As you climb on the Cliffs of Moher,
Above shores where power is distilled,
The clock hands seem to stop ticking over
To pause as each hour is filled.
Standing high on the Cliffs of Moher,
You can lose track of trouble and care;
While you sigh, watching brave birds hover,
Reflecting on life as you stare.
- On the Cliffs of Moher, a poem by Benny the Busker
In everyone's lifetimes, you visit a place, or share an experience with loved ones that stays with you for one reason or another. Sometimes it's nostalgia. many of the places hold sentimental memories, they often provide an escape from the doldrums of everyday life and the grind of the ongoing passage of time.
And every once in a while, it's because you're able to soak in the sights in some of the most beautiful places on the face of the Earth (and doing it with the one you love carries an extra bonus.)
That's the case of the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare, which almost everyone will tell you, is a staple on anyone's trip to the Emerald Isle.
O’Brien’s Tower stands on a headland at the Cliffs of Moher offering up magnificent views south towards Hags Head (our destination) and north towards Doolin. The Tower was built in 1835 by Cornelius O’Brien, a descendant of Brian Boru, the first High King of Ireland. A local landowner, Cornelius was ahead of his time and believed that the development of tourism would benefit the local economy and help bring local people out of poverty.
The tower was used as an observation tower for the hundreds of visitors who even then came to the Cliffs each year to see the breathtaking views. On a clear day, you can see across to the Aran Islands: Inis Oírr, Inis Méain and Inis Mór. Looking to the left you capture the whole of Liscannor Bay with Lahinch in the distance and Liscannor village in the foreground. Looking to the right you are met with beautiful views of Galway Bay.
My wife - she LAUGHS in the face of danger
Couldn't resist posing with my namesake transportation mode, though in Ireland it clearly carries a different connotation than it does in the history of America when it comes to law enforcement
So, the walk up to O'Brien's Tower under our belts, we decided to expand the experience exponentially, and venture past those Danger signs to traverse the walkways leading out to Hag's Head, the southerly most point of the cliffs, so named because of a rock formation in the cliffs that resemble a woman's head looking out to sea.
That tiny structure seen in the center of this next frame is the previously photographed O'Brien's Tower.
Here's Jack, following the worn-down footpath, wondering if she should forge her own way atop the grass to her right - the only piece of land separating her from the cliff face and a 700 foot drop to the rocks below.
Quarrying of the local flagstone was a major industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This section of the cliffs was used as a dumping ground for quarry waste, and visitors have since used this to build a collection of cairns. There are literally thousands of cairns of all shapes and sizes in this detour from the walking path.
We finally made it out to Moher Tower, the stone ruin of an old Napoleonic-era watchtower which stands atop Hag's Head.
The current tower built in 1808 stands close to the site of a much earlier promontory fort, known as Mothar or Moher. This earlier fortification stood until at least 1780. The earlier fortification was demolished in 1808 to provide material for a new lookout/signaling tower. This "newer" one was built nearby during the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815), at a time when similar towers were built along Atlantic coasts to counter fears of invasion during Napoleon's reign in Europe.
Amazingly, though, and for the third time in this trip, Scott and I would be thwarted from reaching a lighthouse or castle promontory by accursed chain link fencing.
We really walked all of those cliffs, eh?
This would be about as far as we two would dare, in great part because our more logically-thinking wives were calling to us from atop the cliff, summoning us back to the relative safety of their arms. Relax ladies - the cliffs are only about 390 feet tall here, although a young college student did sadly fall to her death from here the month before we visited. Around 70 people have died in falls from these cliffs - both accidentally and intentionally - in the last 25 years.
The cliffs themselves run more than 5 miles along the Atlantic Coast
They take their name from a fort called Mothar, which was demolished during the aforementioned Napoleonic Wars. The word Mothar, in Old Galeic, means the ruin of a fort.
Singer Dusty Springfield's ashes were scattered her by her family after her death.
Singer Dusty Springfield's ashes were scattered her by her family after her death.
Another fun fact: The Cliffs of Moher are featured in the 2009 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince movie as the backdrop for the entrance to the Horcrux Cave. They're also the Cliffs of Insanity from the Princess Bride flick.
More than 1 million people visit these cliffs every year, and it's easy to see why. From the buskers who populate the sanctioned trail and provide a soothing soundtrack to the experience to the solitude found once you venture past the DANGER signs (and still follow the paths), it's an indelible memory that will forever help paint the picture of Ireland memories.
It's hard to believe that my ancestors left these parts to seek a new life in the Massachusetts, considering how breathtakingly beautiful the Irish sea cliffs are. and knowing what awaited her in Lowell during the birthyears of the Industrial Revolution. But hey, if my great-grandmother Bridget Sullivan hadn't packed up and left the nearby village Darragh over 150 years ago, I wouldn't be sitting here writing this blog.
And for that, I'll be thankful Forever Moher.
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