Typical Day

What to Expect on a day out in the Burren
As you can see from the numerous photos on this website, the Burren is a landscape like no other. From a distance, the Burren looks like a mass of grey rock, however up close,  you can make some amazing discoveries. 

Students  ask many questions - why are there so many different types of flowersgrowing here yet  there is very little soil?  How do cattle survive outdoors in the winter? How did so many monuments manage to exist here compared to elsewhere in Ireland?  The Burren is one of those exciting learning  landscapes that reinforces the relationship we have with our natural surroundings.

The Burren is a large region with no ‘centre’.  There is a national park (Burren National Park) and three nature reserves (Slieve Carron, Dromore, and Coole Garryland). These are state managed lands and are open to the public free of charge.  However, roughly 85% of the Burren is privately owned land so respect should be shown when climbing over walls and opening gates etc.  Leave no Trace  principles should be applied at all times.       

Finally for those of you are dependent on internet and mobile connections, please be prepared that some areas of the Burren have limited access to both.

Slieve Carron
Slieve Carron Nature Reserve (or Eagle’s Rock as it is known to locals) is state-managed land located in the heart of the north Burren not too far from Kinvara. It has a diversity of habitats including species-rich grassland, limestone pavements, heathland, mature hazel woodland and grazing pastures.  This makes it an ideal spot to reflect on the diversity and abundancy of flora and fauna, and well as a great landscape to help us understand why the landscape management is necessary  Aside from its ecological learning value, Slieve Carron NR is also the host to a fulacht fiadh, a holy well, the site of a hermitage cave and oratory. 

Other sites that may be visited are the iconic Burren mountain Mullaghmore, one of Ireland finest examples of a ringfort Cahercommaun, or the smooth limestone pavements of Blackhead.