Dublin, Day 5: Galway

When we woke up Sunday morning, we were treated to a delicious breakfast consisting of homemade pancakes, fruit, yogurt, and cereal. We were served by the husband, who told us that he sometimes went to the States to perform as an Elvis impersonator in Tennessee. Their bed and breakfast also once hosted a member of the Massachusetts state legislature, who later sent them an award from the legislature for being the best hospitality in Galway. They have the certificate hanging in the hall.

After packing our bags, we headed off to catch the bus that would take us on a tour around the Galway area. We drove through the Burren mountains, a series of limestone hills which were once underwater (as evidenced by all the fossilized sea creatures that could be found in that area). The hills are quite pretty--rocks covered with grass, wildflowers, and shrubs. There were many rock walls dividing the land into pens and marking property boundaries. They were "dry walls," built without mortar. We stopped for a bit near the shore to take pictures, then continued on to the Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs rise hundreds of feet above the ocean. I commented to one of the other students that they looked a bit like the Cliffs of Insanity from the Princess Bride. I just looked at the Wikipedia article for the Cliffs of Moher, and it turns out that the Princess Bride was in fact filmed there. How funny.

I stayed behind the wall, since I really preferred to avoid the risk of falling to my death just so I could get a better view. The view I did get was actually quite good. The cliffs sort of curve around, and they go on down the shore for quite a ways, so there was plenty to see. Nesting birds were visible as tiny white specks on the cliffs, and the birds flying around near the cliffs looked more like a swarm of gnats than a flock of birds.

After the Cliffs of Moher, we visited an ancient burial ground. There was a stone monument (dolmen) not unlike those at Stonehenge. The bodies in the burial ground have been carbon dated to about 5,000 years ago. Following that, we reached the Aillwee Cave, one of the many caves in the limestone rock of the Burren. The cave is known for the discovery of the bones of a brown bear, an animal that had been extinct in Ireland for hundreds of years. The cave wasn't really that exciting. I've been in far more interesting caves. The highlight of our cave tour was when one of the students paid another student to ask a stupid question. At the beginning of our tour, the guide told us all that it was a natural cave. A few minutes later, the student asked, "When were these caves built?" The poor guide, a bit nonplussed, replied that the caves hadn't been built: they were natural. The rest of us spent the next few minutes cracking up.

On our way back to Galway, we stopped at one of the many castles dotting the landscape. After a brief photo opportunity, we continued back to the city.


The Burren area was incredibly beautiful and full of Irish history. I highly recommend that anyone who goes to Ireland make a trip to Galway and see the surrounding area.

But don't bother with the cave, unless you have a thing for bears.