Pool of Sorrows

Gorgeous bright crisp day so after a slightly late and slow start to the day, we headed off to have a quick tour of County Clare.

First, the Cliffs of Moher which stretch for 5 miles along the coast and are banded with dark yellow sandstone and millstone grit. They are 214 metres high at the highest point and, if you're interested, were used as the location for the Cliffs of Insanity in the Princess Bride. We were lucky to see them on such a bright day, though the sun being so low behind the most impressive expanse of cliffs made the photos a bit tricky!

Lovely drive north though lots of cliched Irish countryside: green, green fields and gorgeous little white cottages scattered about and then into The Burren This is a huge area of limestone pavement, with little vegetation. In neolithic times the area was used for agriculture and there are lots of ruins and remains left. One theory is that the farming was at least partly to blame for the erosion of topsoil and exposure of the limestone. It's a very beautiful place, though slightly other-worldly. I'm not sure it would be quite so enjoyable on a drizzly day though.

In the middle of the area is the neolithic portal tomb shown above. It is more than 5000 years old and is called Poulnabrone, which is variously translated as hole of sorrows or hole of millstone - but I prefer the poetic 'pool of sorrows'. It is a portal tomb, used for burial of important people (probably). There's more here if you're interested.

After all the exploration we headed back to our village (Quin) for a pint and met some very interesting folk and heard some fantastical (and very amusing) tales of sea rescues. Warmed by a Guinness or two we headed back to the Castle for a gorgeous dinner and more whisky-fuelled chat by the fire.

A grand day - hope the birthday boy enjoyed it as much as we all did.