Whether I’m summarizing my own travels or asking about others’ trips, my go-to question is, “what was the biggest surprise and the biggest letdown?” For me, the biggest surprise was the abundance of activities and sheer natural beauty of Killarney National Park and the areas around it. And biggest letdown? Controversial opinion ahead: the Cliffs of Moher.
Sure, the cliffs were an impressive sight. But impressive enough to be one of the top sights in the whole country? Nah. And—again, just my opinion—not worth the €32 they charged us to basically just park the car (and yes, browse the visitor center and use the toilet). But hey, I got the photo. Just like someone visiting NYC and snapping a pic of the Statue of Liberty.
More interesting was the Burren—a vast area of karst (eroded limestone), which used to be a sea bed near the equator many millions of years ago). Irish people over the centuries have somehow scratched out a living here, despite poor soil quality. Check out the stark distinction between the karst and surrounding fields; it almost looks like hardened lava.
I’ll let you read about the chemical processes that form karst if you’re interested, but here’s a close-up look at what it does to the limestone bedrock.
Neolithic cultures cut slabs from the rock to build this portal tomb (which looks more like the Stone Table out of the Chronicles of Narnia) nearly 6,000 years ago.
Speaking of the Stone Age, circle forts from that era abound in Ireland. This one we found today, however, was just a mere 1,000 years old.
With one last castle and one last rainbow, we bid farewell to the Emerald Isle!
Oh, and of course, one last Guinness and pub dinner!
