Copyright © noel.moore@gmail.com All comments and questions are welcome. South of Galway the geology is once again very bold and contrasted.
Muddy sea inlets, and extremely rocky hills. Some fields had rock walls 2 meters thick and high, and there were still more rocks in the fields. And as always the multiple shades of green!
The Cliffs of Moher are located in County Clare, rising to a maximum height of 214 metres. They receive almost one million visitors a year; we saw 30 coachs parked as we were leaving.
The rocks that make up the Cliffs of Moher were formed over 300 million years ago. Bands of sandstone, siltstone and shale are exposed in a spectacular fashion.
The sand, silt and mud carried by large ancient rivers were dumped into the sea at the mouth of great delta. Over the following millions of years it was compressed; before drifting around the globe, being uplifted and eroded!
The squiggly trails, called scolicia, that I saw in the pavements of Galway, are here in abundance. I learnt from the impressive visitors centre that they are feeding trails left by some unidentified marine creature and are commonly referred to as "worming". It could have been a worm, a snail or a crustacean. There is certainly a distinctive if not unique character, style, and sense of humour in Ireland. We experienced one dimension in a Galway pub with live music, almost sitting on top of the musicians. Another dimension is in their villages and the way villages or groups of housing take on identical or contrasted colours. Also the way they apply contracts like a bright red door on a cream house. For that matter why stop with the door.
Moore Abbey
In the afternoon we visited Moore Abbey located just to the south of Tipperary, and even closer to our overnight B+B.It provided a highlight that Tipperary didn't provide. The town with a grand history appears to be in marked decline.
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