Tag Archives: the burren

CLARE will enjoy exposure to millions of Americans when it is featured early next year in a popular travel programme on the PBS network. American TV presenter Samantha Brown will showcase the Banner County and Limerick in her award-winning travel programme, Places to Love which runs on PBS (Public Broadcasting Service). An episode filmed here will air early next year to millions of people across the United States during prime time on the network. Tourism Ireland invited Samantha Brown to film at a number of locations around Clare and Limerick for one 30-minute episode of the latest series of Places to Love. The programme showcases lesser-known spots and haunts in different destinations. Filming was supported by Fáilte Ireland. Samantha and her film crew have been capturing lots of great footage at places like The Burren Perfumery, The Burren Smokehouse, King John’s Castle and Foynes Flying Boat & Maritime Museum. Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland’s Head of North America, said: “Tourism Ireland …

The Burren has been named as ‘The Best Place to Holiday in Ireland 2022′ with judges praising its stunning landscape, breath-taking coast, grassroots food culture and vision for sustainable tourism. The win caps a remarkable double for Clare as the inaugural competition back in 2013 was won by the Loop Head Peninsula. The north Clare region, which was the unanimous choice of the judging panel, beat off stiff competition from the four other shortlisted locations: Achill, Co Mayo, Carlingford, Co Louth, The Causeway Coast / Portrush in Co Antrim and Inisbofin Co Galway. Among the other things which impressed the judges about The Burren are its breath-taking coastal scenery and world-class tourist attractions, its grassroots food culture, and its joined-up community approach to warmly welcoming visitors while also protecting what is a unique environment. The announcement was made live simultaneously on www.irishtimes.com and on The Ray Darcy Show on RTE Radio One. The win caps a remarkable double for Clare …

FINALISTS will be unveiled on Friday July 22 in a national competition, in which The Burren and Lough Derg are in the running, for the title of Best Place to Holiday in Ireland. The two Clare locations – both of which enjoy international renown for their natural beauty and tourist attractions – were unveiled, earlier this month, on The Irish Times list of ‘20 Best Places to Holiday in Ireland 2022’. The locations were nominated by close to 1,200 people from across the 32 counties. The Burren which was one of seven regions to be selected, received six nominations, while Lough Derg, received three. Clare will, of course, have to share Lough Derg’s success with counties Galway and Tipperary, both of which border the lake. The competition is being run in association with Fáilte Ireland, and last took place in 2012. On that occasion, Loop Head Peninsula emerged as the eventual winner. This year, each of the nominated locations was …

GHOSTLY echoes of a dark time in Ireland’s history are still being felt in a home in Ballyvaughan, believed to be located on the site of a former workhouse.  The house is part of a complex that is understood locally to comprise a dispensary, a child detention unit and workhouse proper, which opened in the mid-1800s and housed around 500 people. Resident Eilís Haden-Storrie, a journalist and author with long experience working in the North in education around the peace process, bought the property and, for a time, ran a B&B. She found that, from the start, the house attracted people with a curiosity and sensitivity about its history. “The most amazing visitors came,” she said. “The house just seemed to appeal to people with an interest in history and they would often remark on the funny energy they sensed. We also found people were able to point out the place where the original front door was located, even though …

TWO of Clare’s most renowned heritage sites are to be considered for inclusion on UNESCO’s World Heritage Tentative List for Ireland. The Cultural Landscape of the Burren Uplands and Inis Cealtra are among six sites nationally being considered by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage for inclusion on the list. The sites on the highly prestigious list are updated every ten years. Following a public call and a deadline of June 30, six entries were received by the Department. In addition to the two Clare sites, the entries include the Trans-Atlantic Cable Ensemble going from Valentia, County Kerry to Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada; the Royal Sites of Ireland located in Counties Kildare, Westmeath, Tipperary, Roscommon and Meath; the Passage Tomb Landscape of County Sligo; and Glendalough Valley in County Wicklow. An independent advisory group will now consider the applications to determine which may be included in the next list of World Heritage sites in Ireland. “It’s a huge …

A CLARE TD has alleged Cabinet interference in the selection of sites for potential inclusion on a highly prestigious World Heritage listing. Deputy Michael McNamara made his remarks on receiving written confirmation that The Burren is the only Clare site likely to be put forward for inclusion on a Tentative List of Unesco World Heritage Sites. Currently, Ireland has just two sites recognised for their universal value – Brú na Boinne and Sceilig Mhicíl. Inis Cealtra had been included in a grouping of six early medieval monastic sites, alongside Glendalough and Clonmacnoise, for the 2010 Tentative List. Designation did not progress, Deputy McNamara told the Dáil this Wednesday over a lack of interest from Offaly County Council. The likely applications, ahead of a June 30 deadline, for inclusion on the updated list were outlined this week by Minister Peter Burke and include The Burren, Glendalough Monastic Site, the Passage Tomb Landscapes of Sligo, The Royal Sites, and Valentia Transatlantic Cable …

A CELEBRATION of the rich food culture of the fertile rock of North Clare’s limestone landscape will be the focus of this year’s Burren Slow food Festival. The virtual event which begins this Thursday, April 29, will see producers and chefs come together in a series of online pairings with events streamed online up to May 5 at 7pm and hosted by Tina O’Dwyer of The Tourism Space. Over the course of the festival, viewers will have the opportunity to see the region’s spectacular landscapes, as the events will be hosted by different members of the Burren Ecotourism network in their own home venue. Festival regular John McKenna of McKenna Guides, will set the scene with a short introduction, which will be followed by lively discussions between producers and chefs, along with food tastings. Each event will be wrapped up with traditional Irish music performed by some of the Burren’s finest local musicians. Geologist Eamon Doyle from the Burren and …

HEART of Stone is the title of a visually stunning two-part series to air on RTÉ One at 6.30pm next Sunday. The Burren is a place full of intrigue and mystery to Lahinch-based film-maker Katrina Costello, who has been working there for over 13 years. “It is not a landscape that gives up her secrets easily, but in every fold of rock and around every corner there is always a new surprise,” she remarked. Heart of Stone captures the raw and complicated beauty of the Burren using intimate natural history photography and the spontaneous insights of a cast of local contributors. Narrated by Brendan Gleeson, the piece takes audiences on a journey through the ages, tracing the genetic story of the Irish people. It tells the story of the Irish hunter-gatherers and reveals what became of them. It asks if prehistoric farmers irreversibly altered this landscape and if modern Irish society is descended from those who first lived here over …