The Burren

Just to the northwest of Bunratty lies the strangest landscape in Ireland, The Burren. Burren means “a rocky place” and this is certainly the case for, as far as the eye can see, this is a wilderness—a wilderness that is rich in archaeological sites (megalithic tombs, ring forts, and the remains of ancient huts) and strange rock formations whose tiny crevices are a mass of Arctic, Mediterranean, and Alpine flowers in springtime. Ludlow, one of Cromwell’s generals, passing through the area in 1649, wrote, “There is not enough wood to hang a man, nor water to drown him, nor earth enough to bury him in.” Base yourself at either Corofin or Ballyvaughan to explore this region.