Cliffs of Moher Spectacular

The Cliffs of Moher is a spectacular place to visit. On the edge of Ireland looking out from the top of the cliffs into the Atlantic Ocean. 

The Cliffs of Moher is Ireland`s most visited natural attraction with a magical vista that captures the hearts of up to one million visitors a year.

The cliffs rise to 214m / 700 feet at the highest point and range for 8 kilometres or 5 miles over the Atlantic Ocean on the western seaboard of Co. Clare. 

From the top of the cliffs you can look out and see the Aran Islands, Galway Bay as well as The Twelve Pins, the Maum Turk Mountains in Connemara and the Loop Head of the South.

The cliffs of Moher take their name from a ruined promontory fort ` Mothar` which was demolished during the Napoleonic wars to make room for a signal tower at Hag`s Head. 

The secret of how the cliffs formed  about 320 million years ago, during a time called the Upper Carboniferous period, when this area was much warmer and was situated at the mouth of a large river.

The river flowed down bringing mud and sand with it, eventually dumping it all over this area where it settled and eventually formed the rock layers you see there today.

The Cliffs of Moher is a special protected area for wildlife as well as Ireland heritage. The cliffs house a mass of different sea birds including puffins. 

O`Brien`s Tower stands high on the cliff. The tower was built in 1835 by Cornelius O`Brien as a viewing point for tourists who flock to the Cliffs of Moher.

Also at the cliff tops there is a cliff exhibition which brings the Cliffs of Moher to life, the exhibition is a very interesting place to visit. 

Below are some of the photographs we took from the top of the cliffs. It was such a beautiful place to visit. It had a slight sadness as the cliff is a place were some people take there own lives not wanting to live any more, there are many signs for those who desperately need help to stop them committing suicide.

What amazed us was the amount of people who climbed over the warning barriers to get a better photograph. As many of us no who have lived and grown up close to the sea. It is a dangerous place to be with cliff faces so unstable these days anyone who ignores a warning barrier to take a better photograph is taking a huge risk and the amount of people that were ignoring the warning a signs were many !