The Cliffs of Moher

It is definitely one the main tourist destinations in Ireland: The Cliffs of Moher.

I’ll save you some time – you can see the picture above – they’re cliffs. They’re impressive. It’s definitely worth seeing.

Now, for those of you who like to read, you may be interested to know that the Cliffs of Moher are The Cliffs of Insanity from the movie The Princess Bride (which just happens to be one of the greatest movies of all time).

Neat, eh?

Another thing: don’t let the stark scenery fool you – you won’t be alone at the cliffs; chances are you’ll be surrounded by milling hordes of camera-equipped tourists. You will also have paid €5 to park. There is actually no cost (at the moment) to access the Cliffs, but you won’t escape that parking fee. The cliffs are a ways away from everywhere else, so you’ll have to drive or catch a tourbus there. I suppose you could bike it, but knowing the situation, you’d probably be charged to park your bikes anyway.

At the moment there is huge renovation work going on at The Cliffs. Until now there has been only a tiny gift shop housed in O’Brien’s castle (NOT an ancient structure – it was built by the guy who owns the land to impress people. It’s €2 to climb up its stairs and look through a telescope) and some gypsy-like vendors camped out at a large car park with another larger coffee house/gift shop. I believe they are hollowing out a section of the cliffs to create a fabulous gift-shop-cum-tourist-centre at the moment, but the only sign of any such thing is that the area is swathed in construction signs.

It will most likely be windy. It could rain. In the past you could walk right to the edge if you liked. Nowadays you CAN reach the edge if you climb over some of the obstacles they have put up to stop you. You can also be blown off of them or have the ground crumble beneath your feet, plunging you a thousand feet to your death on the rocks below where other tourists will be able to take snapshots of your corpse for a few days.

See, the weather and tides around the cliffs are so severe that the occasional necessary recovery operation usually has to wait a few days until conditions permit a safe approach to the cliffs’ base. The last suicider at the cliffs stayed down there a few days. This polish angler had the same fate. In case you think I’m overstating things, a million people have died at the Cliffs with the last death just a week or so ago when a woman was literally blown off the edge.

So, enjoy the spectacle of nature – just don’t get too close.

call +353 (0) 65 708 1171 for the visitor centre
Cliffs are open 9am-8pm Jul&Aug, 9am-7pm Jun&Aug, 9am-6.30pm Mar&Sept and 9.30am-5pm Oct through March