Biking the Green Isle
The Adventures of Will and Patrick Cycling through Ireland

Words would fail me were I to describe all which we saw yesterday, but I will try to summarize as best I can.
Having camped at an actually campground in Northern Ireland we headed back south the way we had come the day before. The main reason for this retracing of steps was a small coastal town called Mulliganmore. Between the impressive table top and cliffs of Drum mountain and the serene aqua marine color of the sandy Irish coastline sat this little town on it’s own¬†peninsula. On a hill overlooking the ocean, town and surrounding country side sat a most impressive castle we just had to get closer to. On arriving we found the castle to be a private residence still maintained and out of reach. Though slightly disappointed, we still took amazing shots of the castle from across a cliff lined cove and had a nice warm breakfast at the local harbor side inn.
From there we continued south driving away from the rain which was building in the north. Just south of Galway we turned onto the “highway” which led to the Cliffs of Moher through an area known as the Burren. The “insanity” isn’t the cliffs despite their resemblance to those in the Princess Bride, rather it is this highway. Had we rode our bikes we likely would have turned around 10 minutes into the journey. Not because of how steep it was, but rather because the road is quite perilous;
Barely wide enough to fit our car in the lane, stone walls on either side with 3 inches of what can almost be called a shoulder in between, and numerous tour buses which most certainly do not fit in their lanes. Add to this blind corners and a posted speed of 100 kph and you start to get the picture. We passed one car that had at some point completely swiped the side of a rock wall and another whose tires on the left hand side had simultaneously met their end with the razor limestones the walls are built of.
God was gracious and we not only made it through without a scratch, but saw some amazing ruins and the very unique landscape of the Burren the hills, which look like mounds of loose stone similar to the crumble topping on pies.
Once at the Cliffs of Moher we parked relieved and having felt accomplished that we had achieved some skill in the local style of driving. We then hiked through a dense pack of tourists (which felt odd having been in non-tourist regions for the entire cycling portion). And gazed from behind a stone barricade, which kept us 30 feet from the edge, at the cliffs which plunged into the ocean more than 900 meters below. Not content with this we followed a trail which went outside of the tourist area, toward a castle on a distant point. It is from here we were able to obtain the most impressive vistas for our cameras, seeing as the path weaved its way some times mere inches from the edge. Though one must be careful, high winds were buffeting us and since the cliffs are largely slate, they are relatively brittle and at least one section near the edge had a crack leading about 100 meters down and seemed loose to the step.
We are now several hundred kilometers to the south on an area known as the Ring of Kerry. A region filled with ancient forests and dramatic mountains. We plan to ride some of the mountain trails which run along this region later today.
Today’s picture: Patrick inches from the edge of the highest cliff at Moher.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 17th, 2008 at 12:13 am and is filed under Ireland. You can follow responses to this entry through the Comments RSS Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.