Gardens & Wildflowers of the Burren

Departing: May 2027 - May 2027

Join our resident Irish expert and much-loved tour manager, Trevor Edwards, as he discovers the scenic and rugged west coast of Ireland. Home to a diverse range of colourful wildflowers and impressive geological features, this tour promises to be an experience to remember.

The Burren, from the Irish bhoireann – a stony place – lies in the northwestern corner of County Clare. Over 300 square kilometres in extent, it is the largest area of karstic limestone in western Europe. At first glance, it presents a bleak appearance, but closer examination reveals the beautiful diversity of flora for which the whole region has become justly famous. The colourful exuberance and profusion of the wild flowers is simply captivating and, subject to the prevailing conditions, we can expect to see many interesting, different species.

Included

Explore Poulnabrone Dolmen & Doreen Drennan’s Garden, with entrance fees included
All other visits as outlined in the itinerary
Professional Tour Manager
4 nights at Treacys West County Hotel, Ennis
4 breakfasts & 4 dinners
Private air-conditioned coach travel

Highlights

Privately-owned gardens giving an insight into gardening in this corner of Ireland
Masses of wildflowers of great variety
Unique landscapes of The Burren
Dramatic vistas from the Atlantic of the Cliffs of Moher
Poulnabrone Dolmen, an impressive megalith

Trevor Edwards

A horticulturist, garden designer and consultant with almost 50 years’ experience. He has led garden tours worldwide and lectured internationally on the Gardens of Ireland. A former garden centre owner, he is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Gardeners and Freeman of the City of London.

Tour Itinerary

On arrival at Shannon Airport, we are met by our coach and tour manager for our transfer to Knockpatrick. Helen and Tim O’Brien are the fourth generation of the family to tend this 1930s garden with dedication and enthusiasm. The garden is endowed with running water and nourishment from the family farm. It featured in the April 2008 The Irish Garden magazine and contains many unusual varieties of magnolias, azaleas and rhododendrons. Other plants of note are calicanthus, clianthus, drymis, echium and dicksonia.

Meals: Dinner

Accommodation: Treacys West Country Hotel

Following breakfast, we drive to Doolin, where we take a ferry to Inis Oírr, the smallest of the Aran Islands. The combination of the island's geological features, coastal setting and traditional agricultural practices contributes to the richness of its flora and fauna, making Inis Oírr a unique and picturesque destination. On the plant side, we can expect to find wildflowers, coastal species such as sea thrift and sea campion, ferns and mosses and, as the island is part of the Burren habitat, species such as bloody cranesbill, spring gentian and mountain avens. Wildlife may include seals and seabirds, such as puffins, guillemots, and razorbills, as well as butterflies and dragonflies. After exploring the island (just three square kilometres in area) and an opportunity for lunch at your leisure, we depart on a 50-minute cruise beneath the Cliffs of Moher, perhaps Ireland’s most dramatically impressive natural attraction, especially when viewed from the water. On arrival back at Doolin, we return to our hotel.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Accommodation: Treacys West Country Hotel

Following breakfast, we drive into the beautiful valley of the River Caher, where, from dense hazel and blackthorn scrub, the owner has created a wonderfully varied plantsman’s limestone garden, Caher Bridge Garden, in the true cottage style. The limestone river flows through the one-acre garden of many very unusual plants, including Irishcultivars and collections of daylilies, hostas and geraniums. The beds are all easily viewed and photographed from the pathways.

Next, we visit Doreen Drennan’s Garden near the Cliffs of Moher. As an award-winning gardener with two previous gardens behind her, this third garden was to be Doreen’s most challenging to date and it is still evolving. Presently, there is a walled garden with raised beds and a water feature. Planted rolling lawns give way to a wild river walk that evokes a feeling of serenity and calm. Doreen is also a talented artist, specialising in impressionist paintings of the Wild Atlantic Way and the Burren, and we also visit her studio/gallery – an opportunity perhaps to buy a unique souvenir of our holiday.

On our way back to the hotel, we briefly visit the Poulnabrone Dolmen, an impressive megalithic tomb which, when it was excavated in 1986, was found to contain the bodies of 16 people and various artefacts which dated the tomb to 3600 BC.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Accommodation: Treacys West Country Hotel

This morning, we explore the Burren with a local expert. In the course of our full-day excursion, we can expect to see a good selection of plants typical of the area, with ‘textbook’ examples of pavement, flower-rich grasslands and associated limestone features such as disappearing lakes. There are some intriguing aspects to the flora of the Burren, such as the curious juxtaposition of species from differing habitats, such as Arctic, Alpine and Mediterranean, and hopefully we see examples of these.

Please note: we expect to be walking for around five hours, so a good degree of mobility is required, along with good walking boots and waterproofs.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Accommodation: Treacys West Country Hotel

After breakfast, we check out of the hotel and depart for a visit to Bunratty Castle, Gardens and Folk Park. The site on which Bunratty Castle stands was, in origin, a Viking trading camp in 970. The present structure is the last of four castles to be built on the site and claims to be the most complete and authentic castle in Ireland. Set in 26 acres of idyllic Clare countryside, Bunratty Folk Park features over 30 buildings in a ‘living’ village. Rural farmhouses, village shops and streets are recreated and furnished as they would have appeared at the time, according to their social standing, from the poorest one-room dwelling to the grand Georgian residence, Bunratty House. Here we also find a beautiful walled garden from the Regency era, a surviving part of the demesne which was originally formed around Bunratty Castle. In the afternoon, we transfer back to Shannon Airport where your tour ends.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation

A warm Irish welcome awaits at Treacy's West County Hotel on the edge of Ennis, one of County Clare's most popular and traditional hotels. The hotel has everything needed for a relaxing stay, including a leisure centre with three swimming pools, sauna, steam room and gym, plus a restaurant, traditional sports bar and bedrooms with tea and coffee-making facilities, a hairdryer, satellite TV and free Wi-Fi.