There once was an old
fort called Moher which stood on Hag’s Head. It was the southernmost point of a
range of cliffs that border on the Atlantic Ocean in the Buren Region of County
Clare. The fort has now given its name to cliffs on which it once stood. The
fort itself was destroyed in 1808 and the materials from the fort were used for
a telegraph tower. This tower was built as a lookout tower during the
Napoleonic wars.
The Cliffs of Moher is
the second most visited tourist site in Ireland after the Guiness museum in
Dublin. For several years now, they have had over a million visitors a year.
The scenery is astounding and inspiring. The visitor’s center was built to not
interfere with the ecological imprint of the area. It was built into the
hillside leading up to the cliffs and uses renewable sources of energy such as
geothermal heating and cooling, solar panels, and grey water recycling systems.
The cliffs have won at least one major award.
The visitor’s center
has a number of displays set up as well as a number of vendors of souvenirs. I
had no intention of purchasing anything there but caved in because it was late
April and the winds were too cold for me to handle. I know have a toque and a
pair of gloves from there. Visitors can also visit the cliffs at sea level as
there are a number of boat cruises to do this.
As I did the research
on the Cliffs, I found that after some reading, I recognized one of the pieces
of scenery that were pictured. I believe that it was the shot that was taken
while the filming of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It wasn’t the only
movie that had scenes shot there. The movies include Harry Potter and the
Half-Blood Prince, the Princess Bride, Ryan’s Daughter, and the Mackintosh Man.
There were also some scenes done for the television show “Father Ted”. There
were also two music videos taped there, one by Maroon 5 and the other by
Westlife.
One of websites listed
the top five interesting facts about the Cliffs of Moher.
#1. How old are the
Cliffs of Moher? The answer given is 320 million years old. It goes on to state
that the rocks are sandstone, siltston, and shale.
#2. How high are the
Cliffs of Moher? The answer given is “702 feet (214 meters) high and span
across eight miles or 12.8 kilometers along the Wild Atlantic Way. The highest
point is at Knockarden, near O’Brien’s Tower, which was built by Cornelius O’Brien
in 1835.” (http://www.cliffs-of-moher-cruises.com/news/top-5-interesting-facts-about-the-cliffs-of-moher/).
The article goes on to say that they are not the highest cliffs in Ireland but
they are the steepest.
#3. The Cliffs of
Moher are in the movies as I mentioned earlier.
#4. What birds nest at
the Cliffs of Moher? The answer is that there are twenty-nine varieties of
birds. These include: the Puffins, the Razorbills, the Guillemots, the Fulmars,
the Kittiwakes, the Herring Gulls, the Great Black-backed Gulls, the Shags, the
Choughs, common breeding birds, the Skylarks, and the Wheatear/Twites.
#5. How many visitors
do the Cliffs of Moher each year? The answer says that “in 2014, more than 1
million visitors came to these spectacular cliffs, which meant for the first
time ever, the Cliffs of Moher overtook Dublin Zoo as Ireland’s second-most
popular tourist attraction (the Guinness Storehouse is #1).” It goes on to say
that in 2015, the number increased by over 15%.
