It was raining when we woke up, but mostly cleared by the time we got going. We’ve seen ‘the seasons of Ireland’ on tourist shirts, bags, tea towels. Today it was appropriate!
The first adventure of the day was to the Cliffs of Moher. These cliffs range from 390’ to 509’ high.
The lighter coloured layers that form narrow ledges are made of sandstone; the darker layers which make up the majority of the cliffs are softer siltstone and shale. The sandstone ledges are slightly more resistant to erosion, but they cannot support their weight for long and eventually crash into the sea!
The scenes at the Cliffs of Insanity from The Princess Bride were filmed here!
It is crazy windy out here today – I think most days! A few people on the trail were almost blown over!
O’Brien’s Tower is a circular stone observation tower built in 1835. The tower marks the highest point of the Cliffs of Moher.
On a clear day, you can see the Aran Islands from the tower.
We made a quick stop at Clare Jam Shop to buy some tasty potcheen-infused marmalade and whiskey-infused mustards.
Doonagore Castle, a 16th C round tower house sits atop a hill beside the sea just outside of Doolin.
The tiny town of Doolin is a renowned center for traditional Irish music.
We dropped into the Burren Smokehouse whose specialty is smoked salmon. We watched their 10-minute video on the process of smoking. They offer picnic baskets mostly made up of bread and smoked salmon, but since Dave is allergic to both, we ended up having lunch at their ‘sister’ establishment, the Roadside Tavern, built in 1865 making it one of the oldest pubs in the Burren.
The tavern shares space with Burren Brewery, so Kris had to try some of their suds with lunch. A nice cold pint of Burren Black hit the spot!
The Roadside Tavern has also collaborated with JJ Corey to produce a very small batch, roadside-style whiskey. We had to buy a bottle it was so good! It took the staff a while to find a bottle to sell us – must have been in a lonely corner of the basement.
This area north of the Cliffs of Moher is known as The Burren (means rocky area) known for its karst landscape. Based on the recommendation from last night’s B&B host, Joe, we drove the coastal route to our next stop.
Inland from the scenic cliffs there are numerous caves and rock formations containing fossils and lots of archaeological sites which we will visit tomorrow.
We have stopped for the night at a cute little B&B in Ballyvaughan. We have now had all kinds of accommodations. Small, large, cramped, spacious, old, and new. This is an older house but our suite is huge.
After dinner in town we headed to O’Loclainn’s Irish Whiskey bar. The motto at O’Lochlainn’s is “Too much of anything is bad. But too much good whiskey is barely enough.”
Dave had a good chat with the owner, Margaret. She was quite the character.
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