DAY THIRTEEN: GALWAY -- IRELAND'S NATURAL BEAUTY

Trip to the Burren & Cliffs of Moher (10:00 am-6:30 pm)
Study Time (evening)
Dinner at Hotel (7 pm)
another abandoned abbey; I was getting tired of seeing them!
same abbey, different view
the crosses outside of the abbey
the burren, prounced "burn" in English, which means rocky place
one of the many rocky roads there are in Ireland
What do you know? Here we have the ruins of another abbey
Inside the Ailwee Caves, or "Yellow Cliffs"
waterfall inside the Ailwee Caves
A "faerie ring" or an earthen fortress
an inside view of the faerie ring
these fortresses were the models that the American Civil War soldiers used
Horses are popular animals
THIS is the reason why the burren is called the burren. Visitors have said that it looks like the moon landscape
one of the famous black Irish cows
This is one of the most photographed places in Ireland and dates back 5000-7000 years.
The Irish had plenty of rocks but not enough ground for burials...hence the dolmens.
Here I am standing in front of the dolmen
Although the walls of this castle appear to be perfectly vertical, they are not. They are slanted so that a person looking from the top can see attackers directly below them.
The Cliffs of Moher (again, another very photographed area of Ireland).
The cliffs are over 700 feet tall.
The castle on top of the cliffs
WOW, we are really high up!
Very scenic view of the water at the base of the cliffs
the opposite side of the cliffs
Here I am in front of the cliffs. Notice how there is really nothing to protect me? This is definitely not America.
closer view of the castle
another meandering stream
one of the most dangerous spots in Ireland
A 4 year old boy was swept out to sea and drowned a few weeks before we arrived.
looking out toward another Aran island
we tried to catch "the perfect wave"
I came close to capturing the perfect wave
A big wave came and I hid behind a rock to get this picture. It was really treacherous out on the rocks...worse than any of the ice we encountered at the beginning of our trip.
another big wave
Everyone was jealous of this picture because I had a big wave breaking behind me.
just another glimpse of the shoreline


  • Another abandoned abbey
  • Same abbey, different view
  • Outside view with Celtic High Crosses
  • The Burren, pronounced "burn," which means "rocky place" in English
  • One of the many roads of Ireland.
  • Ruins of an abbey
  • Inside the Ailwee Caves, which mean "Yellow Cliff" in English
  • Waterfall inside Ailwee Caves -- we were told that due to a recent drought, we were lucky to even see this waterfall.
  • A "faerie ring" -- these earthen fortresses were believed to be have built by faeries (the Sidhe, prounounced "she")
  • An inside view of the faerie ring, with Laurel standing on the right side.
  • Another view of the fairy ring -- these fortresses were used by soldiers to hide behind and were the models that the American Civil War soldiers used for their own lines of defense.
  • Horses; during the summer months, horse riding and fox hunting are popular, carryovered from England.
  • A close-up view of why the Burren is called the burren; is it any wonder why there are miles of stone walls in Ireland? The ground is too rocky to grow much of anything, which is why when the Great Famine occured in the middle of the 19th century, millions were left starving and were forced to emigrate.
  • One of the famous black Irish cows
  • A dolmen-- the Irish had plenty of rocks and not enough room to bury people. Dolmens were constructed of three rock walls with another rock slab resting on top of these. This is one of the most photographed places in Ireland. It dates back 5,000-7,500 years. 1/3 of it has collapsed over the years.
  • A close up view of the dolmen. These are found all over Ireland. This one happens to be located on private farm property, but the owner allows visitors to enter and take pictures, as long as they don't harass his cows or disturb anything.
  • We all had to get our pictures taken in front of the dolmen.
  • Although the walls of this castle appear to be flat, they are really slanted so that someone on top of the towers and see any attackers directly below. With straight walls, you'd have to bend over the side to see someone directly beneath you.
  • The cliffs of Moher (pronounced More), of which we were not that impressed; we used up our enthusiasm at the other cliffs.
  • A view of the castle on top of the cliffs of Moher
  • A closer view of the castle with Josh and Nicole walking up to the base.
  • Did I mention that the cliffs are over 700 feet tall?
  • A very scenic view of the water at the base of the cliffs
  • The opposite side, but another scenic shot
  • Here I am, wet and chilled, standing at the top of the cliffs. That's not a very sturdy fence behind me, no?
  • A very close view of the castle, with the cliffs behind
  • We followed this stream down to the shoreline.
  • One of the most dangerous spots in Ireland
  • A 4 year old boy had died here 2 weeks before we arrived, so we were trying to be careful with our footing.
  • Another of the Aran Islands; notice how desolate it all looks?
  • We tried to capture "the perfect wave."
  • I came close with this shot.
  • I was getting cold, so I hid behind this rock and managed to catch a monster of a wave.
  • This is my favorite wave shot.
  • Look, Ma, there's a BIG wave behind me! I was the only one lucky (?) enough to get a shot like this, but then our bus driver yelled at us to get away from the water.
  • Just another glimpse of the shoreline
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