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Wildflowers of Ireland
bby Michael L. Charters
Most of these photos
were taken on a family trip to my ancestral homeland in 1998. We
spent a good deal of time in a region of western Ireland south of Galway
called the Burren. This area which is in County Clare is quite atypical
of Ireland, even of the surrounding area, or of any other place in Western
Europe. The Burren is a huge limestone bulge rising above the pastoral
green fields of County Clare. The word burren is derived from the
Gaelic bhoireann meaning a 'barren stony place', and it has often
been described as a limestone desert. But in point of fact, while
appearing bare and lifeless from a distance, it is a locality that is
un-believably productive and rich in flora. The ice ages forced arctic
and alpine plants far southward where they reached this area and have
remained, while the warm waters of the Gulf Stream flowing up the west
coast of Ireland encouraged the growth of more southerly Mediterranean
plants, so that this is the only place in Europe where many of these species
exist side by side. The entire area is characterized by carboniferous
limestone pavements fractured and fissured and covered by springs, caves,
swallowholes, underground rivers and sudden depressions. After periods
of persistent rainfall, temporary lakes called turloughs rise more or
less like the vernal pools of southern California. While May and
June is the prime wildflower season, there are beautiful species to be
found at almost any time of the year. Ireland is a small country,
less than 1/5 the size of California, and the Burren makes up only about
1% of Ireland, yet to be found there are northern and southern species,
sea-level and mountaintop species, and limestone lovers and haters all
in close proximity. Some of the other photos presented here were
taken in Killarney National Park in southwest Ireland, and at the Giant's
Causeway in the north of Ireland. One day I hope to return there
to do some more extensive botany and some better photography. In
the words of a well-known Irish blessing, "May the road rise to meet
you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm
upon your face, and rains fall soft upon your fields. And until
we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of His hand." Or, to put it another way, "May your glass be ever full.
May the roof over your head be always strong.
And may you be in heaven
a full half hour before the devil knows you're dead."
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| Thanks to Jeremy Roberts of the United Kingdom for making several corrections. |
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Limestone terraces of the Burren
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The Cliffs of Moher, tallest
in Europe
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Killarney National Park
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References: Carruthers, Terry Kerry: A Natural History |
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Composed with Dreamweaver 4 software. If requested, my consent will gladly be given for the non-commercial use of these photographs. Contact me at: mmlcharters[at]calflora.net. © 2003-2004 Michael L. Charters, Sierra Madre, CA. |