Bowline
Trip to the Burren
I had been intending to make a trip to the Burren on Ireland’s west coast for 15 years; so it was unfortunate that by the time I finally made it, my arms weren’t up to much. Still there’s more to this intriguing part of Ireland than steep limestone cliffs…such as Guinness and live music in the many bars…and of course rain. None of which was in short supply in August when we made our pilgrimage west…
Taking advantage of
the proximity of two huts we all piled into the North London hut for an easy
start the following day. All easy across on the ferry – then the fun starts,
anybody know the way out of Dublin – err no.
Once out of the city we just had to cope with roads non-existent on the
map, but we all got there eventually.
One convenient attribute of Burren limestone is it’s fast drying nature – so at the first opportunity Sarah and I descended to the large rock platform beneath the sea cliffs of Ailladie, the area’s premier cliff. We weren’t alone – Zoe, Bloke, Andy & Loz joined us…to, errr, watch (We were on holiday, but did all manage to do some bouldering!!! – the non-climbing group). We started our campaign on a couple of short but predictably good-value Severes – after which the compelling corner cleft of Genesis (Hard Severe) proved irresistible. This one was a right sod so after much grunting we sloped off to lick our wounds on the steep but straightforward Ground Control (HVS ). That’s grades for you.
Perhaps the best outing though was to the escarpment of Eagle’s Rocks to climb the excellent Cardinal (Hard Severe). The initial approach, with the cliff clearly visible in the distance, was quite straightforward. However we made the mistake of following the path…which led us into the dense confines of dwarf oak forestry. An hour later, we emerged battered and bruised on to the limestone pavement beneath the cliff…with still no sign of a path leading through the scrub to the rocks. A few more false starts, coupled with brief but magical sightings of the elusive pine martens (and we thought they were red squirrels!) and we arrived triumphantly beneath the pinnacle of the Cardinal.
True to form, this one took no prisoners either. After a thankfully brief thrutch up the chimney separating the pinnacle from the face, an insecure swing out to an overhung ledge was followed with more reachy moves to gain a magnificently positioned but oh so sharp flake. A quick scuttle along this led to easy ground leading to the summit and a fabulous view. Probably our best days climbing for some time, even if we did sacrifice a sling to the abseil retreat…
A trip out to Inish Mor, the largest of the Aran Islands, afforded marvellous views of the steep west facing cliffs beneath the ancient hill fort. Here we were happy just to look– the cliffs must have been at least 80m high and plumb vertical (Spot the picture of Loz looking over the cliff edge at the fort), although routes have been established…(Apparently you can get a direct flight from Manchester – don’t know how much it costs though)
We also stole a few hours of evening climbing at the short but immaculate cliffs of Ballyryan, by the road above Ailladie. We even persuaded Ali to join us on one occasion!
Maybe there’s hope for the Bowline running*/cycling*/occasional cragging* club after all…(No hope at all it’s official it’s a cycling club – well may be not just yet then)
On the wettest day we all had a look round the local show cave at the biggest viewable stalactite in Europe or is it the world
On the way back the usual traffic to get to Dublin and the Customs made Andy feel at home by stopping the car he was in to fill in entry cards.
John Dale.