We spent most of today exploring The Burren, an area known for its karst landscape.
Among the limestone karst are several important megalithic monuments.
Gleninsheen Wedge Tomb is not too far off the road in a farmer’s field.
Wedge tombs tend to be regional to Ireland and are thought of as the youngest of the stone age monuments, dating from the cusp of the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. The wedge tomb is generally a large stone box with a sloping roof slab over the long chamber that gets lower and narrower toward the back. They are often oriented toward the west or southwest.
The Poulnabrone Dolmen is the oldest dated megalithic monument in Ireland. A dolmen, or portal tomb, is a single chamber tomb, consisting of two or more upright megaliths forming a door and supporting a large, flat capstone or table.
Most dolmen date from the late Neolithic period (4000-3000BC). Excavations at Poulnabrone revealed the remains of 33 people and indicated that the mass grave was in continual use for a period of 600 years.
The name means ‘hole of the quern stones’ or ‘hole of the sorrows’
The ruin of Leamaneh Castle, built in 1480
The Newtown Castle is a 16th C tower house. It is unusual in that it is mostly cylindrical but rises from a square pyramidical base.
Our plan was a hike in the Burren National Park, but the rain drowned us out, so we visited the local cheese shop at Aillwee.
We bought some Burren smoked Gouda and a bottle of wine for a picnic lunch at the B&B and had a lazy (dry) afternoon.
Tomorrow we make our way to Galway.
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