Page 9 of Touring Ireland by Car by Car Rental Council of Ireland

the next village is tuamgraney with a small castle and church people have worshipped there for more than a thousand years in the 1990s the local community repaired and refurbished part of the church to add an exhibition and heritage centre a right turn just after the church leads down to a little harbour on the edge of the scarriff river where lake barges used to discharge their cargoes in the old days scarriff less than 3kms from tuamgraney is a busy centre it is worth a stop to visit the exceptional stores offering an amazing variety of food the road runs close to the lake to mountshannon one of the busiest yachting centres on lough derg the village is a charming one with church and market house built from the honey-coloured local sandstone a signpost to williamstown at whitegate the next village takes a route down to the lakeside and another of the old harbours then the road r352 leaves the waterside and stays away from it all the way to portumna the town which stands by the head of the lake portumna castle a palatial 17th century house overlooking the lake was accidentally burned in 1826 but has been restored and opened to visitors close by is portumna forest park which is very beautiful with kilometres of shaded footpaths cross the river by the long low bridge and proceed to the delightful village of terryglass then take the road r493 from terryglass through ballinderry to coolbaun where you can turn right at the crossroads for a lakeside diversion joining the main road again at ballycolliton and a right turn for puckaun this route ends by the lakeshore at dromineer which is one of the most distinguished centres for fishing and boating from dromineer follow the signposts r493 to nenagh a market town castle ruins are located here dating back to 1217 across the road from the castle the gate building and governor s house of the demolished county gaol house a heritage centre there is an excellent exhibition devoted to the surrounding countryside including lough derg the road going west from nenagh r494 goes through newtown where you can turn off to see the old watermill and portroe to get the best viewing points on the entire lake drive if you turn left in portroe there is a steep and narrow road that leads to the graves of the leinstermen high on the slopes of tountinna mountain who the leinstermen were and how when or why they died nobody knows for sure but they were provided with an incomparable resting place a lower gentler road leads straight on from portroe to another lookout place the journey ends by descending to the riverside once more to the village of ballina with the town of killaloe at the other end of the 13-arched stone bridge located there the burren experience 1 day tour kilfenora ennis 87 kms 54 mls the others flow into underground caverns the road beside it takes you to the ruined church of fermoyle that is where the green road begins one of the most wonderful footpaths in ireland wandering for kilometres over the hills amongst the wild flowers all the way back to ballynalacken you can also keep to the coast road around black head with its little lighthouse below the level of the road and so into galway bay and a view of the distant hills of connemara a few kms along the road towards galway is ballyvaughan r480 a pretty harbour village a signpost there shows the way to aillwee cave one of many deep caverns in the limestone you can get an excellent guided tour here and it is well worth a visit from aillwee take the road north it passes close to many of the stone age tombs and ceremonial places which are liberally scattered throughout the burren poulnabrone dolmen is one of the finest and it features on more postcards than almost any other irish monument a few kilometres to the south of poulnabrone the ruins of lemaneh castle stand by the roadside a combination of a 15th century fortified tower and a tudor mansion a right turn there would bring you back to kilfenora 5kms to the west completing the circuit but the left turn sets you on the way to ennis r476 and some more of the highlights of the region three kilometres down the main road a signpost for cathair chomain takes you into the depths of the burren passing a `wedge another kind of stone-age tomb in contrast to the open-ended dolmen the wedge tomb is a sort of box made of slabs of limestone still travelling along the r476 to kilnaboy look for a sheela-na-gig a provocatively sculpted female figure above the door of the ancient church beside the road then proceed towards corofin passing the beautiful lough inchiquin on the right a church building on the edge of corofin now houses the clare heritage centre with a museum and a genealogical research service finish up the tour in the lovely town of ennis the county town of clare northern ireland londonderry and the sperrins region two day tour 203 kms 126 mls kilfenora kilnaboy the burren county clare 14 the north-western corner of county clare bordered by the atlantic ocean and the quieter waters of galway bay is a rock garden of no ordinary proportions the burren extends over more than a hundred square miles and most of it is bare pale grey limestone if there were nothing but rock a tour might become tedious if spectacular for a while but the rock is enlivened by big or small patches of green pasture or little pieces of hazel woodland on the pasture and in the many crevices in the pavement of rocks there are countless wild flowers so that the region is a mass of colour besides all this it is mountainous has a wonderful seashore and is liberally scattered with the monuments created by its human inhabitants in the course of six thousand years the burren is unique and worth a visit any time of year this route makes a circuit of the burren starting at the town of kilfenora which is 47kms from shannon route n18 from shannon and then n85 for ennistymon to join the r476 here you can visit the burren centre which has an excellent permanent exhibition explaining the wonders of the region kilfenora is a very interesting place having enjoyed fame as a great religious centre much of the old cathedral remains together with a fine sculptured high cross then drive to lisdoonvarna r476 which doesn t quite fit in with the wilderness but does have lots of good shops and restaurants and various kinds of entertainment the reason for its existence is that there are mineral springs nearby and you can indulge in all sorts of health treatments at the spa lisdoonvarna is also famous for the matchmaking festival which takes place there every september signposts for fanore r477 and black head show the way to the coast passing ballynalacken castle perched on a cliff top the coast road is very welcoming to visitors stop anywhere along the way get out of the car and walk for a kilometre or as much as you like over the pavement-like stone amongst the wild flowers go through the village of craggah and take a walk down to the shore at fanore here the rocks of the burren meet the sea which carves them into wonderful shapes a little way north of fanore you meet the only visible river in the burren all 15 plumbridge day one londonderry ­ portrush this two day tour starts in derry city irelands 17th century historic walled city that is situated in the north west of northern ireland the most visibly striking feature of the city is the historic walls that form a walkway around the old inner city take a walk around the walls and visit some of the many other attractions in the city such as the guildhall derry city hall the workhouse museum and saint columb s cathedral lough derg county tipperary

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