THE HIKE

Teergonean to Ballryan (townland to townland) is a desolate 5 kilometre unmarked coastal hike across the bedrock of the Burren.
The Cliffs of Moher, Aran Islands and Connemara are all in the eye line. It is a Sunday in November '17 . We're playing happy families and the bonus is the oceanic blues skies after a summer and autumn of exaggerated rainfall.
We bumble over the great limestone pavements of Teergonean, Ballycahan, Ballyvoe, Glasha, Cahermaclanchy and Ballyryan.
Here are a few images of a winter day by stones and sea......

THE FORTS

......a dense concentration of cashels (stone ring forts) is situated in this small area of the south west of the Burren. Most of these ancient fortified farmsteads are located at the threshold between the agriculturally marginal coastal pavement and the more fertile glacial deposits over limestone further inland.

CLIMATE CHAOS

...climate chaos knows no frontiers. A summer bloomer, Bloody Cranesbill ( Geraneum Sanguineum ), thriving at the dimming of the year.

TRANSHUMANCE

...most of the cattle have now been transferred from the summer land (glacial deposits over limestone) on to the mosaic of limestone pavement and thin soil . The transhumance usually lasts over 4 months. The dominant soil type in the pavement areas (rendzina) is resistant to destruction by cattle. Most of the cattle elsewhere in Ireland are transferred to sheds in winter in order to protect the soil from poaching by the cattle.

A REAL ENIGMA

...a real Burren enigma. Distinct areas where a high concentration of standing stones are placed in grikes (fissures) in the bedrock . Common throughout the Burren. Way markers along route ways (secular and religious)? Scholastic discussion on these fascinating features has been limited.

TEMPLE OF STONE

...Teergonean court tomb. A New Stone Age (6,000 to 5,000 years ago in Ireland's case) burial chamber for the special dead. A centre of ritual and religion for the living - a temple of stone. The custom of placing the bones of the special dead in big stone structures was peculiar to farming communities near the Atlantic facade of north west Europe. Most court tombs are located in the north of the island of Ireland. 4 of the very few court tombs in the south of the island are located in County Clare. The uprights in the photo are part of the courtyard complex. The structure also contains two burial chambers.