August 21, 2010 – Tour of the Burren – courtesy Claire Connolly

Today we got to have our first day off after working from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM for five days in a row. Now that is the normal workday for most adults on earth but excavating is unlike any other job I have ever had. After working for five days in a row I am near certain I can assume everyone on the team was suffering from sleep deprivation, sore muscles and maybe a few too many pints.
After Derek’s quick thinking, he was able to persuade Brian to postpone the tour from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM. It was an incredible idea and I think the entire team was grateful for the extra hour of much needed sleep. We were scooped up from the hostel by Brian and got to begin by meeting our tour guide, a wonderful Irish woman named Patricia.
The day began with a photo shoot of Lemenagh Castle, which Sarah Bogart was incredibly pleased with. She has been shooting daily photos of this castle on our way to the site and hasn’t shut up about it since she first saw it. Stop number two was a small church and cemetery in Kilnaboy. The church was beautiful and the graves were kept immaculate with constant gardening. At the church we were shown a sheela na gig, a carving of a woman showing off her genitalia over the church door. Patricia told us this was to promote feminine strength and maybe fertility. We all took some pictures and almost left Corrine and Sarah Brewer but caught ourselves just in time. We were on a strict schedule and Brian kept us moving.

Poulawack Cairn

Next stop was the Parknabinna Wedge Tomb. We all jumped out to snap some quick pictures and try not to sprain our ankles on the uneven footing that is a constant feature of the Burren. It was a beautiful view and in my opinion not a bad spot for your final resting place. Most of us wanted to start another excavation right on the spot just out of curiosity of all the great things that are probably buried underneath.

We were then off for a twenty-minute walk to another similar stone fort. This one was bordering a pretty steep cliff and was not quite as large as our beloved Caherconnell site. It was a calming walk and Patricia informed us that Tolkien is believed to have found inspiration for the Hobbit in the Burren. After a zillion group pictures we were off to our last stop before lunch. The Dolmen was very impressive and it was our first stop with other tourists there. We all took pictures but I am pretty sure everyone was ready for lunch. We booked it to the Mountain Haven Café and everyone was relieved to get some grub. Throughout the morning I was fantasizing about a bowl of Potato Leek soup and was
praying that Marie from the café would hear my hopes. Much to my surprise I walked in and was pumped to find out that the soup of the day was Potato Leek! Brian would not stop joking with us about how we needed to go have a quick work session before our next stop. No one even thought about heading to check out our work spot before heading out.

The cliffs of Moher

After a delicious lunch of toastie and soup, I was energized and ready to conquer the next task. We had to go on another rough footing kind of walk to Poulawack. It was worth the risk of sprained ankles though because we got to all take our individual pictures of us on top of the cairn and mine was the best! The wildflowers were beautiful up there and Patricia told me why the Burren is famous for their wildflowers. Apparently the Burren is able to grow huge varying degrees of wildflowers, for example Mediterranean climate and even Antarctic. The rocks heat up during the summer creating the right climate for even the most extreme flowers.

A traffic jam in the Burren

As we headed to the Cliffs of Moher we were postponed by a huge cattle traffic jam and had to rush out of the bus to be total tourists and get all our pictures in. We finally reached the Cliffs and were greeted with the rain. Luckily it subsided as we approached the Cliffs. The Cliffs were beautiful and I couldn’t help but imagine them filming the seen from Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince. I decided to actually buy my first souvenirs for some folks back home and then we headed back down. The last stop before the grocery story in Ennistymon was Lehinch. It was an adorable coastal town with tons of surfers. I picked up some Solpadine and an ice cream and sat to watch the waves. It was the perfect end to the perfect tour.