Burren Tours

19/05/2026

This year… for the first time…

you will be able to get FREE transportation to the Burren National Park from the Burren Visitor Centre here at Kilfenora, meaning you can experience the interpretation AND the natural landscape - without having to take the car onto our delicate ecosystem!

Want to hike early? Then take the 9.10am bus, and return in the afternoon to experience the exhibits and city of crosses.

OR

Take in the exhibits first, and/or breakfast in the cafe, and head out on the 11.25am bus, returning mid afternoon to see the City of Crosses.

OR

Take in the exhibits and Kilfenora first, have lunch in the Cafe, and take the last bus at 2.40pm for a later walk, returning on the final bus at 5pm.

Want more?

Staying in Doolin: there are free shuttles into Kilfenora every day starting at 8am and ending at 6.10pm meaning you can easily add this to your itinerary.

You can also get into Kilfenora from Ennistymon, Ennis and Galway on public transport to access this itinerary - to make your holiday even more sustainable.

We will be posting all the incredible itineraries that you can access via the Explorer shuttle bus this year in coming days.

Explorer runs daily from May 21st to September 20th 2026.
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18/05/2026

Tucked away in Kilfenora in Co. Clare, the Ballykeal Hand Stone is more than just an ancient carving, it’s a piece of Ireland’s forgotten storytelling tradition ✋🪨

The stone bears the imprint of a hand, worn softly by centuries of wind and rain, and local legend says it may once have marked an oath, a boundary, or even a waymarker to hidden treasures.

In old Ireland, placing a hand in stone symbolised loyalty, power, and connection to the land itself.

Only the replica in our Exhibition is able now to be viewed due to the original being on private land, but it’s impossible not to wonder who stood before that stone hundreds of years ago, carving this hand into history. 🇮🇪✨

16/05/2026

This is an excellent free bus service in and around our Geopark.

The Burren Explorer is back!

From May 21st, you can get about the Burren for free via the Burren Explorer Shuttle network.

If you are working in the Burren for the season why not ditch the car and the excessive petrol prices and get the shuttle to work?

If you are staying in one of the accommodation centres, and want a day out hiking and exploring the Burren, why not use the shuttle instead of driving your car and help protect our unique environment?

If you want to visit one of the major attractions in the area, again why not take the shuttle instead of getting stuck in tourist traffic or having to drive single track roads?

The shuttle timetables align perfectly with local buses into the Burren from Galway and Ennis so leave the car at home, enjoy the scenery and come explore the Burren!

Timetables are at our reception desk!

10/05/2026

28/04/2026

Sandra Bullock once said: "At twelve years old, I returned definitively to the United States after having spent much of my childhood in Germany. My mother was a German opera singer, and I grew up among stages, rehearsals, and constant moves. I didn't have a fixed place to call home, but I learned to adapt.

At eighteen, I moved alone to New York to study theater at the Neighborhood Playhouse. I worked as a waitress and bartender until the early hours of the morning, serving drinks and cleaning tables to pay for classes and rent.

They were tough years, but they taught me discipline and resilience.At thirty, Speed came along. Suddenly, I became an action star. I did many of my own stunt scenes, and the whole world got to know me. It was thrilling and also terrifying.

At forty-five, I won the Oscar for The Blind Side, but just ten days later, my marriage fell apart publicly. In the midst of that pain, I secretly adopted my son Louis, and shortly after, Laila. I became a single mother and rebuilt my entire life around them.

I've lost people I loved: my mother in 2000 and my partner Bryan in 2023. I've had successes and also moments when Hollywood doubted me because of my age or the type of roles. But I kept going.

Now I'm over sixty and still working, producing, and choosing projects that matter to me. I'm still a full-time mom and still breaking molds.

Every scar tells a story: the girl who grew up between two countries, the waitress who dreamed of being an actress, the woman who rebuilt herself after the pain. Fragility is not weakness. It's proof that you've lived, you've fallen, and you've risen stronger.

If today you feel broken, remember: I've broken too, many times. And every time I rebuilt myself, I came out better than before."

28/04/2026

At 14, Dwayne Johnson wasn’t thinking about fame.

He was thinking about survival.

Living in Hawaii, his family was struggling—on the edge of eviction, with very little to get by. Every day before training, he would walk into a 7-Eleven and take a Snickers bar. Not for fun. Not for thrill.

Because it was the only food he had.

No one stopped him.
No one knew.

But he did.

And for almost a year, he carried that quiet weight with him—the kind that doesn’t show on the outside, but stays with you long after the moment passes.

Years turned into decades.

He became “The Rock.” Success, money, recognition—everything changed. But that memory didn’t.

So he went back.

To the same store. The same place. This time, not as a kid trying to get through the day—but as a man choosing to close a chapter.

He bought every Snickers bar on the shelf.
Paid for customers in the store.
And gave back in a way that wasn’t about the cost.

Because it was never about the chocolate.

It was about who he used to be…
and who he chose to become.

Some debts aren’t financial.

They’re personal.

And the real payment isn’t money—

it’s growth.

28/04/2026

On 31 January 1916 nine German airships, including L20, known as “The Raider of Loughborough”, left their bases in Germany and at Tønder in what is now Denmark. Their objective was Liverpool. A successful strike on the docks would have carried real psychological weight, demonstrating the range of the Zeppelin threat.

They never reached their intended target.

Navigation errors and poor weather led to bombs being dropped instead over towns in the Midlands. Tipton, Wednesbury, Walsall, Burton upon Trent, Nottingham, Derby and Loughborough were all affected. In Loughborough, L20 killed an estimated ten people, among them Mary Anne Page and two of her children. Their names are recorded on a plaque in Loughborough Carillon Park.

On 2 May 1916 L20 set out again, this time aiming at industrial targets in Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees and Hartlepool, with the possibility of engaging warships near Edinburgh. Engine trouble and strong winds intervened. Blown off course over the North Sea, the airship drifted towards neutral Norway and eventually crash landed in Hafrsfjord near Stavanger.

The photograph, taken by Hans Henriksen and held in the Stavanger City Archive, shows the stricken airship after its forced descent.

The image has been colourised by Tom Marshall.