The Burren is a karst landscape in County Clare, Ireland. It measures
approximately 250 square kilometres and is enclosed roughly within the circle
made by the villages of Ballyvaughan, Kinvara, Tubber, Corofin, Kilfenora and
Lisdoonvarna. The Burren National Park is one of six
National Parks in Ireland and the smallest in size.The Burren National
Park Visitor Centre is located on Church Street in Corofin, County Clare,
Ireland. History
The Burren area formed part of the territory of Corco Modhruadh, meaning
"seed or people of Modhruadh" which was coextensive with the diocese of
Kilfenora. At some point around the 12th century, the territory was divided in
two: Corco Modhruadh Iartharach and Corco Modhruadh Oirthearach also known
as Boireann which in the late 16th century became the English
administrative baronies of Corcomroe and Burren respectively. The O'Loughlin clan
ruled Boireann down to the mid-17th century from their chief residence at
Gragans Castle. The chief of the family was known in later times as the 'Prince
of Burren' and clan members were buried in the family tomb near the altar of
Corcomroe Abbey. Their kinsmen the O'Connor clan ruled Corco Modhruadh
Iartharach from Dough Castle near Liscannor. The villages and towns found
within the medieval territory of Boireann include Lisdoonvarna,
Ballyvaughan, New Quay / Burrin, Noughaval, Bealaclugga, Carron and
Fanore / Craggagh. Burren is rich with historical and
archaeological sites. There are more than 90 megalithic tombs in the area,
portal dolmens, a Celtic high cross in the village of Kilfenora, and a number
of ring forts - among them the triple ring fort Cahercommaun on the edge of an
inland cliff, and the exceptionally well-preserved Caherconnell Stone Fort.
Corcomroe Abbey is one of the area's main scenic attractions.
Geology The rolling hills of Burren are composed
of limestone pavements with criss-crossing cracks known as "grikes",
leaving isolated rocks called "clints". The region supports arctic,
Mediterranean and alpine plants side-by-side, due to the unusual
environment. The limestones, which date from the Visean stage of the Lower
Carboniferous, formed as sediments in a tropical sea approximately 350 million
years ago. The strata contain fossil corals, crinoids, sea urchins and
ammonites. Glaciation during the Quaternary period
facilitated greater denudation. The result is that the Burren is one of the
finest examples of a glacio-karst landscape in the world. The effects of
the last glacial period are most in evidence, with the Burren overrun by ice
during this glaciation. The impact of earlier karstification has been
eliminated by the last glacial period. So any surface karstification now seen
dates from approximately 10,000 years ago and the Burren karst is thus recent.
Solutional processes have widened and deepened the grikes of the limestone
pavement. Pre-existing lines of weakness in the rock contribute to the formation
of extensive fissures separated by clints. The rock karstification
facilitates the formation of subterranean drainage.
Climate and agriculture The Burren has an unusually temperate
climate. Average air temperatures range from 15 °C in July to 6 °C in January.
The soil temperature does not usually drop below 6 °C. Since grass will grow
once the temperature rises above 6 °C, this means that the Burren has one of
the longest growing seasons in Ireland or Britain, and supports diverse and
rich plant growth. Late May is the sunniest time, and also likely the best
time to view flowers, with the gentians and avens peaking.
During counter-guerrilla operations in Burren in 1651-52, Edmund Ludlow stated,
"(Burren) is a country where there is not enough water to drown a man, wood
enough to hang one, nor earth enough to bury him...... and yet their cattle are
very fat; for the grass growing in turfs of earth, of two or three foot square,
that lie between the rocks, which are of limestone, is very sweet and
nourishing." [1] [2] Flora and fauna
The Burren is renowned for its remarkable assemblage of plants and
animals. The region supports many rare Irish species, some of which are only
found in this area. Others occur in similar karst areas in western Ireland.
Three quarters of Ireland's species of flowers are found in the Burren. The
grikes provide moist shelter, supporting a wide range of plants including dwarf
shrubs. Where the surface of the pavement is shattered into gravel, many
of the hardier Arctic or Alpine plants can be found, when the limestone
pavement is covered by a thin layer of soil, patches of grass are seen,
interspersed with herbaceous plants. Among the flowers recorded from the
Burren is the spring gentian, an alpine plant with bright blue flowers that are
used as a symbol for the area by the tourist board. The Irish orchid and
bloody cranesbill also occur there. Notable insects present in the Burren
include the butterflies the pearl-bordered fritillary, brown
hairstreak, marsh fritillary and wood white; the moths, the Burren green,
Irish annulet and transparent burnet; the hoverfly Doros profuges and the
water-beetle Ochthebius nilssoni. This last species is known from just five
sites in the world, its type locality in northern Sweden and four marl lakes in
the Burren. The Burren is one of the main breeding
areas in Ireland of the European pine marten.
Culture Burren has a long history of traditional
Irish music. It is particularly known for the "West Clare Style" of concertina
playing and the music festival in Doolin and Corofin.
Sport Burren's many limestone cliffs,
particularly the sea-cliffs at Ailladie, are popular with rock-climbers. For
cavers, there are a number of charted caves in the area, notably Pollnagollum.
Doolin is a popular "base camp" for cavers, and is home to one of the two
main cave-rescue stores of the Irish Cave Rescue Organisation.
Gallery See also
Aillwee Cave Burren Action Group
Cliffs of Moher Turlough
Mullaghmore, County Clare Newtown Castle
Temple Cronan Wild Atlantic Way
Corofin, County Clare References
^ http:www.met.ie ^ D.A. Webb, 'Noteworthy Plants of the
Burren', 1961, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section B: Biological,
Geological, and Chemical Science ^ Clements, P. 2011 Burren Country,
Travels through an Irish Limestone Landscape. The Collins Press. ISBN
9781848891173 ^ http:wiki.climbing.ie/
Notes ^ BBC: The Flowers of the Burren, County
Clare, Ireland ^ A similar quote "The Burren affordeth
not a piece of timber sufficient to hang a man, water in any one place to drown a
man, or earth enough in any one part to bury him." can be found in "The Journal
of Thomas Dineley", 1681, in the National Library of Ireland. Extracts
from his journal, including his account of the Clare section of his journey,
were published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries, 6. These
appear in an online version in "The History and Topography of the County of
Clare" by James Frost Part II. History of Thomond Chapter 28 Barony of Burren
Bibliography McCarthy, P.M. and Mitchell, M.E. 1988.
Lichens of the Burren Hills and the Aran Islands. Galway. Officina Typographica.
Bilton, D.T., 1988. A survey of aquatic Coleoptera in Central Ireland and the
Burren. Bulletin of the Irish biogeographical Society 11: 77-94.
Foster, G.N., Nelson, B.H. & O Connor, A. 2009. Ireland Red List No. 1 - Water
beetles. National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of Environment,
Heritage and Local Government, Dublin. O'Callagan, E., Foster, G.N., Bilton,
D.T. & Reynolds, J.D. 2009 Ochthebius nilssoni Hebauer new for Ireland,
including a key to Irish Ochthebius and Enicocerus. Irish Naturalists' Journal
30: 19-23 Sheehy Skeffington, M., Moran, J., O
Connor, Á., Regan, E., Coxon, C. E., Scott, N. E. & Gormally, M. 2006.
Turloughs – Ireland’s unique wetland habitat. Biological Conservation 133:
265-290. Anon. The Burren: A Guide. Shannonside
Mid Western Regional Tourism Organization Ltd., 62, O'Connell St.,
Limerick. E. C. Nelson. Checklist of Plants of The
Burren Region. D.A. Webb & M.J.P. Scannell. 1983 Flora
of Connemara and The Burren. Royal Dublin Society & Cambridge University
Press. T. J. Westropp. 1999. Archaeology of The
Burren: Prehistoric Forts and Dolmens in North Clare. Clasp Press.
D’Arcy & Hayward. The Natural History of The Burren.
E.C. Nelson & W. Walsh. The Burren Wildflowers, Conservancy of The Burren,
An Bothan, Ballyvaughan, Co. Clare. Hennessy, R., McNamara, M., & Hoctor,
Z., 2010 Stone, Water & Ice: A Geology Trip Through the Burren. Burren Connect
Project, pp. 64 External links
Burren National Park Website Caherconnel Stone Fort
Burrenbeo - The Burren