The Cliffs of Moher

DAY 7 – August 9th

A lot of discussion took place as to how we would spend this day – originally on the schedule was a trip to the Aran Islands – something that would have meant an early rising, and hours of travelling, resulting in dedicating a full day. It was mom’s choice as to what to do, and although the Aran Islands had been on her wish list, I think the Irish roads and the speeds that are travelled on them are somewhat daunting to her. I’m amazed that I seem to have adjusted to it myself. Weather is also a factor for a trip to the Aran Islands – poor weather can mean a cancellation of the sailings to OR FROM the Islands and the forecast was not great. We decided to make a change of plans and while we still drove to the coast, our destination was now the Cliffs of Moher. The layout has changed since our last visit and in addition to the Cliffs, there is now an interpretative centre built into the hillside. The centre is a definite plus to a visit to the Cliffs as it provides a lot of information that is the perfect adjunct to the Cliffs themselves. The downside to this development is that the Cliffs are now being more of a commercial place than what we have seen in the past – a wild place, subject to the wills of the elements. The original walkway walls have been replaced with higher ones, the pathway, with wide steps and landings – apparently, part of the reason for this “improvement” was as a result of a woman and her child going over the wall (even though it is, and was, clearly posted to stay away from the edges and inside the safety of the walkway walls) to the cliffs edge and then falling to their deaths when part of the Cliffs edge sloughed away (which they are prone to do without advertisement). Even so, there are still tourists today that went over the wall to areas clearly marked as unsafe …………. it seems that it doesn’t matter how many languages (in this case at least 4) the warning signs are posted in, there are always those people who will ignore them – sometimes at their peril. I wonder if this is modern genetic selection. Nature did her best to discourage visitors as the wind came up and the rain lashed at us from a couple of different directions. We were well and truly soaked by the time we finished our visit (and shopping) and returned to retrieve our car from across the road at the managed car park. We then headed to Doolin and settled in for Irish stew and a hot whiskey (me), fish and chips and tea (George), and Irish stew and more of what is apparently the Irish nectar of the Gods – Guinness (mom) before heading back to The Old Rectory.