The day of our first guided tour had finally arrived! Despite the alarm at 6:15am ended up out of bed just past 6:30am. We headed down to breakfast at 7:30am but kept it light — both of us opting for a more Continental fare that would be light on our stomachs — and absolutely no coffee for me! The croissants with strawberry preserves and the pain au chocolat were both very nice. Headed up to the room around 8:00am and finished getting our stuff together for our trip, heading down to the street in front of the hotel around 8:30am to await our guide.
While waiting (the guide’s arrival time was 9:00am) Michelle and I people watched and also car watched. As there was a tour bus in front of the hotel and a Sysco food delivery truck across the street at Flannery’s Pub there was a chokepoint that led to some interesting driving. I had a momentary freak out moment when I noticed a kid who couldn’t be older than eight or nine driving! That was, until I went “oh yeah, left is passenger side here.” Also had several groups of students pass by, all in uniforms, including one pair that dashed down the street after a departing bus.
About 8:45am Carmel, our guide for the day, texted that she was running on time but due to traffic wouldn’t be there earlier than 9:00am (which of course was fine). About ten minutes later she pulled up to the curb in a gray / silver Mercedes touring van and in we went to begin our adventure. We crossed the River Shannon and over a series of roads similar to our US routes with roundabouts at every intersection (often with some form of sculpture or monument in the middle) we made our way past Bunratty (with its very impressive castle), Ennis (Innis), and the like.
I wasn’t paying the most attention to these towns as we zipped by (though I was struck by the diversity of trees) as we were getting acquainted with Carmel. She had grown up in County Clare on a dairy farm with her father, two siblings, and gran. When she was an adult she took the opportunity to move all over the world (Bay Area of California, Boston, southern Spain, Scotland) and even took a year and a half off to backpack around much of the world (South America, India, Southeast Asia, etc.). She worked in tech for nearly a decade as a project manager — I may be misremembering and perhaps it was a product manager. She mentioned that in Ireland when it is raining really hard they say “trouncing rain”. I like that!
We left the main roadways and started along narrow lanes often with waist-high stone walls covered with vines, ferns, and the occasional bush. The sky was overcast, a moody gray, but thankfully no rain. Michelle and I spotted two ravens perched on a gray stone jutting up from a pasture — it couldn’t have been more perfect. We passed the ruins of Leamenh Castle. A gentle lady known as Máire Rua (Red Mary, on account of her red hair) had five husbands, including one that “fell” from the top of the castle when she was showing him the extent of his (and her) holding. Eventually, King Charles passed a law that said that no Catholic could hold land (or at least a stronghold like hers). She set out for Limerick, walked into the barracks of King John’s Castle, and offered her hand to any soldier (they being Protestants) that would take it. And thus she kept her castle. It is said to be haunted, no wonder that. I wish I had taken a better picture but had we stopped at every interesting ruin the van’s brakes would wear out. It is amazing how many ruins of churches, castles, and ring forts we passed.
It was the perfect weather to set the mood for our first stop, Carron Church (Teampall an Chairn). It was a roofless stone church just off the narrow lane surrounded by lush green fields separated by the stone walls. We went up a narrow grassy path, slickened wet with the morning dew, and, finding the gate rusted shut, clambered over a gap in the stone wall.
The church itself had a few graves (adorned with Celtic crosses) outside. Inside there were a few more. Carmel explained that the church was built in the 500s AD and, as was typical of churches from that time, aligned along an east-west axis such that the rising sun came through a narrow slit above the altar. The priest would deliver his sermon facing the dawn, back to the congregation. The graves inside were also aligned along the east-west axis with the heads pointing west. Obviously there weren’t originally graves there but as the church fell into disrepair the more important among the locals, those that owned the land, would be buried in the ruins in the belief that it provided a quicker path to Heaven (closest to the altar being the preferred spot). Carmel pointed out the remains of a lintel that would have supported the long-rotted beams of the roof. She also pointed out that the “windows” were tiny as there was no glass at that time and it helped to keep the cold air and wind out — though they did use very thin sheep intestine lining as it is semi-transparent and helped with the wind. Discussion turned to domesticated animals and feeding on grass and a pecking order of cow then horse then sheep then goats in order of highest to shortest grass that they’ll eat.
Leaving the church (and taking a moment to pick and enjoy a few wild blackberries) we got back into the van and drove to our next destination, Poulnabrone Dolmen. This was the remnant of a Stone Age portal tomb from around 3000 BC (so, earlier than the Pyramids by at least 500 years). The pre-Celt (who wouldn’t arrive until the 500s BC) inhabitants had started to settle down (cultivation techniques having arrived) and turned their thoughts to the afterlife and such. While originally misattributed in centuries past to a sacrificial altar used by Druids the truth is far more fascinating — the remains are the central stone frame that supported a mound of dirt long since eroded. Remains of some thirty-three individuals (thirty-two local and a mysterious one that wasn’t…) were found there as well as some artifacts. The beautiful arrangement of the stones, surrounded by the karst limestone landscape of The Burren, was otherworldly.
Greg would’ve loved the landscape as it was limestone with numerous gaps allowing for all manner of plants, even some from a more Mediterranean climate. Carmel pointed out many of them like yarrow and hazelnut bushes (with not yet ripe hazelnuts) and many others, describing their medicinal uses (including one that forms the basis of aspirin — but I forget the name). She also showed us some silverweed, a staple food of the ancient Irish, and said that where you found silverweed typically it was a place of settlement a long time ago. Also interesting was that the limestone was originally covered by a layer of dirty but clearing of trees and the passage of time removed most of that layer.
Hopping back in the van we briefly retraced our steps (treads?) and visited Caherconnell Stone Fort, built in the Middle Ages (so 1000 to 1500AD) — practically a baby compared to the Dolmen. It was a ring fort, though prior to its construction the site had seen some activity as the graves of two individuals were located under the walls and there was a fire pit from around 600AD. At one point multiple family units (which typically were multi-generational) lived in the fort with a small stone wall separating them. The external walls of the fort were wider at the base and tapered a bit along their 10 foot tall height. This ensured that as time passed and the weight of the stones pressed down the walls would get stronger. The equivalent of over 100 dump trucks of stone were needed to build the walls with many of the stones being carried from a fair distance away. During archaeological digging in the early 2000s an archaeologist that had only been on the job for a week found the most significant artifact — a piece of jewelry.
Speaking of stone walls, Carmel pointed out that the building of the walls that separated fields was a skill requiring study — though it may look haphazard the way they are built with slabs at a roughly 25 degree tilt and slits between them make them strong and resistant to being blown over by the often high winds in that potion of Ireland.
A tour guide mentioned that the reason the fort was still in relatively good shape (meaning the stone hadn’t been “repurposed” over the years, was because as kids they are taught that disturbing the ancient sites can lead to a faeries giving one bad luck. In fact, lone hawthorn (and ash) trees are often considered faerie trees and are not to be disturbed. There was a highway construction project that took several additional years to complete because no contractor was willing to chop down a faerie tree that was in the way. Eventually the motorway was routed around the tree, only to have the tree chopped down by a drunken fool shortly after!
The star attraction at Caherconnell, however, was a sheep dog demonstration at 11:15am. About twenty people watched on while an older gentleman guided his four sheep dogs to herd about ten sheep. He explained that they only had female dogs for herding as the males were too easily distracted and didn’t follow instructions as well. Also whether a dog can do the job becomes obvious after their first kick from a sheep — if they slink off they’re better suited to being a pet. If instead they learn to hunker down so that subsequent kicks will sail overhead they’re a keeper.
They start with voice training but the issue with that is the dogs learn a particular person’s voice and it is difficult to have someone else step in. Still, they have a set of commands that follow the dog’s name, things like “off me” to mean go away from me, “that’ll do” for hold, etc.
The more reliable method of directing the dogs was with a whistle. Different series of notes for each dog and command for that dog. It was really neat to see in action (and musical!). He had the dogs direct the sheep around a course between obstacles and finally to a small pen (really a three-sided rectangle composed of low stone walls). Then they had an audience member choose a number (in this case five) and he directed the dogs to peel off five of the ten into a separate pen. The dogs were mostly very well behaved and got the job done but sometimes they’d get a bit distracted.
After the demonstration he talked about each of the breeds of sheep and explained the color on each. Mostly used as a substitute for branding (if these were cattle) to be able to tell who the sheep’s owners were. Additionally there was blue on some of them that apparently was rubbed off from rams — meaning that the ram was doing its job and siring new sheep.
Afterwards we bought a magnet from the gift store and got back in the van and proceeded a bit more into The Burren. Here the vegetation was increasingly thin and whole hillsides were rock. We stopped at a few vantage points that were just gorgeous and even included views of the Atlantic and beyond that the Galway Peninsula.
As the original plans to stop for lunch at a pub in Fanore couldn’t be relied upon in the off-season Carmel decided on Vaughans Anchor Inn in Liscannor. Michelle and Carmel had an excellent cod fish and chips while I had the only thing I could eat on the menu — a ribeye topped by a Portobello mushroom and three onion rings. It was excellent, if a little pricey.
Having finished our meal around 1:30pm we headed to the Cliffs of Moher just a few miles down the road. We opted for the ticket for the cliffs and the “Cliffs of Moher Experience” — while Carmel (correctly) said the experience part was more for a rainy day the combined ticket also provided entry to the gift shops, etc. and we had to get a magnet of course!
After buying the magnet and a shirt and breezing through the exhibits while Michelle went to the restroom Michelle and I headed out to the cliffs. It was quite gorgeous. Though the cliffs to the south were still a bit in shadow the cliffs to the north just beyond O’Brien’s Tower were bathed in afternoon light. Additionally, the sea was calm with long, slow swells that crashed against the rocks with regularity. The weather, now almost full sun with great visibility, allowed for a good look at the distant Aran Islands. Quite spectacular!
We reluctantly headed back to the van around 3:00pm (truth be told I could’ve easily spent a couple of hours there!) and headed back towards Limerick. Along the way I noticed some dark material atop a wall in front of a house. Mistaking it for some form of volcanic rock (which would be really strange in Ireland) Carmel explained that it was peat, often used in the area for heating. Neat!
Passing Bunratty again and entering Limerick we arrived back around 4:00pm and bid farewell to Carmel. It was a really fun and educational day and it was special being able to hear a local’s perspective. While it was our first private tour it wouldn’t be our last!
Despite saying there’s no way we were going to go back to the room and fall asleep we… went back to the room and fell asleep. We didn’t awaken until well past 7:00pm and I managed to wake up with a headache. I was able to finally shake it through medicine and some Chinese food at Wok King (or maybe it is WOKKING) very near to the hotel. I had beef & broccoli and Michelle had wontons and bacon-wrapped chicken with pineapple. We headed back to the hotel by 9:00pm and had a little dessert — Michelle opting for just tea with milk and myself a brownie with vanilla gelato that was quite good. Headed up to the room and blogged a bit before bed.
