This morning we left Dublin and headed out west towards County Clare & County Galway area, passing through Athlone, Ballinasloe as well as Kinvarra - a small sea port village. We made a brief stop just outside Kinvarra, for views of Dunguaire Castle - a 16th century tower house on the southeastern shore of Galway Bay.

From Kinvarra, we passed through Ballyvaughan and then onto the Burren - a karst landscape region in northwest County Clare, and one of the largest karst landscapes in Europe. (Karst topography is a landscape shaped by the dissolution of layers of soluble rock). From the Burren, we passed the Black Head Lighthouse, and then onto Doolin.

Doolin is a coastal village and is noted as the centre of traditional Irish music, which is played nightly in its three pubs, making it a popular tourist destination. Doolin is also one of three places with ferry services to the Aran Islands, which are visible from the town.

After our stop and walk around in Doolin, we continue onto the Cliffs of Moher - located at the south western edge of the Burren. The cliffs rise an average on 120 meters above the Atlantic Ocean, and up to a height of 214 meters just north of O'Brien's Tower. Our views of the cliffs alternated between clear and visible, or hazy and cloud, depending on how the wind blew, but generally had good clear shots of them.

After a good few hours at the cliffs, we made our way through Ennis, past the Bunratty Castle & Folk Park and finally onto Limerick - our home for the night. Limerick is Ireland's third largest city, but didn't have much to offer in terms of natural beauty. We made our way into town this evening and had dinner (Irish stew) at Dolans Pub, which was rather crowded and busy. So as a last minute thought, we drove to Adare, the neighbouring town and found a great little pub called Aunty Lena's Bar, which had a group of local Irish musicians playing.

We've just got tonight here in Limerick, and then off tomorrow to circumnavigate the Ring of Kerry - something I've almost missed out on in the previous trips to Ireland.