The Burren

The Burren, in the north west of Ireland’s County Clare, is a wild, rocky limestone terrain bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and Galway Bay to the north.  The region covers approximately 250 square kilometres.

I’ve already posted some photos of a different part of the Burren: the Poulnabrone Dolmen, which is to be found about 15 miles east of the spot in today’s photos.  Both sets of images were taken on the same day, which goes to show it doesn’t rain absolutely all the time in the west of Ireland.  However, my Cliffs of Moher series was also taken that same day, which leads me to the conclusion that an entire day without rainfall is a highly unlikely meteorological phenomenon!

If you click on the image above, you can just see land on the horizon to the left.  This is Inisheer, one of the Aran Islands, which I said more about in the Cliffs of Moher post.

At the point where these images were taken the limestone pavement runs right down to the water’s edge.  In this post I’m showing you my favourite shots from this location, looking both towards the sea, and inland, where the rocky terrain rises high above sea level.  Of course, this is a land of wide open spaces, and the vast, open sky is as much a part of the scenery as The Burren itself.

Here, the rocky seascape.

Below, the purple haze on the hill is not heather, as we first thought it was; it’s rock.  It might not surprise you to learn we noticed that gardening was not a popular passtime for the people of this land.  Having said that, The Burren is renowned for its natural flora: there are about 600 different flowering plants ranging from tiny annuals to shrubs, trees and ferns.  It is the only place in Europe where Mediterranean, arctic and alpine plants grow together.  But these are species that have adapted to the landscape; and as any gardener knows, this is not the same as introducing alien plants of your choice and hoping against all odds for their survival!

The young man in the shot below, and in the second shot above, is my son.

The sea was rather rough on this day.  The waves were crashing into the rocky shore.

And finally, an arty shot by the husband, which I like very much.

I definitely recommend a visit to The Burren, and hope this trip won’t be my last.

If you’ve enjoyed these shots, please click on the badge below, and you’ll find yourself at Skywatch Friday, from where you can see lots more images featuring skies from all over the world.  You could even join in yourself!