We left our hotel in Galway headed for a very long day. The weather was once again beautiful. It’s been sunny and low 70 degrees almost the entire time we’ve been here and it’s really an incredible stretch of weather for Ireland.
We started out the morning at the Rathbaum Farm where we drove up beside a farmhouse with a traditional thatched roof. The workmanship and intricate patterns in the roof were really interesting.
Thatched roof on the farmhouse
Next we went into the farmhouse for a cooking lesson. We were going to make our own scones. Shawn got to be the photographer for our group but even Conrad had to put on an apron and make scones.
The lady of the house divided us into groups of 6 and taught us how to make scones. She then took our scones to put into the over promising us that we would come back to eat the scones that we had made.
We headed out to the yard where the farmer – Finton showed us the baby sheep, and gave us a demonstration of how he shears a sheep and also how his dog herds sheep. We also went out back to see some Shetland Ponies that he’s raising.
Blue Eyed Sheep
Baby Sheep
Baby Sheep
Mom and Babies
Sheep Shearing Demonstration
Feeding the baby sheep
Shetland Pony
We went back inside to some really delicious scones with Rhubarb Jam and Cream. We got the recipe and some scone cutters before we left.
Our scones
The flowers around the farm were very nice as well. The even planted some in a few old boots which was a cute idea.
Next we headed to an area called the Burren which is a limestone plateau with extremely rocky land, but somehow they most beautiful wild orchids and other wild flowers grew there. There was also a prehistoric monument called Poulnabrone Dolmen.
Poulnabrone Dolmen.
Wild Flowers on the Burren
Wild Flowers on the Burren
Next stop was the Cliffs of Moher. They are 700 feet above the Atlantic Ocean. The views were spectacular on this sunny bright day but the highlight for us was the hundreds of baby puffins scattered all along the grassy areas in the cliff. You can see them all in the picture – little black and white dots with orange feet.
Baby Puffins
Baby Puffins
View from the top of the cliffs
We didn’t have long to stay at the top because we were leaving the official tour to meet a local guy who Conrad had contacted to take us to a boat that would take us out and underneath the cliffs with the hope of seeing some adult Atlantic Puffins . We met a guy named Tony McGann at the entrance of the cliffs and he took us to the Doolin Ferry to go out for the boat ride.
We did in fact see lots of Puffins and Murre along the way although with the moving boat it was hard to get good pictures.
Atlantic Puffin
Atlantic Puffin
There was also a large rock spire at the base of the cliffs that was absolutely covered in Murre, and then at the base a bunch of cormorants. If you looked at the spire up close there wasn’t an inch that wasn’t covered in birds and the sound was enormous.
Cormorants
Spire
Close up of the spire with the Murre
More Puffins
Once the boat ride was over Tony met us at the boat and took us into Doolin. First he took us to Mre Fitzgerald’s Bed and Breakfast where my parents had stayed years ago. It’s still in business and it’s still run by Maeve. She wasn’t there at the time but we did get a few pictures.
Mrs Fitzgerald’s B&B
Mrs Fitzgerald’s B&B
After that we headed to the bar that Tony owns. His daughter Laura waited on us and we had soup and brown bread which was excellent.
Tony’s Bar
Tony then took us up into the Burren again on our way back to Limerick where he would drop us at our hotel where we would meet back up with our tour group. He took us on a lot of little back roads through the Burren and we stopped often to talk to the locals, or to get a picture of an interesting stone fence, or a beautiful view, or to shop in a local store. Tony was a character. At one point he stopped at a very upscale hotel and just walked in so that we could take pictures. He seemed to know everyone. Eventually he got us back to our hotel in Limerick where our group was staying. Since it was so light out we still had plenty of daylight even at 10:00 to go find an ATM, and have dinner. It was a very fun day and one that we’ll never forget.
Views in the Burren
Conrad and I in the Burren
A hotel on the way back to Limerick. This part was an old Castle that was restored. the Kennedy’s stayed here as well as Bono and some of Nelson Mandela’s family.
Stone fence in the Burren
Tony also took us by Father Tim’s house – a famous british television show. He seemed particularly proud of that.
Father Tim’s