Ireland: Ballyvaughan to Cliffs of Moher

Doonagore Castle near the Cliffs of Moher

5.30.09 - We start today with a full Irish breakfast here at Cappebhaile House. That includes homemade brown bread, which could be cake it's so moist and good, cereal, a fried egg, four Irish sausage links, two large slices of bacon (more like large slices of ham), both black and white pudding (pork sausage patties - black with blood, white without), mushrooms, tomatoes, toast and tea. There is so much left over that we make sandwiches out of the bacon, sausages, bread, and toast to have for our lunch today.

We drive into Ballyvaughaun for the Burren Valley Crafts Fair and Farmers Market that happens here on Saturdays. This is some very good fun, seeing the different types of people, food, and crafts.

At the Farmer's Market/Crafts Fair.

A black lobster at Farmers Market. I've never seen a black lobster before.

At breakfast, we met the owners and our hosts Connor and Margaret. We met their daughter Sinead last night when we checked in. Connor was very helpful in pointing out sights we should see today. He also tells that the Volvo Round The World yacht race will be coming around Black Head, a coastal point around 1:30 p.m. These are $20 million dollar yachts competing for a big title. Connor recommends we head up to Black Head, a point on along the coast, where we might see some of the race.

To Black Head we go, on the way to the Cliffs of Moher. Some wildlife we saw on the way there.

This area we are in is called The Burren. On the way to Black Head is where we see what The Burren is really about. It is like no land I have ever seen. Nearly everything is rock or rock formations of some kind.

Approaching Black Head.

The landscape along the water.

A keyhole walkway through a stone wall.

We do see the yachts, by the way. They were a ways off, but we could see them as they lined up to race.

The drive from Ballyvaughan to the Cliffs of Moher is unusually, ruggedly beautiful. There are lots of ruins of castles, abbeys, and churches along the way, some from the 12th century.

Kilonaghan Church

Ballinalackan Castle

We finally reach the Cliffs of Moher. As you can imagine, pictures don't nearly do them justice. They were spectacular.

After trekking around the cliffs, we return to Ballyvaughan. We have dinner one more time at Logue's Lodge, then head back to Cappebhaile House. We decided today that tomorrow we will drive to Kilkenny tomorrow. This is a surprise move as we had never discussed visiting there. However, it makes routing sense. About 11:00 p.m. after an hour or two of trying, I finally secure us a hotel room. It's a holiday weekend here, so everything is booked. Time for some sleep!