Co. Clare's usual 140-square mile area called the Burren or boireann (stony place) is an intricately beautiful natural phenomenon - a moonscape in which Ice Age glaciers marched south across Galway Bay and rode up and over the Burren plateau. The ice stripped away all the weathered rock, scraped out tiers of cliffs and smooth, flat terraces on the hills, and deepened the valleys and hollows. It left a litter of boulders made of limestone and Connemara granite. When walking over a stretch of the shattered, uneven pavement, a whole slab of limestone may teeter underfoot and fall back into place with a ring like a cracked church bell, the noise echoing down through crevices, fissures and shafts until it reaches caves far underground and is lost in the cistern-sounds of flowing water. Spring gentians, mountain avens and bloody cranesbill bloom here. Notably, there are are 22 recorded kinds of orchid blossoms to be found in the Burren beginning in late April and continuing into September! Small plants thrive in the most unexpected places requiring just a bit of light, soil and water to spring forth in minature beauty. Also seen are "vanishing lakes," the grassy hollows called turloughs, which brim with water in winter and often empty entirely in summer. In the typical turlough, a rim of black moss on the encircling rocks shows the "high tide" mark. The Burren has the longest cave in Ireland, Poulnagollum, "The Cave of the Doves" with water-smoothed passages that wind for more than nine miles through the dark. Less-adventurous visitors can stroll through the caverns of Aillwee, above Ballyvaughan, with their dry walkways and spotlit stalactites. Ireland's insular history and special Atlantic climate have put together in this corner of north County Clare a bouquet of wildflowers whose mixture is ecologically unique. The famous early 20th century botanist, Robert Lloyd PRAEGER said, "He who has viewed the thousands of acres of arctic-alpine plants in full flower, from hilltop down to sea level has seen one of the loveliest sights Ireland has to offer." Modern-day botanist Charles NELSONdescribes the blue color of the spring gentian as "the darker part of the clear summer sky at sunset." Bloody cranesbill, in bloom from June to August, is a piercing magenta color enriched with anthers of turquoise blue on closer inspection. In "stony pastures," bluebells can be found, hazel copses, cushioned in mosses and tall helleborines. The trees of the Burren have curious shapes that seem perfectly suited to their unusual location. Essential to the Burren ecosystem, cows and feral goats found throughout the area graze on hazel scrub that would otherwise proliferate and overshadow more delicate wildlife. -- Excerpt, "The World of Hibernia" - Summer 1998

MORE: As the glaciers retreated from Munster northward to Finland, for a long time Galway Bay was a fresh water lake. What we now know as the Aran Islands set atop a solid limestone arch that blocked seawater from entering Galway Bay. That limestone arch looped from the Burren area of Clare out to sea and returned to land further north in Galway/Connaught. As glaciers continued to melt, the sea level raised until it overflowed the lower parts of the limestone archway. At that time the higher points became the Aran Islands and Galway Bay turned from fresh to salt water. Some varieties of wild flowers there are found nowhere else in Ireland. Before man came, it must have been a magical place. Thanks Jean Don Kelly ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jean Rice" <jeanrice@cet.com> To: <IrelandGenWeb-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, October 13, 2002 9:32 AM Subject: [IGW] Clare's Burren - Rock Garden w/ Orchids in a Lunar Landscape - (PRAEGER/NELSON) > Co. Clare's usual 140-square mile area called the Burren or boireann (stony > place) is an intricately beautiful natural phenomenon - a moonscape in which > Ice Age glaciers marched south across Galway Bay and rode up and over the > Burren plateau. The ice stripped away all the weathered rock, scraped out > tiers of cliffs and smooth, flat terraces on the hills, and deepened the > valleys and hollows. It left a litter of boulders made of limestone and > Connemara granite. When walking over a stretch of the shattered, uneven > pavement, a whole slab of limestone may teeter underfoot and fall back into > place with a ring like a cracked church bell, the noise echoing down through > crevices, fissures and shafts until it reaches caves far underground and is > lost in the cistern-sounds of flowing water. Spring gentians, mountain > avens and bloody cranesbill bloom here. > > Notably, there are are 22 recorded kinds of orchid blossoms to be found in > the Burren beginning in late April and continuing into September! Sma ll > plants thrive in the most unexpected places requiring just a bit of light, > soil and water to spring forth in minature beauty. Also seen are "vanishing > lakes," the grassy hollows called turloughs, which brim with water in winter > and often empty entirely in summer. In the typical turlough, a rim of black > moss on the encircling rocks shows the "high tide" mark. > > The Burren has the longest cave in Ireland, Poulnagollum, "The Cave of the > Doves" with water-smoothed passages that wind for more than nine miles > through the dark. Less-adventurous visitors can stroll through the caverns > of Aillwee, above Ballyvaughan, with their dry walkways and spotlit > stalactites. > > Ireland's insular history and special Atlantic climate have put together in > this corner of north County Clare a bouquet of wildflowers whose mixture is > ecologically unique. The famous early 20th century botanist, Robert Lloyd > PRAEGER said, "He who has viewed the thousands of acres of arctic-alpine > plants in full flower, from hilltop down to sea level has seen one of the > loveliest sights Ireland has to offer." Modern-day botanist Charles > NELSONdescribes the blue color of the spring gentian as "the darker part of > the clear summer sky at sunset." Bloody cranesbill, in bloom from June to > August, is a piercing magenta color enriched with anthers of turquoise blue > on closer inspection. In "stony pastures," bluebells can be found, hazel > copses, cushioned in mosses and tall helleborines. > > The trees of the Burren have curious shapes that seem perfectly suited to > their unusual location. Essential to the Burren ecosystem, cows and feral > goats found throughout the area graze on hazel scrub that would otherwise > proliferate and overshadow more delicate wildlife. > > -- Excerpt, "The World of Hibernia" - Summer 1998 > > > > ==== IrelandGenWeb Mailing List ==== > Please make sure to visit RootsWeb, our hostmaster, at http://www.rootsweb.com > --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.394 / Virus Database: 224 - Release Date: 10/3/02