The Burren — from the Irish Boireann, "a rocky place" — is a great expanse of fissured limestone covering some 250 square kilometres of north County Clare and the edge of south Galway. It looks, at first, like a stone desert. Look closer and it is one of the richest botanical sites in Ireland, where Arctic, Alpine and Mediterranean plants grow side by side in the cracks of the rock, and where dolmens and ring forts stand among the most ancient in the country.
This guide covers how to explore the Burren — getting there, where to go, the best time for the flowers and the access to expect — and the long human story written into its stone. Plan your visit here for free, then let MacÉireann narrate the landscape as you drive through it.
Hear the full story in the app
Narrated by a traditional storyteller and triggered automatically as you drive past. Download on the App Store →
Plan your visit
The story
When Cromwell's surveyor Edmund Ludlow rode through in 1651 he despaired of the place, reporting a country "where there is not enough water to drown a man, wood enough to hang him, nor earth enough to bury him." He missed the point entirely. The bare rock is a sponge and a hothouse: rain sinks straight through the limestone, warm stone holds the heat, and in the sheltered grikes between the slabs, plants that have no business growing together — spring gentians from the Alps beside dense-flowered orchids from the Mediterranean — flower side by side every May.
People have lived on and worshipped this rock for a very long time. Poulnabrone — Poll na Brón, "the hole of the sorrows" — is a portal tomb whose great capstone has balanced here for around 5,800 years; the bones of more than twenty people were buried beneath it. Nearby, Caherconnell stone fort was still occupied into medieval times, and the hills hold hundreds of ring forts, wedge tombs and the ruins of Corcomroe Abbey.
The Burren also hides its water. In wet weather, lakes called turloughs rise up through the ground and then vanish again as the rock drains them away — "vanishing lakes" that are found almost nowhere else in the world.
In the app
"Not enough water to drown a man, nor wood to hang him, nor earth to bury him — and yet they have been burying their dead beneath these stones since before the pyramids were built."
That is just a taste. Hear the full story — and the legends, history and local lore of every place along the way — narrated automatically in the MacÉireann app as you drive past.
Drive it as part of a tour
The Burren unfolds along MacÉireann's tour between Galway and the Cliffs of Moher, narrated turn-by-turn whichever way you drive it:
Common questions
What does "the Burren" mean?
It comes from the Irish word Boireann, meaning "a rocky place" or "great rock" — an apt name for its vast pavements of bare grey limestone.
What is there to see and do in the Burren?
Highlights include the Poulnabrone dolmen, Caherconnell stone fort, Aillwee Cave, the Burren National Park, Corcomroe Abbey and the wildflowers — best explored on a self-drive loop through north Clare.
When is the best time to visit the Burren?
Late spring, especially May and June, when the Arctic, Alpine and Mediterranean wildflowers bloom together in the limestone. The landscape itself is striking in every season.
Is the Burren free to visit?
Yes — it is free to roam and the Burren National Park is free to enter. A few individual attractions, such as Aillwee Cave and Caherconnell stone fort, charge admission.
Do I need a phone signal for the audio tour?
No. Download the tour before you set off and it runs on your phone's GPS, so the stories play automatically even where there is no mobile coverage.
Hear The Burren come to life
MacÉireann is live on the App Store. Pick the route that passes The Burren, download it before you set off, and let a traditional storyteller narrate it as you drive.
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