The Burren

Limestone Pavement in the Burren
Image courtesy of Carsten Krieger.

The word ‘Burren’ finds its origins in its Irish name Boireann, which means ‘rocky place’. The area is famous for its karst limestone landscape, one of the largest of its kind in Europe . It is also habitat to an eclectic group of plants, which would usually grow in very different habitats, as well as many important archaeological sites. This attracts many geologists, botanists and archaeologists to the area, as well as those that are simply awed by the unusual landscape.

 

Carboniferous Limestone

An image of the widely distributed sedimentary rock, Carboniferous limestone, which is exposed in the Burren, Co. Clare. This is the main rock across much of Ireland's central lowlands.

Copyright Paul Hackney, Ulster Museum. Source: www.habitas.org.uk/flora.

Carboniferous Limestone
Copyright Paul Hackney, Ulster Museum. Source: www.habitas.org.uk/flora.

Carboniferous Limestone

An image of the widely distributed sedimentary rock, Carboniferous limestone, which is exposed in the Burren, Co. Clare. This is the main rock across much of Ireland's central lowlands.

Copyright Paul Hackney, Ulster Museum. Source: www.habitas.org.uk/flora.

Enlarge image

The Burren, by Richard Davoren

Photo of the Burren, Co. Clare, taken by Richard Davoren.

Courtesy of Richard Davoren.

The Burren, by Richard Davoren
Courtesy of Richard Davoren.

The Burren, by Richard Davoren

Photo of the Burren, Co. Clare, taken by Richard Davoren.

Courtesy of Richard Davoren.

Enlarge image

The Burren National Park is located to the southeast of the Burren, in an area of 1500 hectares. It is a nature conservation area which is open to the public. Examples of all the major habitats within the Burren can be found within the National Park. These include; limestone pavement, turloughs, lakes, cliffs, fens, petrifying springs, hazel scrub, ash/hazel woodland and calcareous grassland.