave plots are divided using small stones walls, usually about half a foot high, and are covered with gravel, rather than grass. It was also surprising that every single monastic or religious ruin we visited had been turned into a cemetery, always with these same features.
A very intense grave.
Some views from atop the hill.
The ruined church itself was also filled with graves.
A short drive later, we arrived at the cliffs. Several shops were built into the hills on the walk from the parking lot to the cliffs themselves. It was definitely better than having a bunch of modern-looking buildings around, which would have definitely spoiled the atmosphere.
Our first view of the cliffs. I can't really describe how incredible they looked. I know a bunch of these pictures look pretty much the same, but each one was from a different altitude, and the view kept getting better and better, till we reached the tower at the top of the cliff. It was also ridiculously windy, so we were fighting all the way up.
O'Brien's Tower
The cliffs featured several custom-made warning signs.
Just in case people weren't sure, they had this sign up.
At first we thought this was a spray from the ocean being blown up, but that was before we realized we were 700 feet above the sea. It was actually a spring or geyser, being blown up from a few meters below the edge.
This is a drawing of Hag's Head, the farthest cliff from the tower.
And this is Hag's Head, about five miles down the coast. We wanted to go down there, but with all the wind we decided it'd be better to live.
Leaving the cliffs, we set out for the "town" of Doolin, and had lunch at the pub on the left. This was Main Street.
On our way out of town, we took a quick detour to check out this castle overlooking the coast. Unfortunately (like most castles), it was locked up. It would have had an amazing view of the ocea
As we kept driving along the coast, we were shocked to suddenly see massive waves breaking against some smaller cliffs. As we went to check them out, we realized that we were entering the Burren, a vast expanse of limestone formations that covers most of central Clare.
You can see one of the waves in this picture. It was still probably 100 meters away, and that's just the top of it.
The Burren
So much foam...
I took like 20 pictures from this spot, trying for a perfect shot of a wave crashing against the rock. I finally got a couple
Eventually the ocean decided we'd taken enough pictures, and attacked us with a giant wave. Luckily, I was taking a picture of the ocean at that very moment.
We continued our drive up the coast, reaching the town of Ballyvaughn. The mountains in the background are part of the Burren, covered in limestone, and totally barren except for some small (and often rare) flora.
I think this is Popeye's boat.
A small art college was built next to this tower. Both were closed, and completely deserted.
This sign was by the door to the college.
Our next stop was the great portal tomb (dolman) of Poulnabrone. This tomb dates back to about 2500 BC, and used to be a mound covered with earth. It was a pretty cool site, kind of like an Irish answer to Stonehenge.
I can't begin to imagine how the ancients were able to move those rocks, much less balance the top one so perfectly. Note the tour bus in the background. :-P
Another ruin. I took the picture from the car window, there was no easy way to get to it.
Our next stop, in the very heart of the Burren, was Kilfenora, "City of the Crosses", so named for its many medieval high crosses, each 2-3 meters tall. The south cross still stands in the middle of a farmer's field, while the rest had been removed to a small ruined chamber next to the medieval church (part of which had been renovated and currently serves as the Anglican parish).
The medieval facade of the church.
A carving of a bishop in the entry way. If you look closely you can see the outline of a face.
He was also carved above the entrance to the church.
The highest of the high crosses. A bishop can be seen at the top. The room had a new glass roof installed to help preserve the crosses.
A crucified Jesus on the back of the high cross.
These designs were barely visible, but somehow my camera's flash illuminated them perfectly.
The church used to extend a bit farther. This is the ruined section...the new wall, with modern windows, marks the extent of the current church.
Turning around, you can see the end of the original church.
I liked this Guinness poster. Traditional music is very big in the West.
This bench outside of the Burren Center is carved from Burren limestone.
That night, we stayed at a hostel in the town of Lisdoonvarna, pretty close to Kinfenora. The hostel was recently converted from a hotel, and was ridiculously nice. We also had our own room (with 6 empty beds), which was amazing. After relaxing and making some pasta for dinner, we headed to the (only) nearby pub, where they had a traditional music session that night. It was by far the best session I've been to in Ireland, far exceeding the ones in Cork, with a great range of tunes, a perfect blend of instruments, and an amazing atmosphere. Dan got a video of the session, I'll try to get ahold of that and post it later on. After the session, we walked back to the hostel to rest up for the another day of traveling.
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