Page 80 - Guerin Media | Cork Airport Holiday & Destination Guide 2015
P. 80
Loop Head, Co Clare Tower, a 19th century viewing tower, and
access 800m of protected cliff side pathways with
6. Loop Head, Co Clare viewing areas. There are many vantage points
from which to admire the awe-inspiring Cliffs of
At the western tip of County Clare, where the Moher. From the main platform, you can see the
calm waters of the Shannon Estuary turn into south cliffs toward Hag’s Head, a natural rocky
the powerful waves of the Atlantic, you’ll find promontory that resembles a seated woman. From
Loop Head Peninsula. Travel along the Loop Head the North Platform, you can spot An Branán Mór
Drive to the western end of the peninsula to see sea stack, home of guillemots and razorbills, as
its famous lighthouse, which sits on land dotted well as the Aran Islands and, if the conditions are
with colourful wild flowers. You can climb to the right, the famous surfing wave known as ‘Aileen’s’.
top of the lighthouse and take in splendid views Continue on about 5km from here and you’ll arrive
that stretch from County Kerry to the Cliffs of in the village of Doolin. And if you’d like to see the
Moher. At the very end of the peninsula there is puffins that reside on Goat Island instead, head for
also a relic from WW2: large white letters spelling the south Platform.
É-I-R-E, which let pilots know they were entering
neutral airspace. This area is a wildlife haven too, Derrigimlagh, Co Galway
with thousands of seabirds making their nests on
the rock ledges and an estimated 160 bottlenose 8. Derrigimlagh, Co Galway
dolphins living in the mouth of the Shannon River.
If you’d like to see these majestic animals up close, You can hire a bike in Connemara’s largest town,
you can take a boat trip from Carrigaholt, or Clifden, and set out on one of the areas cycle
follow the road from Kilrush to Aylevarro Point to routes which brings you through the townland of
see them playing just offshore. Derrigimlagh on quiet country roads. Your
journey will take you by the blanket bog, a
Cliffs of Moher, Co Clare stunning mosaic of tiny lakes and peat, where you
can stop and view two sites of international
7. Cliffs of Moher, Co Clare historical significance. First, you’ll pass the
scattered remnants of the world’s first permanent
The iconic Cliffs of Moher are one of Ireland’s most transatlantic radio station. It was built more than
visited natural attractions. Stretching for 8km a century ago by Italian inventor Guglielmo
along the Atlantic coast of Clare, the cliffs reach Marconi and transmitted the first
214m at their highest point at Knockardakin. transatlantic radio signal in 1907. At its peak, the
Midway along the cliffs you’ll find the station employed several hundred people who
environmentally friendly visitor centre set into helped transmit news across the ocean. It burned
the hillside. Here, you can also discover O’Brien’s to the ground during the Irish War of
Independence, but you can still view the vast site
where many foundations of the buildings and
workers’ houses remain. Nearby you’ll also come
across a white memorial in the shape of an aer-
oplane wing, which pays tribute to John Alcock
and Arthur Whitten Brown. In 1919, Alcock and
Brown were the first pilots to fly non-stop across
the Atlantic, before they crash-landed (safely) in
Derrigimlagh Bog.
80
access 800m of protected cliff side pathways with
6. Loop Head, Co Clare viewing areas. There are many vantage points
from which to admire the awe-inspiring Cliffs of
At the western tip of County Clare, where the Moher. From the main platform, you can see the
calm waters of the Shannon Estuary turn into south cliffs toward Hag’s Head, a natural rocky
the powerful waves of the Atlantic, you’ll find promontory that resembles a seated woman. From
Loop Head Peninsula. Travel along the Loop Head the North Platform, you can spot An Branán Mór
Drive to the western end of the peninsula to see sea stack, home of guillemots and razorbills, as
its famous lighthouse, which sits on land dotted well as the Aran Islands and, if the conditions are
with colourful wild flowers. You can climb to the right, the famous surfing wave known as ‘Aileen’s’.
top of the lighthouse and take in splendid views Continue on about 5km from here and you’ll arrive
that stretch from County Kerry to the Cliffs of in the village of Doolin. And if you’d like to see the
Moher. At the very end of the peninsula there is puffins that reside on Goat Island instead, head for
also a relic from WW2: large white letters spelling the south Platform.
É-I-R-E, which let pilots know they were entering
neutral airspace. This area is a wildlife haven too, Derrigimlagh, Co Galway
with thousands of seabirds making their nests on
the rock ledges and an estimated 160 bottlenose 8. Derrigimlagh, Co Galway
dolphins living in the mouth of the Shannon River.
If you’d like to see these majestic animals up close, You can hire a bike in Connemara’s largest town,
you can take a boat trip from Carrigaholt, or Clifden, and set out on one of the areas cycle
follow the road from Kilrush to Aylevarro Point to routes which brings you through the townland of
see them playing just offshore. Derrigimlagh on quiet country roads. Your
journey will take you by the blanket bog, a
Cliffs of Moher, Co Clare stunning mosaic of tiny lakes and peat, where you
can stop and view two sites of international
7. Cliffs of Moher, Co Clare historical significance. First, you’ll pass the
scattered remnants of the world’s first permanent
The iconic Cliffs of Moher are one of Ireland’s most transatlantic radio station. It was built more than
visited natural attractions. Stretching for 8km a century ago by Italian inventor Guglielmo
along the Atlantic coast of Clare, the cliffs reach Marconi and transmitted the first
214m at their highest point at Knockardakin. transatlantic radio signal in 1907. At its peak, the
Midway along the cliffs you’ll find the station employed several hundred people who
environmentally friendly visitor centre set into helped transmit news across the ocean. It burned
the hillside. Here, you can also discover O’Brien’s to the ground during the Irish War of
Independence, but you can still view the vast site
where many foundations of the buildings and
workers’ houses remain. Nearby you’ll also come
across a white memorial in the shape of an aer-
oplane wing, which pays tribute to John Alcock
and Arthur Whitten Brown. In 1919, Alcock and
Brown were the first pilots to fly non-stop across
the Atlantic, before they crash-landed (safely) in
Derrigimlagh Bog.
80
