28.08.06 The Burren

Further on the road we get to Doolin, a small village with 3 pubs but a center of Irish folk music. Since its now raining heavily we reduce the sightseeing on a drive by and move then on along the small road. At a certain time we have to turn off because our next destination the Burren is waiting there.

The Burren is immediately recognized. The meadows become rocky and the landscape shows more hills. At a certain time then there is the Poulnabrone Dolmen mentioned on a road sign. We follow this sign and find ourselves soon in the midst of the Burren. Looks amazing with all these wild rocks. After a few km then the Poulnabrone Dolmen. No clue why its named so, but on a few signs its ostensibly described how our ancestors may have lived in this area. Only there is no parking lot....

Must have been a strenuous live. Cold, windy and barren rock as a basis. Much more mysterious is the question how the Dolmen was built. Who piled these stones on top of each other. And how. But it is stable however, since it stands for more than a couple of thousand years..... Which rites have been celebrated and who was honored by being buried here?

The Burren (from the Irish: An Bhoireann, stony place ) is a unique  Karst formation in the Northwest of county Clare, Ireland. Similar landscapes are the Alvars in the Swedish Island Öland, the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario, Canada and different regions South of the Great Lakes. The Burren and the area around the Abbey Corcomroe were historically own baronies under the stewardship of the clans of the O´Conners and the O`Loughlins

A lot of fantasy is required here. Before those is running away with us, we drive slowly on and view more of the Burren... again its getting dark and we have still some way to go until Galway.

first the city then ripe for the Island......