We had a long day planned with the main agenda item being Poulnabrone Megalithic Tomb (as we had missed it 1.5 years ago in our previous Ireland visit). After that we planned to hit any targets of opportunity that presented themselves. It was also REALLY windy (Gale Force 8: 39-46 mph winds) all day long and we rushed a bit at any outdoor site because of this.
Poulnabrone Megalithic Tomb is out in the Burren which is a “10 square mile limestone plateau” (Rick Steves) and “a Cromwellian surveyor of the 1650s described it as ‘a savage land, yielding water enough to drown a man, nor a tree to hang him, nor soil enough to bury him.’” (Rick Steves) Needless to say we were tossed around by the wind a bit when viewing Poulnabrone and couldn’t enjoy the neat limestone rocks very much. It would have been cool to walk around a bit more exploring the cracks between the rocks and the weird vegetation that survives out there.
Targets of opportunity:
- Newtown Castle. It said it was closed for a wedding on the door but I went in anyway.
- Caherconnell Stone Fort. Meh, just another stone fort. Had a Bailey’s Cheesecake thing though in the cafe…
- Ventured off for a cairn but couldn’t find it; mission aborted.
- Dysert O Dea Castle. Kathy and I went in. Same style as Newtown Castle and there are apparently tons of castles like this in this area: rectangular, skinny, tall, one way in, spiral staircase in one corner at the entrance, all rooms off of said staircase, and sometimes multiple rooms per floor.
- Clare Abbey. This one had a gate but there weren’t signs saying one couldn’t enter so we entered. Cool ruined church; today it seems to function as a burial ground as there are many headstones and graves inside it. I also backed down a narrow road like a boss to get out of this place.
- Some castle on a golf course but no way to access it; mission aborted.
Back at home we had the best mexican dinner to date here in Ireland (and in the UK) but that was due to the fact that we gathered our own ingredients and made tacos at the house – they were delicious!
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- Inside Clare Abbey
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- Poulnabrone Megalithic Tomb
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- Newtown Castle
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- Burial chamber at Caherconnell Stone Fort
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- Dysert O Dea Castle
