The Burren is an extensive karst-landscape area in County Clare that reminds one of a lunar landscape. The rolling hills of The Burren are composed of limestone pavements with criss-crossing cracks known as “grikes”, leaving isolated rocks called “clints”. The Burren is rich with archaeological sites, including more than 90 megalithic tombs in the area. We stopped to check out Poulnabrone Dolmen, (Irish meaning “hole of sorrows”…a really fitting title if you ask me), a portal tomb dating back to the Neolithic period between 4200 BC to 2900 BC. With its dominating presence on the limestone landscape of the Burren, the tomb was likely a centre for ceremony and ritual. The dolmen consists of a twelve-foot capstone lifted 6 ft off the ground by two portal stones. This structure helped stabilize the tomb chamber, which has been found to contain between 16 and 22 adults and 6 children buried under the monument.
As we were preparing to enter the Burren National Park, we stopped at a seaside town (don’t remember which one) for a soda. While we were there, we noticed the dramatic tidal change in the harbor, leaving all the boats high and dry, grounded until the tide returned. I thought it made for an interesting picture. Got to love the bluntness of the sign that was placed in the parking lot near the boat ramp!
