Burren —County Clare

Village and general name given to the fascinating limestone-layered fields of the 500 square kilometre stone-plated crown for North Clare and South Galway. An upside-down world of contradictions where rivers run underground through a honeycomb of caves carved by nature through low-resistance limestone; year-round pasture flourishes at rocky heights; Arctic, Alpine and Mediterranean plants grow side by side as strange flower-bed fellows in secret stone pockets and rocky wrinkles. Burren roads that vary in age from 200 to 1,000 years lead back through 7,000 years of habitation marked by 120 ancient stone tombs, 500 stone forts plus castles and churches from every century of the Christian era. Visit Caherconnell Stone Fort to view one of the best preserved stone forts in the Burren.