[RWD version 1 ] This combination of two short waymarked routes is an excellent introduction to the unique landscape of The Burren. From the trailhead, the brown route heads north over the familiar limestone pavement towards Slieve Carran and Eagle’s Rock Cliff. On this track, one encounters a stone oratory, cave and holy well associated with St. Colman MacDuagh. The route is interspersed with woods. The yellow route to the south-east of the trailhead has the same features, but also a valley of rich grassland. Here, one also gets to understand the importance of “winterage” in the preservation of the Burren. All this is explained on illustration boards on the route, and at this link: http://www.burrengeopark.ie/discover-and-experience/geosites-discovery-points/slieve-carran/
Our visit afterwards to the Burren Interpretative Centre in nearby Kilfenora greatly helped in our appreciation of what we had seen – how the curvatures in the limestone slabs had been created when the area was at the bottom of the ocean, how the limestone absorbs rainwater, and how the unique features of the area enable alpine, mediterranean and arctic plants to flourish side by side. Surprisingly, we discovered that the Burren, whose landscape extends to the Aran Islands, accounts for 1% of Ireland's land mass. Plenty scope for walkers!