The Burren

The Burren is an area of limestone pavement in County Clare, forming a natural rock garden extending over 200 square kilometres. Walking over this pavement is a unique experience in itself. The rock crevices, called scailps in Ireland, support a huge range of plants - Spring Gentians, Bloody Cranesbills, Mountain Avens, the white Burnet Rose, Rosa pimpernelifolia and Potentilla fruticosa are amongst the most colourful. The Burren Orchid, Neotinea maculata, mainly seen in Spain; Saxifraga rosacea (now extinct in Britain) and the large Butterwort, Pinguicula grandiflora, from the mountains of south-west Europe, plus many other plant anomalies, grow together in great profusion, making the Burren flora unique. We shall explore the rugged coastline with its views of the Aran Islands and of the Connemara Mountains across Galway Bay. The Moher cliffs are excellent for seabirds, including Puffins and Kittiwakes. We may also climb Black Head to see one of the best examples of a Stone Age ring fort. Our comfortable hotel in Lisdoonvarna is an ideal centre for our exploration and offers excellent Irish food and hospitality. We will have a chance to taste, and maybe take home, some justly famed local smoked salmon.