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Background: Celtic tribes arrived on the island between 600-150 B.C. Invasions by Norsemen that began in the late 8th century were finally ended when King Brian BORU defeated the Danes in 1014. English invasions began in the 12th century and set off more than seven centuries of Anglo-Irish struggle marked by fierce rebellions and harsh repressions. A failed 1916 Easter Monday Rebellion touched off several years of guerrilla warfare that in 1921 resulted in independence from the UK for 26 southern counties; six northern (Ulster) counties remained part of the United Kingdom. In 1948 Ireland withdrew from the British Commonwealth; it joined the European Community in 1973. Irish governments have sought the peaceful unification of Ireland and have cooperated with Britain against terrorist groups. A peace settlement for Northern Ireland, known as the Good Friday Agreement and approved in 1998, is being implemented with some difficulties.

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By Axel and Laurie
October 21st 2008

Day 6: The Burren and Cliffs of Moher

Europe » Ireland » County Clare » The Burren

First Morning rainbow

After spending a glorious night with the howling Atlantic outside and a glowing hearth of peat at our bedside, we awoke to radiant sunshine. Breakfast in the sunny veranda room facing the Atlantic was remarkably good. Laurie picked the fluffy pancakes with warm maple syrup and Axel experimented a bit with the smoked salmon and scrambled eggs. The salmon was mixed in after the eggs were scrambled to make for one heck of a flavorful combination. The intent for today was to spend the day driving through The Burren and finish up with the Cliffs of Moher. The Burren is a [View Full Entry]

By Axel and Laurie
October 20th 2008

Day 5: Driving to the Burren

Europe » Ireland » County Clare » The Burren

Top of the Mountain

Having made the reservations, Axel was excited about the next stop on our Irish adventure: Moy House. It certainly looked very romantic online, but sometimes pictures can be deceiving! The four hour drive from Dingle took us up the West coast of Ireland across the River Shannon into County Clare. Crossing the Shannon required a ferry crossing as Ireland still relies on ferries rather than bridges to cross many of its rivers. Despite the fact that we were at least 20 miles inland, the weather front from the previous day made our crossing a windy one. Since we were the first [View Full Entry]

By JoshuaGS
June 13th 2008

Ireland Is Green

Europe » Ireland » County Clare » The Burren

Cliffs of Moher
Taken from Nags Head.

When we landed in Dublin i was shocked to find that all of the signs were written in english. Conversations going on nearby were in english. my native language was so familiar but its ubiquity was out of place. we arrived after midnight and were promptly herded to the city buses. even though the hostel was right across the street from the main bus station, there were no buses going anywhere near the hostel. we walked 15-20min down dimly lit dublin streets. we slept in bunks with a family of four from utah. we stored our packs in a cage in [View Full Entry]

By Libbyj
October 14th 2007

Fam and all

Europe » Ireland » County Clare » The Burren

MY FAMILYS HERE!! I'm just writing a quick note, on our trip so far. We're actually in Athlow right now but i couldnt find it on the list so Burren it is. We went through there today, a vast rocky area by the ocean, very cool. Also went to a bear cave (bears have been extinct for over 1000 years in ireland). We've had a lovely trip!! But tomorrow I go home and tuesday they go back to winnipeg. Saw a lot of ireland in this trip, they spent the weekend in dublin, then we rented a MASSIVE van for our [View Full Entry]

By Big Jim
June 30th 2007

Dr. Phil

Europe » Ireland » County Clare » The Burren

This was a wonderful day almost ruined by a bank, and a drunken Irish asshole. Let me say this, I am very displeased with Bank of America right now. For starters, they blocked my ATM card, because it was being used internationally. Not a big deal, only took them a week to do it, but they did it. After trying to contact them at their toll free international number, which I had to use my credit card at one point to dial, I decided to chuck that in and head out to the Aran islands with the tour group. These islands [View Full Entry]

By Ducky
June 13th 2006

First Travel Day (Happy Birthday Corinne!!)

Europe » Ireland » County Clare » The Burren

Fort

Shockingly enough we left on time today. We travel about an hour and a half to the first sight, which was a fort. This fort was used to not only watch over the land to make sure no one was coming for attack, but also to watch over the herds. Pretty basic fort. We then went to look at Dolmens, which are types of graves that were first seen around 500 B.C. Dolmens are made from three upright stones with a flat capstone balanced on top. Usually more than one person was buried in them. The larger of the two we [View Full Entry]

By keep walking
March 13th 2006

Bus..Bus...Moving..Moving..

Europe » Ireland » County Clare » The Burren

Cliffs of Moher

This morning a French girl I met the night before thought it would be a great idea to wake me up at 9am. YOULE MIZZ ZEE BOOOURS!! JAWN!!! Doesn't she realise im an ill little boy? jeesh. I chuckled and insisted I would get to the bus on time, I then turned over and attempted to sleep before she decided it was an appropiate time to talk about stuff. 'Soo Jaawwn, do you enjoy Ireland?'. I got up, grabbed a towel and went for a shower. The good thing about being woken up early was that I was in time for [View Full Entry]

By Cuchulain Chicago
February 19th 2006

Coach Tour of The Burren and Galway City

Europe » Ireland » County Clare » The Burren

The Burren

This weekend on a whim I decided to book at coach tour of Galway and the Burren area after discovering a daily tour through Rick Steve's guide book. The tour is O'Neactain tours. My guide's name was Desmond Murray and he was wonderful despite the thick fog, which destroyed much of our morning view. The greatest part of the trip was seeing Poulnabrone Dolmen/portal tomb and also seeing the Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs were also misted in fog and each layer of cliff appeared a different hue of blue. It was quite beautiful. Lunch was at a pub in Doolin [View Full Entry]

By Kerlyn
October 7th 2001

Cliffs of Moher, Rathbaun Farm, Galway and Marble

Europe » Ireland » County Clare » The Burren

Approaching the cliffs
notice the foot and mouth sign!

After an early 7:30am breakfast, our bus departed an hour later for the CLIFFS OF MOHER. They rise 668 feet above the Atlantic Ocean. On a clear day you can see across to the ARAN ISLANDS but we had a cloudy day with a little bit o' rain. There is a castle like structure built in 1835, at the top called O'BRIEN'S TOWER. We were lucky enough to see a rainbow in the distance of the Aran Islands, which we could see a little bit. My 1st Irish rainbow! We walked around and bought some postcards at the visitor center. It [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Europe » Ireland » County Clare » The Burren