800px-Galway_1,_Ireland

Shoko Konno,

Correspondent (Travel) 

 

Western Ireland has something different in many ways to the East including Dublin — a city that you may explore to find traditional Irish things.

Galway is one of the most populous cities located in the west coast in Ireland. The city’s atmosphere is different to the capital of Ireland, Dublin.

The city has the nickname Cathair na dTreabh because “14 tribes” of merchant families that led the city in its Heberno-Norman period. Also, it works as the gate of Ghaeltacht, which is an area where Gaelic is spoken as a national language. You may hear people speaking Gaelic while you walk around the city. It relates to the difference of the atmosphere there and can be said that the traditional culture and language in Galway is really Irish.

From Galway, you are nudged to choose somewhere else for a day trip: Aran Islands, or The Burren including Poulnabrone dolmen and the Cliffs of Moher.The Aran Islands are a group of three small islands situated at the mouth of Galway Bay. They are famous for their geological environment, historical monuments, the language and cultural heritage.

The 1,200 residents in the Islands speak Gaelic as their primary language. The Islands’ geology is closely related to the Burren , mainly contracted with limestone that the Arans are the outstanding home to plants and animals as it supports their unusual environment.

The Burren is a karst landscape located in north-west of County Clare, Ireland. It is the largest karst landscape in Europe and there are a lot of historical and archaeological sites such as Poulnabrone Dolmen, Corcomroe Abbey and the Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs of Moher are the most visited natural tourist attraction in the Burren and Ireland.

The landscape is 320 square kilometres covered with limestone. It is home to more than 70% of Ireland’s native flora. Burren is not just famous for its naturally beautiful scener. It is also famous for its traditional Irish music, particularly the ‘West Clare Style’, which are concertina playing in the music festival in Doolin.

At last, The Cliffs of Moher rises to 214m (702 feet) at the highest point and is eight kilometres (five miles) wide over the Atlantic Ocean. You may see the Aran Island, Galway Bay, The Twelve Pins and the Maum Turk Mountains in Connemara and Loop Head to the South from the cliffs in a sunny day.

Currently, the Cliffs of Moher have been registered as a Special Protected Area (SPA) under the EU Birds Directive 1979. That the recognised protections made it home to Ireland’s largest mainland sea birds. You may see a lot of  different kinds of sea birds, including puffins or ‘the clown of the sea’. Also Guillemots, Razorbills and Peregrine Falcons can be seen on the flat of the stones.

It is one of UNESCO’s Global Geoparks which is a special region with amazing geological sites and fascinating local culture. The cliffs were formed about 320 million years ago. The area was much warmer and located at the mouth of a large river. Mud and sand flowed down in the river and dumping this area, where formed the rock layers you see today.

Additionally, it is a special attraction for film lovers! The Cliffs of Moher were filmed in many films including  Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince, Ryan’s Daughter and The Princess Bride.

Image Courtesy: © Pixie from he, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license | Wikimedia Commons

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Shoko Konno

Shoko Konno

Shoko is a Journalism and Media student at Bangor University. She is originally from Tokyo, Japan and moved to the U.K. in 2012. Shoko is interested in educational policies and linguistics. Keen on writing about news in far east, food and travel. She loves travelling, cooking and sewing. Also she likes learning Japanese tea ceremony.
Shoko Konno

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