One of the best things about The Burren is its flowers. As far back as I can remember, my father would take us on botanical excursions, and it was always exciting to find the first gentian of the year and say "go mbheirimidh beó ar an táim seo arís". May we be alive at this time next year. His friend Jim Campbell was a horticulturalist and between them we must have seen every flower and vegetable in North Clare. I remember a walled garden at the bottom of the Corkscrew Hill, home of the famous Patrick B O'Kelly, who published a twenty-nine page catalogue of Burren flowers in 1895. At that time, Gentiana verna was worth a shilling a plant. The catalogue is reproduced in "The Burren, a companion to the wildflowers of an Irish limestone wilderness" by E.Charles Nelson. He also sent me this photograph of Patrick B and his sister Mary Casey. This is a wonderful book and has just been reprinted. (Click here to order).

None of these flowers is unique to The Burren, but nowhere else can such rare plants be found in abundance. They are also special for being found together, as they have very different habitats elsewhere, ranging from the mountains of Europe to the shores of the Mediterranean. I have seen Maidenhair Fern in the side canyons of The Grand Canyon and Grass of Parnassus in the high country of Yosemite, in California. Here are just a few of the more spectacular flowers to be found in The Burren.

Many thanks to Mícheáil O' Dwyer from Lahinch for the wonderful photographs.