Bunratty Castle & Folk Park Guide
A restored 15th-century tower house and a recreated 19th-century village, a few minutes from Shannon Airport — what's actually there and worth knowing before you go.
Clare
Home to the Cliffs of Moher and the limestone Burren.
The Cliffs of Moher, rising to around 214 metres at their highest point, are County Clare's best-known landmark and one of the most visited sites in Ireland. Inland, the Burren's exposed limestone plateau supports plant life found almost nowhere else in the country, alongside megalithic sites like the Poulnabrone dolmen.
Beyond the cliffs, Clare rewards a longer look. Doolin, a short drive up the coast, is the next stop if music and the Aran Islands ferry matter to you. Inland, the Burren is a completely different landscape worth its own half-day. At the other end of the county, near Shannon Airport, Bunratty Castle & Folk Park is easy to fit in on the way to or from a flight.
For the full picture — including the county town of Ennis and the surfing beach at Lahinch — see our guide to things to do in Clare, or start with the Cliffs of Moher guide itself. Once you've covered the headline sights, Food & Drink in Clare and Hidden Gems in Clare go a layer deeper.
Things to Do in Clare
View all →
Doolin Guide
Ireland's traditional-music village, the usual ferry departure point for the Aran Islands, and the northern end of the Cliffs of Moher Coastal Walk.
Things to Do in Clare
From the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren to Doolin, Bunratty and the county town of Ennis — how Clare's main sights fit together and how to plan around them.
Hidden Gems in Clare
View all →
Hidden Gems in Clare
Loop Head Peninsula's cliffs with a fraction of the Cliffs of Moher's crowds, Kilfenora's trad-music pubs and High Crosses, and the quiet waterways of East Clare.
Food & Drink in Clare
View all →Food & Drink in Clare
Burren Smokehouse's organic smoked salmon, seafood in Doolin's music pubs, and the Burren's own lamb and farmhouse cheeses — Clare's food identity, beyond the Cliffs of Moher gift shop.
Day Trips in Clare
View all →Cliffs of Moher Guide
Ireland's most-visited natural attraction — how high the cliffs actually are, how to get there without a car, and what the coastal walk involves.
Free Things to Do in Clare
View all →The Burren Guide
Ireland's karst landscape of bare limestone pavement, ancient tombs and plants found nowhere else together — what the Burren actually is and how to see it.