Shannon-igans

We pointed the car north out of Kerry with the wipers going, through Castleisland and Listowel, the rain settling in for the long haul.

At Tarbert we did the clever thing and took the ferry across the mouth of the Shannon to Killimer, skipping the enormous inland loop through Limerick.

A short crossing, a farm gate on the far side, and we were in County Clare.

And then the Burren, which is unlike anywhere I've been: bare limestone pavement running to the horizon, laced with dry-stone walls, with the Atlantic hurling weather at it the entire time.

We stood at the water's edge and watched a whole wall of cloud come marching in over the rock.

A round tower and a ruined church were waiting for us against the last of the light, and we climbed around the arches and the tower windows until the day finally gave out.

Tomorrow: Galway, and the edge of the country.