The Burren

This incredible area holds the answer to thousands of questions – and is a site to behold for those with an interest in archaeology, botany, geology or history.

Visitors to The Burren can learn how limestone was formed over 20 million years ago, the origin of fossils, and what kind of evidence is left behind today of life many millions of years ago.

There is evidence of human occupation in the Burren going back more than six thousand years. Archaeological evidence of the earliest inhabitants includes many megalithic structures such as the instantly recognisable Poulnabrone Dolmen, which is probably the most photographed structure in The Burren Region. The remains of the people inside the tomb were excavated and dated to 3800 BC.

There is also evidence from the Neolithic Era of widespread deforestation for pasture-grazing, which has helped create the stark, windswept beauty for which the Burren is renowned. This livestock farming has also left behind 4,000-year-old field boundaries. This period of intense farming decreased in the Bronze and Iron Ages, and parts of the region re-forested itself naturally. However, intensive occupation of the land once again increased in the early Christian and Medieval periods, again reduced the area of woodland, as grazing became more widespread.

For more information see: www.burrengeopark.ie