Cliffs of Moher & The Burren
( Co. Clare )

From Schull, we headed towards Dingle Bay.   Mountains on either side of us - gorgeous!   Saw some beehive huts, crossed the Shannon river at Tarbert, went through Tralee where the Rose of Tralee pageant is held, lunch at Lahinch which is the surfing capital of Ireland.  

After the cliffs, we stopped at Doolin for a bit and Lisdoonvarna (Lisdoon to the locals) whose name is synonymous with its Match Making Festival.  It's a month-long craic-and-snogging fest where farm boys and girls of all ages gather together to pick their mates.  (It sounds like one big drinking fest to me - there's also a great spa, so I hear.)

A view from the edge of these cliffs leads 700 feet straight down to the open sea.  It was pretty spectacular - plunging cliffs and crashing waves (minus the black bugs that kept pestering us).

Often compared to pictures of the moon because of its expanse of rocks, THE BURREN (which means "rock" in Gaelic) comprises nearly 100 sq. mi. and almost one third of Co. Clare's coastline.  The limestone formations sometimes contain hidden depressions that open up into labyrinth of caves where its rumored that leprechauns are buried.

Oliver "the bastard" Cromwell said about the Burren, "There is not wood enough to hang a man, nor water enough to drown him in, nor earth enough to bury him in."