While much of Ireland has been cultivated for thousands of years, it still has wild places where the wind blows and howls. Wild things grow in the cracks in rocks, and the beauty of creation is untamed. I found many such places along the coast. These places are popular with the film industry simply because they are wild, free from the noises of civilization and possess rugged beauty. Alas, my vacation in Ireland wasn’t long enough to explore many of the wild inland mountains and bogs. I need to take another trip.
Ireland's northeast coast. That is Scotland across the water. This is part of the North Atlantic-a place full of wind and rain. We were lucky to be able to see so far. You have to admire the gorse for looking beautiful under harsh conditions.
The Giant's Causeway is a popular vacation spot. The visitor's center is off the highway a kilometer up the hill. They do have a shuttle down to the water's edge. The stepping stone pattern is formed from volcanic basalt.
The Giant's Pipe Organ. On a trail away from the wind we found this basalt formation called the Giant's Pipe Organ or the Giant's Pet Lion.
The basalt formation reaching into the sea that gave the site its name. This heritage site is always crowded with people unless it's being used in filming for the movies or TV. Scenes from Game of Thrones were filmed in this rugged area. The whole National Heritage Site along the North coast is huge.
Carrick-a-rede rope bridge connects a small island to the mainland over a narrow chasm. Some people actually think it is fun to walk on the bridge and pee their pants with fright. This is a short drive from the Giant's Causeway.
We took a boat ride from Eniskillen down the river to Lough Erne and the Devenish Monastic Site. Much of the area is preserved and sparsely populated.
Devenish Monastic Site. Perhaps an abandoned monastery on a small island in the middle of lake doesn't strictly qualify as wild. The air of desolation and abandonment gave it a wild feel.
Connemara is mostly set aside as a parkland of hills and bogs pierced by lakes and Killary Fijord. The purple haze on the shrubs is species rhododendron growing by the salt-water fjord.
The weather was actually decent when we visited Connemara. I loved the patterns of light and shadow made by the passing clouds.
Our road seemed to follow a valley with hills and a couple real mountains surrounding us.
The Connemara area has some farmland--mostly sheep grazing in the lowlands between the hills.
The Burden is southwest of Gallway in county Clare. The area does have some farmland with shallow topsoil over the limestone. This area was so poor, even the English didn't want it. In the 1840's at the time of the great famine that killed a million people, the subsistence farmers in the Burren survived much as they always had because they didn't have English overlords dictating that they grow potatoes and they didn't share their meager crops with outsiders.
Typical limestone outcroppings along the hilltops in the Burren.
The Cliffs of Moher. The wind was blowing when we visited. Sometimes the rain or fog is so thick visitors can's see the cliffs below them. This is the Northwest facing part of the cliffs where the Cliffs of Insanity scene from Princess Bride was filmed.
The southwest facing portion of the Cliffs of Moher. Sometimes the wind blows so hard here, visitors can't walk the trails along the top of the cliffs.
Ring of Kerry. The Island where Luke Skywalker was hanging out is out beyond the two islands we see. The day was too misty to catch the island with my camera but we could make it out as a darker place in the mist. Many of the Star Wars scenes were filmed below this spot.
The very tip of the Kerry peninsula. It was beautiful and rugged through this area. I had trouble standing in the wind and actually lost my balance trying to walk with great gusts buffeting me as I tried to return to our bus.
Lakes on the Kerry Peninsula. This is rugged basin and range country. Few people live here. They do have electricity but no internet. They don't even have a date for installing internet. Some locals don't know why they need internet--truly wild country. Note: This remote-seeming area isn't that far from the town of Killarney--about forty minutes by bus. The northern end of this lake system can be seen in my pictures of Killarney House gardens below in my Gardens of Irish Republic blog.
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