Magical Holidays in Co.Clare
If you are travelling to Ireland, why don’t you take a peek and find out how the weather’s acting in the West. Book a hotel in Clare and go to the nearby sights like the Burren. The Burren lies to the south of Galway in County Clare, Ireland. The title Burren is from the Irish – bhoireann which means a stony spot. Its formation has lain unspoiled since the ice-age and it’s composed of karstic limestone, the largest section of such in Western Europe.
It is a place of surprise and pleasure to botanists, archaeologists and ecologists as well and occupies a place of around 300 sq. kms. The region is very bleak in appearance with glacial soil loss at a maximum. Nevertheless it has sufficient soil to grow a multitude of the most uncommon and rarest of plants, several of them strange bed fellows.
An excellent assortment of alpines and Mediterranean varieties grow together within this limestone region with, strangely, some of them being lime-hating plants. The Burren is bordered towards the west by the Atlantic and Galway Bay and it is tucked in the north-west part of Clare.
This region has many of the finest archaeological megalithic tombs in Ireland, if not in Western Europe. There are relics of human habitation dating back to almost 6000 years and the most famous is the vortal grave, or portal dolman, at Poulnabrone. In this area alone there are far more than 60 wedge tombs and the densest concentration in Ireland.
Nestling unobtrusively within the Burren, and just four miles from Ballyvaughan, are the Aillwee Caves. These were discovered in the 1940′s by way of a local farmer while out scrambling sheep. His dog had vanished and ended up being found inside the cavern entrance which must have been covered for millennia. Remains of brown bears and indentations from the bear pits were found a little way from the entrance. Bears have been extinct in Ireland for centuries so this find brought on some exhilaration.
If you are looking for a hotel in Clare then the Temple Gate Hotel is the place to stay. It is a great place to stay if you want to visit the burren.