Mountain View B&B

Hibernia is the Classical Latin (one of its three varieties) name for Ireland which means autumn. The name is said to have originated in the Greek’s description of Ireland as the ‘island of winter’ (Iouernia) and the Romans’s interpretation of the Latin word hibernus, meaning wintry. This history dates back to the double digits of AD. The name appeared on a farthing from 1744 and continues via a Scottish football club founded in 1875, four ships and one shore establishment from 1763 to 2010, and a chamber orchestra founded in 1981.

Ireland maintains its gusty personality ranking in the top countries for wind power to generate electricity, having supplied one-third of its energy in 2022. On December 6, 2023, wind helped the island reach 70% of its electricity demands for the day. Ireland is able to provide 37% of electricity via wind power, making it fourth on the list with Denmark in the lead at 57%, but if you look at power generated then the top three countries are China, the US, and Germany.

Shannon Ferry

Following the quote of Benjamin Franklin, “Early to bed, early to rise…” and getting at least eight hours of sleep makes for a couple who is “…healthy, wealthy, and wise” (at least formerly) and ready to seize the day. Listening to the advice of our night’s landlord, we leave hours before the promise of breakfast to catch the second ferry, Tarbert to Killimer, leaving on the half hour. A twenty-minute ride will cost us €23 ($25). The reason for the rush is so we can get to and enjoy part of the Cliffs of Moher before the tour buses arrive.

We looked at the map and the route suggested did have the least distance, only 125 km, so we skipped driving through Limerick and whatever we would’ve seen between as my itinerary had us stopping to walk along a canal, Lough Derg Way Clonlara, before heading north. On the other side of the Shannon Estuary, we are greeted with a few road signs and then quickly are into the lush countryside with a steep drop, a 20% decline, before coming out towards houses and coastline that we will follow to the Cliffs. Parking is across the street for cars but the coach buses have been afforded the large lot across from the visitor center.

Cliffs of Moher

These cliffs along with Burren National Park are a UNESCO Global Geopark; they are being preserved for their geological significance to protect the resources, educate the masses, and sustain development with the local communities. There are currently 213 such parks in 48 countries, the US is not one of them but has plans to add Appalachian (3 counties in West Virginia), Gold Belt (131-mile byway in Colorado), and Keweenaw (65-mile peninsula in Michigan) to the list. We pay our $26 (12 euro each) and proceed to their exhibits which seem placed in an underground space bunker. A screen tells us it’s 53° F with a wind speed of 8.5 mph and the barometric pressure is 1021 mb (millibars).

The barometric pressure is the weight of air surrounding us and a millibar is the force it takes to move an object weighing a gram, one centimeter, in one second. Perhaps this information will inspire the scientists and weather analysts of the future, but I’m more impressed with its effect on me. The visitor count was up to 100,000 in 1978 and 1.6 million in 2019 (150k more visitors at half the price of Blarney Castle). There’s some history about J.P. Holland, the designer of the world’s first successful submarine in May 1881 (he was born in Clare County in 1841). Today, it sits in a museum in New Jersey where Holland died in 1914.

Of course, the first thing I think about is the tide pod of a sub built by billionaires that lasted 105 minutes into its mission in 2023. Thankfully, the implosion took less than a second, too fast for them to see it coming. I’m all about advancing our species and others but some things shouldn’t be rushed and I know this isn’t the first group to let their curiosity and excitement get the better of them.. or all of them in a moment. Though I’m sure these guys span the gamut of exploration and destruction (spying and protection) that these machines were created for.

We make our way towards the windy edge while being watched by a meadow pipit, a small bird with a decreasing population. We walk to O’Brien’s Tower, built in 1835 as an observation point to see the Aran Islands and the Twelve Bens (mountain range) of Connemara across Galway Bay, on a clear day. No luck seeing much to the northwest and no tea on offer in the tower, so we take advantage of the momentary wind block before continuing. We notice buses starting to park and will count twenty by 11 am. This means an influx of some 680 to 1,120 visitors within a couple of hours.

O’Brien’s Tower

We pass by a Jacob sheep, which on average can weigh up to 160 pounds, but from our perspective, its fluffy wool makes it look the same size as the brown cows behind it. There are Suffolk sheep on the hill to the northeast with a variety of cows and colors seperated by a wire. From here, we see a spire of rock with waves on one side and a thousand birds on its multitude of shelves. History tells us these cliffs are over 300 million years in the making, something I’m sure scientists half a million years from now can appreciate the gradual or drastic changes that will continue on these rocks.

I have no way to grasp that timeline as I’m in my thirties, but parts of me still feel like young mid-twenties while I wonder what my body will look like when I’m fifty — mole placement, freckle coverage, gray hair pattern, new scars and their stories. Compared to the view, my life is just a blink of an eye. At least this makes me feel closer to trees and turtles with similar lifespans. Humans all have their ideal world, but given the chance, could any of us create something so perfect and balanced; as we are yet to be the ideal people.

Saker falcon

The path continues for some unknown distance as the park boundary is within the 14 km of cliffs, so we are on borrowed property between a protective stone wall and a farmer’s fence to keep his livestock from the fate of former tourists who fell to their death, many in their 20s, and one just two weeks ago, while taking pictures from a range of 390 to 702 feet up from the water. We make our way back towards the tower and pass a mom with a disposable camera in hand, gifted by her daughter who probably didn’t know that the familiar click and winding sound would gain nostalgic attention from a passerby.

I let the woman know she is lucky, and she agreed, to have a set limit of 24 to 27 pictures captured on film that would sum up her trip. What I didn’t say was that it would further feed the relationship with her loving and thoughtful daughter; a compliment that came so easily from my mom. Off towards the southwest of the cliffs, past the suicide helpline posters, is another view of the spire (that better shows its fragility) and the Aran Islands. There are small formations on Goat Island that could almost be mistaken for cairns but only a bird could survive that precipice of wet grass and loose stones.

Aillwee Cave

The path narrows as some people stop so we can pass them though I feel there is room for two on this guarded trail that has been pushed back from the edge. The old trail is still visible in parts and it’s more obvious how someone could be injured permanently. I could have stayed another hour to admire the cliffs, cows, and clearing horizon. The growing crowds decided that I should say hello to a little white wagtail, less than an ounce of mass this bird, when I returned to the car, as Caleb is very much over feeling like a needle in a haystack, just one bearded man in a horde of humans.

Some things I assume will be awesome, like seeing a cave in Ireland, so I figure no further research is necessary. The Aillwee (meaning yellow cliff) Burren Experience sounds like a tourist trap because it offers a guided cave tour, cheese and fudge tastings, a woodland walk, and a Birds of Prey center. The hawks that have been trained put on shows for those who don’t live near parks with these beautiful creatures and don’t have the time to wait and watch them hunt. Seeing them eat has been rare in my experience. I would’ve loved to pet the owls, but we had driven up to the cave first to be told a show had started down the hill and the next one wouldn’t be until an hour after our cave tour.

We find a seat while Trainee Jack teaches us about Harris’s hawk which can be found from the southwest US to central Argentina. This bird’s nickname is ‘wolves of the sky’ due to their hunting in family groups of four to six. These hawks have beautiful dark brown-reddish feathers and feed mainly on medium-sized mammals. We watch the bird fly from glove to rock to bleacher top and then I am one of the lucky few who gets to wear a glove while the hawk rests just a moment before taking flight again. I thought Caleb might’ve taken a picture, but the only one I did captures a couple — the one we saw at Guinness Lake three days ago and the same one we’ll see at a cafe later today (also not planned).

For the next show, we’re told to either keep our seats or leave now before the Saker falcon has its hood removed as it prefers moving prey such as running toddlers and hands shooting up to get a good photo. This two-pound bird with a pattern of brown, sand, and white can be found in Central Europe and east towards Manchuria, China. This falcon is endangered and feeds on smaller rodents and birds than the Harris’s hawk even though they weigh about the same, the former has a larger wingspan. We sit through Gary’s presentation while the falcon poses before performing some tricks. This will earn him a meaty treat that he tears apart while Gary talks.

Sticking around, we talk more (which I always love to do) with Gary and then see the other birds perched in their cages and a crow shows us some of his toys, which earns him treats. Across the parking lot, we witness some cheese wheels in their salt bath before returning up the hill. Aillwee Cave was discovered in 1940 and opened to the public 36 years later. We’re shown the cave map, scale 1:625, and the tour route that we’ll be doing that leaves the other half, parts of it underwater, to the professionals.

Dungaire Castle

The entry tunnel looks like it was widened with a paved path and a handrail added, in sections. Some of the walls look like the wet portions of the Ballyvoyle Tunnel, keeping true to the overall moist level of Ireland. There are lots of dripping straws and green growth along with smaller formations and a waterfall. We get to walk by the spray, but I don’t reach out my hand as cave rules go: water can touch me, but I have to keep my oily hands to myself. I’ve been to one cave where they have a touching rock hoping that it keeps people from touching the rest.

Time in a cave is always fleeting and soon our 45 minutes is up. Some caves offer self-guided or private tours with advanced reservations and a certain group size. I will be asking about these options in the future. There are possibly 200 caves in Ireland but only six are open to the public (show caves) due to the difficulty of accessing the others or needing permission from the landowner and ensuring non-nuisance parking arrangments. Just up the road we see a cafe sign and pull over to investigate. We parked in the back and walked all around an otherwise closed-looking building to find the front door with a picnic table nearby, that I drove past in my hunger.

The cafe is called The Larder, meaning a large room for storing food, so we are in luck. We clink a mocha and matcha at the bar, between the counter and the tables, while we wait for the savory and sweet treats we ordered. Funny enough, when the barista asks a guy from the couple who sits next to us how much sugar he wants in his matcha, he claims that it’s like hot chocolate. Perhaps he also ordered the green eggs and ham, though most people know that shell color doesn’t affect the contents. I hope he’s not disappointed.

Burren National Park

I thought I recognized the hybrid Yaris outside with a similar plate to ours and then I saw the couple from the bird show earlier. They found this cafe with the help of The Irish Road Trip website which they are following more precisely. I only use outside sources for ideas and rarely for places to eat, but local foods to try. Not sure where their path goes next but with lunch consumed, I know we need to get moving. We can see Dungaire Castle, built in 1520, from the road, the same one we’ll walk in to view the castle perimeter, as the car park is 240 meters away and the gate to a romantic getaway locked.

On the way back to the car, Caleb makes short-term friends with an English Shepherd before navigating us down a road that looks more like a private driveway lined with tall trees. Only when we reach the line of cars on the side of the road do we determine that we must have made it to Burren National Park. We find a spot to join them, even though my itinerary said ‘coastal drive’. Before travel, always do a test search of planned stops as some have only one location, but many have different trails, parks, buildings, etc. included and you could easily find yourself as lost, but just where we needed to be, as we were.

If you zoom in on Gortlecka Crossroads you can see the cars lined up. Thanks to the vague ‘you are here’ map and a certain shaped but unnamed lake I was able to find where we were amidst the trees, limestone, and calcareous grasslands. We pass through a rock wall with space enough for one person to pass through. Attached to a stone are five circle plaques, each in a different color, with boot prints and arrows on them. There’s a single wire fence strung along the trail through the trees, a railing down the stairs, and trail markers over the rocks. There are little flowers of purple being visited by a rhingia, a genus of hoverflies known for their long snout.

We finish our hike and drive past Ballyportry Castle which can be rented to a maximum of eight people for a minimum of three nights with dinner upon arrival for $2,200. Where we will be sleeping tonight would be about a sixth of that cost for the same stay. If we ever find three other couples that wouldn’t mind staying in a 15th-century Gaelic Tower House with 21st-century comforts, such as underfloor heating, we would split the bill. Just moments from the castle, we’re out of the car to say hello to a herd of cattle who seem to think we’re there to feed them.

Dromore Wood Nature Reserve

Next on our route, which looks like a Far Side Comic character to Caleb and a running dinosaur to me, is the Dromore Wood Nature Reserve for another free walk in nature. There’s a short trail to the de-roofed and fenced castle that is now a national monument. We make our way east to Birdhill where we will stay at Heron House, a carbon-neutral accommodation, meaning the room will be a consistent 68°F. We park out front and are greeted immediately by Sean, the host. Guest parking is in the back and we will move when we return from dinner. We are shown upstairs to our room and provided towels, soap, and chocolate.

Heron House

We drive back into Birdhill for dinner at Matt the Thresher Inn, established in 1984 and voted the best gastropub in 2023. Luckily, it’s just the two of us and I’m the opposite of peckish. They find a small table tucked by the stairs, though they’re not busy. I order a small bowl of brown soup with two slices of brown bread and Caleb gets a chicken Caesar salad. We get back to our room before sunset and Caleb will read while I update my notes before reading too.