Clare and Limerick – October 2022

You can read all about how we got up to Galway in Part 1 and how we explored the city and Connemara in Part 2.

Rocky Road to Doolin

Our journey today would take us down the N67, from the City of the Tribes all the way through North Clare to Doolin. Basically we would be driving around Galway Bay. The first place we passed through was Oranmore, hometown of Irish rugby player Bundee Aki.

As we drove into Clare the landscape changed dramatically, fields gave away to the karst landscape of the Burren, which we were skirting round on our journey. The roads got a little bit smaller as we made our way through, partly by nature and partly by the large buses used to shuttle tourists to places like Lisdoonvarna and beyond.

We arrived in Doolin just before lunch and drove out to where we were staying – an AirBNB cottage connected to a farm just outside the village. As the weather was dry we headed into the village to walk around and check it out. We quickly discovered that there is not a “centre”, more a collection of scattered sections to it.

We walked down to the Harbour, walking past the pitch and putt course and spotting some rabbits. We had a trip to the Cliffs of Moher planned for the next day but wanted to check out what boat trips were available. After that we walked back down to the Fisher Street and it’s colourful houses before stopping in the Ivy Cottage for some lunch.

We did some more pottering round before heading out later for dinner to McDermott’s Pub.

Gone With the Wind…almost

The next morning we drove down the road to the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Centre.

You can access the cliffs from a few walking paths for free but given Cillian was with us and we had the car we decided to go legit and pay for entry and parking. It also meant we could access the visitor centre.

We had our jackets, coats, scarves, wooly hats and rain covers with us as it was a very windy day with rolling showers. The perfect dramatic weather for a dramatic piece of coastline.

The Cliffs stretch over 14 kilometers from Hag’s Head (where they take the name from the old hill fort there) to the south all the way up to their highest height at O’Brien’s Tower to the north before continuing towards Doolin at lower heights.

Considering how popular the cliffs are – around 1.5m visitors each year, it was surprisingly sparse on the cliff walk which was great as we could take our time climbing up the steps and getting the perfect photos.

The cliffs themselves are made up of sandstone and Namurian shale and were formed between 313 and 326 million years ago. Coastal erosion has ensured they are not boring and uniform with a series of sea caves, stacks and stumps forming. Just below O’Brien’s Tower is a feature called Branaunmore which used to be part of the main cliff before the layers of rock that connected it to the mainland were beaten down and washed away.

The Tower

We climbed up the steps and made it to O’Brien’s Tower. Built as an observation tower in 1835 by local landlord and MP Cornelius O’Brien who believed that tourism in the future could lift the region out of poverty. On a clear day you get fantastic views across to the Aran Islands (west), Twelve Bens/Pins in Connemara (north), the Loop Head in Clare (south). We were able to climb to the top and look out through the crenellations.

As we made our way back down a busker was setting up on the steps, protected from the wind by the stone walls, his melodies fighting with the wind for attention. Our hearts bled for him – it wasn’t the best day to be out.

The Bunker

The visitor centre is built into the hillside, looking like a bunker or a something from a science fiction movie. It had a fantastic array of interactive screens and games so Cillian spent hours exploring the animals and sea life and plants that make up the Cliffs eco-system. There was also a half decent cafe as well as a shop.

At peak season more than 30,000 pairs of birds live on the cliffs including large colonies of Atlantic puffins and razorbills. Beneath the waves grey seals, dolphins, porpoises and basking sharks can be found.

Lights, Camera, Action

The Cliffs are a popular film location – featuring in the Princess Bride (1987) as the ‘cliffs of insanity’ and a location of one of the horcruxes in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2007).

Irish fans will know it as the location of the Holy Stone of Clonrichert from Father Ted.

You can read up on this and more Movie Locations from the West of Ireland in our dedicated blog here.

The Treaty County

Karen’s grandmother, Josephine, was orginally from Ireland. As such Karen has some family here and we decided to go and visit two of of them, Pat and Aine, as they were staying not too far away in Limerick.

They were the best hosts, pulling some old toys from their attic for Cillian to play with, making a great dinner and taking us for the afternoon to a real hidden gem – Curraghchase Forest Park

For 300 years the Hunt / de Vere family owned this 774 acre estate before it was handed over to Coillte (the Irish national forestry service) in 1957 who have converted it into a great green space for people to explore.

The shell of the main house is still standing, albeit adorned with thick moss and vines. It was destroyed in a fire in December 1941.

The second baronet and third son of original baron Sir Aubrey (Hunt) de Veres, Aubrey Thomas De Vere was a renowned poet and hosted other poets such as Tennyson at Curraghchase. On one of his visits he told of seeing the mystic arm of the Lady of the Lake thrust above the waters in the artificial lake on the eastern side of the house. A century later during a Christmas party a candelabra was knocked over which caused the devastating fire. It was said to have happened when guests panicked after seeing a figure of a glowing woman from the same lake.

We spent a lot of time at the two playgrounds and walking along the walking tracks and the Fairy Trail. Cillian loved the outdoors, the army of geese and swans walking about and just the big sense of adventure.

To the Manor Born

On our last morning in Limerick we drove a short distance down the road to have a coffee with our friend Joey in the village of Adare. He and his husband John had moved there when John was working as a General Manager of the Adare Manor Hotel a 5 star luxury resort built on the grounds of the old manor estate.

The village was built to support the estate of the Manor so was quite picturesque and has been deemed a heritage town by the Irish Government.

After that we popped back down the road to Cork, stopping in Fermoy for some lunch before visiting John’s cousin Deirdre and her family in Cork City.