IGA FIELD EXCURSION Saturday and Sunday, 1st / 2nd October, 2011
Lead by Dr. Ronán Hennessy (Burren Geopark)
MEETING POINT: Saturday 1st October at the Flaggy Shore, New Quay, Co. Clare
TIME: Saturday 10.00am
REGISTRATION: It is necessary to pre-register with excursions secretary Dan O’Shea by email, 
or phone before 5pm, 29th October next.PROVISIONAL ITINERARY: We will be visiting the celebrated Burren region of County Clare on the weekend of Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd October next, when our guide will be Dr Ronán Hennessy, Geopark Geologist. We are delighted he has agreed to lead the field trip. We will visit many of the Geosites in the proposed Burren Geopark – indeed we hope to hear good news of its status about the time of our visit. Find out more about the Burren National Park on www.npws.ie and about the proposed Geopark and its significance on www.GeoNeed.org . Please register for the field trip by emailing or contacting Dan O’Shea (087 753 6871). As always places are allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. Note that there will be an entry charge, payable by participants on the day, to the Cliffs of Moher (Adults €6, Senior Citizens €4, children under 16 free). Should Sunday’s weather be unfavourable we might visit Doolin Cave (Adults €15, Children €8). We will assemble each morning at 10.00, on Saturday 1 October at the Flaggy Shore, New Quay, and on Sunday 2 October at the Cliffs of Moher carpark. Please allow sufficient time for your trip each day in order to arrive safely and in good time.
Details of the field trip are contained in the attached itinerary and map. Ronán has provided a reading list (which is also attached) and participants may wish to consult some of its items in advance. In addition to bringing free hand-outs for participants, Ronán will have a supply of the new Burren illustrated guide and fold-out map which he has agreed to sell at the reduced price of €5 – excellent value! Each day we will stop in a village at lunchtime, at Cassidy’s Pub & Restaurant, Carron (www.cassidyspub.com) on Saturday, and O’Connor’s Pub, Doolin, on Sunday. Of course, as always, participants are free to make their own arrangements for lunch. The traditional Saturday night meal will take place at 19.00 in the Logues Lodge Hotel, Ballyvaughan (www.logueslodge.ie). The excursion will be based in the village of Ballyvaughan, which has relatively easy access from both the M6 motorway (Dublin-Galway) and the N18 road (Galway-Limerick). Members should arrange their own accommodation as usual – it would be great if everyone was close to Ballyvaughan on the Saturday night. The following websites provide all relevant information on B&Bs, guesthouses and hotels in the area:
http://www.clare.ie/
http://www.burrenconnect.ie/town_and_places/ballyvaughan.html
http://www.ballyvaughanireland.com
We look forward to seeing as many members as possible in the exhilerating landscapes of the Burren and we wish all participants a safe and enjoyable excursion!
Participation in this fieldtrip is entirely at your own risk