Burren: geosite and rock garden along the Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland

The Atlantic continuing to erode the dark shale (above), exposing the pale limestone (top).

Burren limestone with glacial erratic.

Glaciers scraped away soil and shale lawyers, rain and Atlantic waves eroded the limestone, tiny plants colonized the fissures.  Earliest human habitation in Ireland here too.  This is the Burren.

The Burren, County Clare, Ireland is a European Geopark protecting a unique natural and archeological environment on the westernmost edge of the Eurasian continent.  The earth surface was scraped by glaciers, leaving limestone never covered by later soil or rock.  As a national park, it is protected and in spring becomes a rock garden of tiny flowers.  Seabirds nest in the southern part of the area at the Cliffs of Moher.  Stone chats and rock pipits make a precarious living in the windy fields.

For us, a Saturday wander north of our house in Doolin brought us to the very southern tip of the limestone, where the glaciers dropped their erratic boulders.  May is bringing the rock garden of tiny flowers.

The area is a center for traditional music, food specialties and much more.  Archeological sites are from about 10,000 years ago to the famine of the 1840's. The west coast of Ireland is designated The Wild Atlantic Way, a glorious scenic drive; the Burren is midway, just south of Galway. We are here for awhile and will have time to find out much more. Today, we delight in tiny flowers.

 

Text by Julianne.
Photos by both of us.