Unique Things To Do At Burren National Park

An Overview of Burren National Park

Burren National Park is Ireland’s most compelling landscape formations. The massive zone of land is made of karst formations, miles of landscape defined by cool grey rocks interspaced with crevices and cracks until tumbling into the Atlantic Oceans. The Burren is internationally renown for it’s rocky features, unusual crevice-based flora, thousands of archeological sites, fossil deposits, well-explored cave network and unique, adapted farming techniques. There are many unique things to do at Burren National Park. Visitors should generally try to experience the park using a combination of personal vehicles and hiking, as many places are difficult to access. Bring rain gear, as the grey, craggy land is often struck by storms.

Unique Things To Do At Burren National Park

Dunguaire Castle

Dunguaire Castle is a 16th-century tower house on the shore of Galway Bay. The structure can easily be seen and visited by those visiting Burren National Park from Galway. The name of the tower comes from King Guaire, legendary hero-king of the ancient Irish Connacht province. The castle’s formidable walls have been restored and visitors are allowed to book tours and banquets in the summertime..

Aillwee Cave

The karst landscapes of the Burren often create vast underground caves. One of the most well known is Aillween Cave, a privately owned underground series of caverns. The cave system is privately owned and park of the Aillwee Cave and Birds of Prey Centre. Visitors can tour the caves for a little over half-and-hour on paid-tours which weave through the caverns, over chasms, alongside waterfalls and past warped geo-formations.

Caherconnell Stone Fort & Sheepdog Demonstrations

Located in the heart of the Burren, this structure is a exceptionally well-preserved stone ringfort. The unique structure is embedded into limestone ground. The stone fort can be found just south of the iconic Poulnabron Dolmen. The grounds in front of the fort are used for sheepdog demonstrations, where well-trained collies showcase their skills, demonstrating different herding techniques. The fort itself is still an active archeology site and new treasures are still being unearthed.

Poulnabrone Dolmen (Hole of Sorrows)

Poulnabrone Dolmen is the flagship attraction and central feature of Burren National Park. The structure is a massive, neolithic grave marker of immense, standing limestone slabs. Poulnabrone Dolmen is one of Ireland’s most iconic archaelogical monuments and the oldest dated megalith in the nation. The name of the structure translates to “Hole of the Quernstone (a stone tool for hand-grinding materials). However, the name is often mistranlated to the “Hole of Sorrows” (Poll na mBrón).

Doolin

Doolin is an important port village on the West Coast of Burren National Park. The small town is vital to access the ancient sites on the Aran Islands. It also serves as a gateway when heading towards the incredible Cliffs of Moher. The town itself is a charming base, offering hiking trails, horseback riding tours, cliff views, pub options and eateries.

Doolin Cave

Located near Doolin, this cave is a publically open series of caverns exploring the underbelly of the limestone formations which make up this portion of Ireland. The limestone wonderland extends 70 feet below ground, gradually moving into an enormous central chamber. The cave’s main attraction is the largest, most awe-inducing stalactite in Europe.

Doonagore Castle

This is a round, 16th-century tower-house located one kilometer south of Doolin. The name of the fort comes from the phrase “Dún na Gabhair,” meaning “the fort of the rounded hills” or the “fort of the goats”. The fort isn’t open to the public as it currently serves as a private holiday home. however, it’s a useful and impressive landmark for the area.

Moher Tower at Hag’s Head

Located at the southern end of the Cliffs of Moher, this is a crumbling, fenced off tower standing on Hag’s Head. The tower is a Napoleonic-era watchtower with incredible and beautiful views of the Cliffs and the ocean below.

Burren and Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark

This Geopark is the main and most popular viewing point to access the Cliffs of Moher. Visitors can explore an underground building drilled into cliff’s upper portions to learn about the Cliffs of Moher, Irish society regarding them and the technique of egg fishing, where daring men would dangle over the cliffs to collect eggs from bird nests for food. The Geopark has hiking trails extending above it, which lead to overlooks such as the Pollboy Lookout, the Cliffs of Moher Walking Trail and eventually Moher Tower at Hag’s Head to the far south.

Holy Well of Burren

This was once a holy pilgrimage site, now located on the Lough Avalla Farm in The Burren. The Well is part of a six kilometer walking loop, wandering through willow forests, wide meadows and karst. The well is accompanied by a surrounding cemetery and prayer glen. Supposedly, a person who drinks the water for six days in succession can have certain diseases cured.

Dysert O’Dea Castle and Archaeology Centre

This castle, also known as O’Dea Castle, is a fortified tower-house and previous stronghold of the O’Dea Clan. The tower was badly damaged by Oliver Cromwell’s forces in 1651 before being restored and reopened again in the 1980s. The tower is now home to an extensive museum filled with local artifacts from 1000 BCE to around 700 CE.

The Aran Islands

The Aran Islands are a group of three impressive islands of the west coast of Ireland with limestone ground formations. The islands are known as Aranmor (Inis Mór in Irish – meaning big island) Inishmaan (Inis Meáin in Irish – meaning middle island) and Inisheer (Inis Oírr in Irish – which has no direct translation). All three islands are exceptionally unique, with vast networks of low stone walls tracing their shores. These stone walls, built over generations by the natives, created windbreaks which anchored topsoil, allowing room for agriculture and grazing. The islands can be reached by booking tours or taking the ferry out of Doolin.

Newtown Castle

Newtown Castle is a beautifully restored 16th-century tower-house. The unique structure has a cylindrical shape rising from a square-pyramidical base. The building is now used as a branch for the Burren College of Art. Visitors can enter to learn about the culture and educational life surrounding the Burren.

Parknabinnia Wedge Tomb

Somewhat easy to accidently overlook, this is an excellent example of a prehistoric Irish wedge tomb. The tomb can be found atop Roughan Hill, blending in fairly well with the otherworldly landscapes of the Burren. Though this type of structure was called a tomb, the actual use of wedge-karst structures is unknown. Archeologists have suggested that these were primitive huts, animal pens, burial markers or something else. There’s an odd bit of folklore surrounding wedge tombs around the Burren. Supposedly, when people tried to move the rocks to repurpose them for other structures, they were struck with a shooting pain. If they continued to try doing so for several days in a row (sometimes nine days) they would end up dead.

St. Brigid’s Well

Located on route R478 between Liscannor and the Cliffs of Moher, this is considered a sacred well infused with Pagan beliefs. While Ireland is full of holy wells and protected pagan retreats, holy places referring to Brigid are the most popular. This may be due to Brigid being both a beloved pagan goddess and, much later, a venerated Christian saint. St. Brigid’s well is an open-stone grotto leading to an ancient cemetary on a hill, the resting place for several mythical clan leaders. The well is considered a beautiful sanctuary and the pseudo-pagan holiday of Lughnasadh is still spent here.

Mullaghmore Loop

This is a popular hiking route following the edges of a limestone hill in the Burren. The hiking route is a total of 7.5 kilometers, reaching interesting grasslands, limestone fields, a hazel woodland, the shores of Lough Gealáin and a truly interesting spiraled-karst formation.

Michael Cusack Centre

This amazing museum was founded in honor of Michael Cusack and the national sports native to Ireland: Gaelic football, hurling, camogie and handball. The museum educates visitors about Michael Cusack (Mícheál Ó Cíosóig) who founded the Gaelic Athletic Association.

Cahercommaun (Cathair Chomáin)

This structure is a triple-stone ringfort located in Kilnaboy in the Burren area. The 8th century structure is a marvel of ancient engineering, using over 16,500 tons of stone on the inner wall alone. The spectacular structure is braced against a cliff’s edge, leaving it in a half-circle shape. Cahercommaun is a vital excavation site for Iron-Age artifacts in Ireland.

Temple Cronan

This temple is a ruined chapel built near a holy well in the Burren. The structure, likely built somewhere between the 12th and 15th centuries, was likely the site of an early Christian monastery.

Pollnagollum–Poulelva

This is the longest cave in Ireland, extending over 16 kilometers underground. The cave is part of an active stream passage, meaning water flows throughout the entire cave. The stream passaged interconnect at various points, offering great variety, even for repeat visitors. Generally, people begin exploring the cave at the Pollnagollum entrance with the main streamway nearby.

Caher Bridge Garden

This is an award-winning garden space nestled in the beautiful Caher Valley in the center of the Burren. The garden blends into the surrounding landscape, using numerous native plants to streamline sections, walls and platforms. The garden is further accented, using the Caher river, small ponds and other water features to add beauty. The most popular and recognizable feature is the “Moon Window” built from local stone. The garden is open to the public, but only by appointment.

Black Head Lighthouse

At the northern tip of The Burren, this is a scenic, pale-white lighthouse overlooking the rocky terrain and nearby ocean. The ground here is rough, jaggedly-broken stone with thin plants creeping between crevices. It’s a surprisingly beautiful area to visit, especially when visitors stop to peer between the cracks in the ground.

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