The Cliffs are 214m high at the highest point and range for 8 kilometres over the Atlantic Ocean on the western seaboard of County Clare. O'Brien's Tower stands proudly on a headland of the majestic Cliffs.
O'Brien's Tower is a round stone tower near the midpoint of the cliffs built in 1835 by Sir Cornelius O'Brien to impress female visitors.
Here is me being impressed.
The Cliffs of Moher take their name from a ruined promontory fort “Mothar” which was demolished during the Napoleonic wars to make room for a signal tower.
The Cliffs of Moher are home to one of the major colonies of cliff nesting seabirds in Ireland. The area was designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA) for Birds under the EU Birds Directive in 1986 and as a Refuge for Fauna in 1988. Included within the designated site are the cliffs, the cliff-top maritime grassland and heath, and a 200 metre zone of open water, directly in front of the cliffs to protect part of the birds' feeding area. The designation covers 200 hectares and highlights the area's importance for wildlife.
If you look close you can see the birds nesting.
The visitor center, O'Brien's Tower and a walk way on the other side of O'Brien's Tower are the only places you are to visit officially. Unofficially, however, there is away to actually walk along the actual cliffs. You are not really supposed to, but in my defence, I didn't know that when I set off. I was watching a bunch of people go up and around the wall and there was a couple standing in front of the sign stating that you should not... so I missed it and I thought that it was a hike, like all the others I had done. Not unsafe, but not really safe either and in some spots kind of scary if you don't like heights (which I don't). I didn't go all the way (I felt that I should turn around about an hour into the hike) but I got some great pictures of the cliffs of the opposite side.
This was truly a wonder experience, one I would love to repeat.
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