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We had explored the Burren all day and eaten dinner in the nearby town of Lahinch, so we didn't get to the pub until around 9PM. No problem, since the sessions usually don't get going till aroung 10pm most nights.

The music is truly improvisational and depends entirely on what musicians show up on a given night. This night featured an accordian player named John, who we were to see a week later in Bunratty, two guitars, a tin whistle and a bodhran drum. The songs are also improvisational, depending greatly on the musicians either knowing the same songs or being talented enough to pick up the rythm and join in--sounds chaotic, but in reality it was tremendous fun. No stage here-folks simply gather round the musicians who are sititng at a central table or on bar stools. For the really courageous, bring your instrument along and join in! The night we were there, an American woman had her guitar and was in the midst of the group strumming along.

Many of the more famous sites are easily accessible from Doolin by taking N67 north and then returning on R480. We made the trek in a day, but saw the more popular sites, got off the beaten path and stopped in the towns of Ballyvaughan for lunch and Lisdoonvarna for a pint on our way home. The highlights included seeing the 4,000 year old Poulnabrone Dolmen and the numerous round forts that dotted the landscape.

We reached the town of Kilfenora too late in the day to see the Burren Center located there and determined to return the next morning before heading on to Galway; and we're very glad we did. The town of Kilfenora runs this very informative little center that features a twenty minute video program as well as a three dimensional model of the landscape accompanied by a brief presentation by the staff. Our presentation was given by a pleasant but business-like little woman that was very knowledgeable and reminded me an awful lot of the nuns who taught me in elementary school.

We opted to take the 'long' route to Galway in order to see some more of the Burren and drove the fifteen minutes or so from Kilfenora back to Doolin to follow R477, or the 'sea road." While it rained intermittently the whole way, the scenery was spectacular and well worth the extra time it took to get to our destination. We were in Galway city in time for lunch and felt richer for the experience of seeing the Burren from the perspective of it rising gray and barren out of the north Atlantic. We stopped several times along the way to admire spots described on the map we had picked up at the Burren Center (far more detailed than any of our three guide books). Castle ruins, holy wells and the limestone outcrop at the mouth of Galway Bay called Black Head were all worth the diversion and added to our sense of discovery. Since we were traveling in early October, we often felt as if we were the only people around in this beautiful but strange region of the otherwise Emerald Isle.

The anchor of this area is the fully restored Bunratty Castle that is well worth spending an hour or so in. I truly had a sense of what life was like in a castle--and glamorous does not come to mind! In the evenings, mock medieval banquets are held in the castle's great room. We opted out of this event since it was too high up the tourist scale, but we did spend the balance of the day wandering around the folk park that surrounds the castle and recreates the village that would have grown up around the castle. Employees in period clothing act out life of life from the era doing chores and telling stories.

Lots of bus tours, and fairly commercial overall especially when compared to so many other sites in the west of Ireland. Still, we found this an informative and enjoyable day and its proximity to the airport makes it an ideal last day activity if you have part of a day to spend before flying out.