County Kerry to County Clare or Dingle to the Burren

We knew it would be rainy in Ireland and were prepared with waterproof shoes, pants and jackets. The rain did not discourage our explorations but when we arrived on the Dingle peninsula we were ready for some real exercise. A bike ride seemed the perfect thing for this landscape but not in the rain. Imagine our happiness when we woke up the following morning to the ONLY non rainy day day we have had in 10 days. In fact, it was bright and sunny. It was a wee bit o' Kaplan luck and great timing.




The Dingle Peninsula is a bright green, soft looking landscape with many farms terraced in the hillside separated by stone fences. Grazing cattle and sheep, ruins of ancient stone dwellings, including beehive houses, and stunning sea views made great photo ops along the route. It was mostly gentle rolling hills from the ocean to rounded mountains for 25 miles, enough to feel the biking mojo return in full, enough to feel entitled to a stop at Murphy's ice cream after the ride to savor the local flavors.








County Clare was next. If rocks and stones were worth their weight in gold Ireland would be a rich country indeed. County Clare is all hard surface. Stones everywhere, fences, ancient burial monuments, houses, ring forts, and the land itself is stone. Picture a field that is 75% rocks and boulders and 25% green grass, everywhere. It's beautiful and forbidding. One can only imagine the effort and energy it took humans to move the stones and build the structures.




The limestone is layered and terraced to into mountains. There is no farming here and even grazing animals need to be clever to find food. The land area called the Burren was created by the sea, the rain, and the glaciers which dragged boulders along and deposited them as they started retreating. Eons of time, weather and water created the Cliffs of Moher, Ireland's defining western face. Underground is a network of caves carved as the rain water seeped into the cracks of the limestone land. The Burren is evidence that Ireland began life as a tropical sea. There are fossils of sea creatures, as well as arctic, alpine and tropical flowers. Shifting land masses and changing climate periods have laid down a unique landscape.








Having done Dingle then the Burren, it is difficult to tell which is the more beautiful. Dingle, in County Kerry, is like undulating green velvet, rising to mountains, falling to the sea. Just north in County Claire, the Burren is rough and hard. I love them both.