The Burren in County Clare is slow to give up its secrets. For years Paul Clements has been drawn to its history, mystery and peculiarities. Here he writes absorbingly about the rocks, hills and walls, the colours, the animals, and subjects that excite him such as the exotic wild flowers, ancient ruins, early morning birdsong, and whiskey smells in historic pubs. A hunter and gatherer of information and lore on the Burren, the author ferrets out little known facts and weaves them together. Burren Country is infused with warmth and wit, with the ordinary and the extraordinary. It celebrates outdoor life and uncovers what the Burren means to writers, painters and musicians who know it intimately. It focuses on particularities of place: Poulnabrone dolmen seen through the eyes of photographers; a patch of ground at Gleninagh where he joins a pilgrimage; a tour of the wandering boulders - mysterious glacial erratics; and an epiphany on the summit of Mullaghmore Mountain. Join him in a fascinating odyssey into one of Ireland's magical and unique places.
'Burren Prayer' by Michael Longley
Map: The Burren
Prologue, Epiphany: Caught and Smitten
Chapter One Westing and Arrival
Chapter Two They all have Outrageous Names
Chapter Three The Pool of Sorrows
Chapter Four A Tour through the Paint Box
Chapter Five An Aphrodisiac of the Senses
Chapter Six The Hypnotic Fascination of Mullaghmore
Chapter Seven Time and Tide
Chapter Eight Grazing around Gleninagh
Chapter Nine Travels of the Wandering Rocks
Chapter Ten A Woman for all Seasons
Chapter Eleven The Music of the Sea
Chapter Twelve The Burren Painters
Chapter Thirteen Benign Storyteller
Chapter Fourteen The Tinker's Heartbreak: Burren Roads
Chapter Fifteen Bard of Bell Harbour
Chapter Sixteen The Weavers of Sheshymore
Epilogue Flirting with the Spirit of the Burren
Coda
Glossary
Burren bibliography
General bibliography
Websites
Acknowledgements
Paul Clements, from County Tyrone, lives in Belfast and spends part of each year in the West of Ireland researching, writing, walking, and seeking inspiration in the Burren's limestone hills. His acclaimed "The Height of Nonsense" (2005) was a bestseller. A former BBC journalist, he now contributes to newspapers and magazines and to travel guides to Ireland He is a Fellow of Green-Templeton College, Oxford, and of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland.