| Cliff hanger in Clare  The
Cliffs of Moher are where Europe comes to an abrupt end. Here, the Great
Wall of Thomond as the Cliffs are sometimes called plunges some 700 feet
into the Atlantic Ocean in dramatic style.
Star of postcards, adverts, Irish Tourist Board videos and countless
films the Cliffs of Moher are still the dog’s bollards when it comes
to cliff hangers. Go on a Tuesday afternoon in November long after the
coaches have gone and stand and wonder. The view here is unsurpassable
stand on your tiptoes and you can just about see New York. Huge towering
cliffs, plumes of spray from the angry ocean and thousands of seabirds
will keep you mesemerised for hours.
Why then, you may wonder, is a visitors’ centre needed? Good question
and the only response I can give grudgingly is that if you have to have
one the new interpretive centre on the Cliffs of Moher is about as good
as you’re likely to get.
The grassdomed (AA, grass, not glass) subterraneanA building is about as unobtrusive
as you can get. It is set in a re-ordered landscape of Liscannor-flagged
pathways, stone walls and elevated viewing platforms. The enormous surface
car park that once disfigured the area has been temporarily removed across
the road pending provision of park-and-ride bus services from Liscannor
and Doolin. Of course you can also get boat cruises from these two harbours
to the bottom of the Cliffs which many people believe is the finest way
to see Ireland’s finest rock group.
If a visitors’ centre sounds a bit organised for one of the wildest
places in Europe you have to remember that some 900,000 tourists visit
the area every year. So something had to be done.
The new centre has cost some ¤21million and to be fair it looks
like money well spent.
Being subterranean the interior feels quite cave-like quite fitting
really as one of the subterranean wonders of the world, Pol an Ionain,
is in Co. Clare.
Above the grass-lined roof a glass roof-light lets light into the central
chamber in almost Newgrange solstice fashion.
The entrance foyer is more dimly lit with a shop selling the usual range
of souvenirs ranging from kitsch to not-so-kitsch. The restaurant on the
other hand has been leased to Tony and Imelda Lynch who run the Long Dock
Restaurants in Ennis and Carrighaholt so you can expect a meal fit for
a king (of Thomond). And the price of your repast includes a panoramic
view of the Cliffs to the west and Liscannor to the south.
As befits any visitors’ centre these days, interactive displays
and audio-visual presentations litter the place. The Moher exhibition
covers four different themes geology, the ocean, wildlife and folklore.
A three-minute film gives as good a view of the cliffs as you’re
unlikely to see them unless you’re a seagull or opt to go abseiling.
The centre has an exit onto the cliffs with rangers on hand to stop people
getting too close to the edge. The Table, where the Earl of Thomond used
to picnic, is now off-limits as it’s too easy to be blown off the
cliffs.
One of the aesthetic justifications for the centre is that one day in
12 in the Moher neighbourhood is fogbound so at least visitors won’t
go away disappointed. Another rationale is employment for locals as well
as encouraging visitors to spend longer in the area; Clare certainly has
plenty to offer Milltown Malby with its traditional music, various pot-holing
opportunities including the Aillwee Caves and of course the Burren. These
are all flagged at the visitor centre. But whether the visitors will actually
want to use the centre will remain to be seen.
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