After spending about half an hour exploring Kilmacduagh Monastery, we got back in our rental car and continued on to the Cliffs of Moher.
It was a fun drive to the cliffs while we listened to Clare FM, the local radio station. There were people playing fiddles, listeners calling in to discuss tractors during Farm Focus and a child who was good at lilting.
(Edit by Shae: Actually the child who was good at lilting was Jack, aged 9 who started by playing the fiddle with his mom, then told us he was good at the penny whistle and had been lilting for a year. He went on to win a lilting championship when his teacher discovered his lilting skills in school. He was being interviewed while participating in Fleadh Cheoil, the countrywide music festival that was happening in Ennis while we were over. We love Jack!)
In case you’re not sure what lilting is (we were clueless before hearing it on the radio), here’s an example:
After about an hour, we reached the Cliffs of Moher. We’d left Athlone fairly early in the morning as we’d read that parking can be a nightmare if you get there too late in the day. Those warnings were true – there were very few parking spots left by the time we arrived.
If you’re driving yourself, it’s therefore worth trying to arrive earlier in the morning; there are also radio ads suggesting you should visit after 4pm to avoid the crowds. If you’re taking a bus tour, it’d be less of an issue as I think they have a separate parking area.
Something Megan observed during our trip was that cows in Ireland get the best views. That was no less true here at the Cliffs of Moo-her.
It was interesting returning to the Cliffs of Moher after more than a decade. We’d visited on our honeymoon in 2004 and then again the following year when we took Shae’s mom as she’d come to visit us when we lived in the UK.
Back then, they were building the visitor center in the hillside which has now been completed. There also used to be several people selling their wares on the steps leading up to O’Brien’s Tower, but that’s no longer the case.
Once you’re past the visitor center, you’ll soon see what you came for.
The cliffs have appeared in several movies, the most famous of which are The Princess Bride (used for The Cliffs of Insanity) and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (when Dumbledore and Harry apparate to the Horcrux cave).
If you have the time and inclination, you can walk all the way to the end. We didn’t have the time. Or the inclination. Well, Mark did, but he was overruled.
Back in 1835, Sir Cornellius O’Brien built an observation tower for tourists that were coming to visit the cliffs.
O’Brien’s Tower is still standing and you can enter and climb its spiral staircases to the top for only €2.
It can get pretty windy at the top, but it does provide even better views and different perspectives of the cliffs.
Depending on the weather, you can also see the Aran Islands. These are a group of three islands that are home to just over 1,000 residents and are probably best known for Aran Island sweaters.
If you keep walking past O’Brien’s Tower, you’ll come to a warning sign advising that you’re leaving the official Cliffs of Moher area. It’s somewhat fenced off, but there’s a gap where you can walk through if you like.
The reason they warn you is because the area beyond the fence is much more open at the cliff edge. I don’t mind heights – I’m more than happy to stand at the edge of a building 100 stories high and look down or step out on the Ledge at Willis Tower. I’m less keen on standing close to the edge of a cliff when it’s extremely windy and there’s a chance of erosion.
Shae, on the other hand, is braver than me. And much braver than she used to be, as she refused to get anywhere near that close the last time we visited.
Mark and Megan were also much braver than I was.
Even if you don’t want to get too close to the edge, you can still get some great views of the other end of the cliffs.
Question
Have you been to the Cliffs of Moher? If so, what was your favorite part? Let us know in the comments below.
Ireland Road Trip
Here’s everything else that we got up to in Ireland:
- Introduction: Non-Surprise Ireland Road Trip
- 24 Hours In Athlone, Ireland: Where To Stay, Eat, Drink, Shop & Visit
- Luck Of The Irish At Kilmacduagh Monastery
- Returning To The Cliffs Of Moher
- Quin Abbey In 30 Photos
- Feasting Like Royalty At The Bunratty Castle Medieval Banquet
- Day 3: Desmond, Dingle, Dolphin, Driving And Dining
- Puckering Up At Blarney Castle
- Day 4: Kissing Stones, Flat Tires, Stunning Food & Tiny Homes
- 4 Friends + 1 Tiny Home = 1 Fun Night In Ireland
- Breakfast Serendipity At The Conservatory, Laragh
- Glendalough Monastic Site In 25 Photos
- Shot Through The Heart At The Irish Whiskey Museum
- Dublin’s Best Breakfast At Stage Door Cafe
- What To Do (And What Not To Do) In Dublin, Ireland
- Travelling With The Peppers: Saga Holiday Adventures
- Don’t Make These 10 Mistakes When Visiting Ireland
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