Limerick and the Cliffs of Moher

One of the things I love most about Ireland is being able to come across places, many of them in the middle of nowhere, where the evidence of the past is all around you. Places like the passage tombs at Newgrange and the ruins of abandoned castles and abbeys all speak about the lives of those who lived hundreds and sometimes thousands of years before us.

In September we spent a weekend in Limerick and just outside of Limerick city we came across another of these places. This time it was the archaeological sites around Lough Gur. There are a large number of sites around the lake which show the importance of this lake from prehistoric to medieval times. The sites range from stone circles, to kilns, to castles, to early houses and tombs and provide the visible remains of over six millenia of human settlement.

We stopped first at the Grange Stone Circle, which is believed to have been built around 2000BC. It is made up of 113 upright stones and is the largest prehistoric circle like this in Ireland. Excavations have shown that is was built to face the rising sun at certain times of the year (like the passage tomb at Newgrange) and that it was used for sacred and ritual purposes.

 

 

A little further on we came to a wedge tomb, which is now just sitting all by itself, tucked in just off the road. You can walk right up to it and could even climb in (we didn't, and I'm sure this is not recommended!). The tomb dates to about the same period as the stone circle and when it was excavated held the bones of 8 adults and 4 children, plus a variety of pottery from the time.

 

It was a beautiful day and we stopped for a picnic around the lake and enjoyed the spectacular scenery. We did a short walk around part of the lake and saw the remains of a kiln, very early huts and some other standing stones.

 

 

 

Later that afternoon, we arrived in Limerick and enjoyed a walk around the city centre and by the river, down towards the castle. We didn't visit the castle here, but it looked very impressive. James, however, did find time to visit the Munster rugby store!

 

The next day, we drove into County Clare to visit the much-talked about Cliffs of Moher. The photo below is how the cliffs would look on a beautiful, calm, sunny day. The day we went, however, was the exact opposite to this. The cliffs were still beautiful but we were very grateful for the strong retaining walls on the lookout points or else we would have ended up blown over the top of them!

 Even our walk just to reach the Visitor's Centre was challenging as we were buffeted by winds of over 100km/h and icy, cold rain. It was impossible to walk forward in a straight line but finally we made it (not without tears!) to the calm of the visitor's centre. Inside, it was lovely and calm and warm and there were some great exhibitions and films on the history of the cliffs and the wildlife that live in the air and sea around them. The winds were still so strong outside, however, that James and I decided to go out to see the cliffs one at a time, while the girls stayed in the safety of the indoors.

So outside...the cliffs were spectacular - they are entirely vertical and rise to 203m high - but it was so windy and difficult even to hold the camera straight. I don't think I have ever felt wind like it. Nonetheless, the view along the lookout walk was well worth it, and from time to time, even a little sun poked through. The wind even calmed down enough at one point for the girls to make it to the first lookout point so that they actually could see the cliffs in real life, not just from the window in the coffee shop.

 

The girls did enjoy these very Irish chips while they were waiting inside, though!

After our exciting morning at the Cliffs of Moher we made our way back to Dublin through the area known as the Burren. We had long been wanting to see this region as we had heard a lot about how the landscape is so different from the lush, green fields that Ireland is usually so well known for. The Burren, however, is a very harsh landscape, that sometimes looks like a moonscape.It is made from limestone that was formed when this part of Ireland was covered by an ancient sea about 350 million years ago. It certainly was a very different landscape, but in its own way, just as beautiful.