Bird’s-eye view of remote Clare routes on Google

If you’re the kind of traveller who has no interest in boldly going where no one’s gone before and Clare is on your list of destinations, then Google’s latest Street View offering is just the ticket.

Every step of a 12km trail along the Cliffs of Moher, linking Liscannor to Doolin, is presented in a collection of scenic photographs captured by an intrepid walker armed with the Google Trekker, a 42-pound backpack containing 15 lenses — the upshots of which are 360-degree panoramic views of some of Clare’s most famous landscapes.

There is a bird’s eye view of everything from the local flora and fauna to a colony of seabirds.

Other loop walks, farm tracks, and sandy paths around Clare that have been captured by Trekker include the Lough Avalla Loop through a working farm of sheep, goats, and cattle; the Ballycuggeran Loop overlooking Lough Derg; the O’Brien’s Bridge trail of canal towpaths and riverbanks; the Carran Loop; and the Blackhead trail.

It’s the first Irish collection from Google’s Trekker Loan Program, essentially a collaboration between Google and organisations such as tourist boards which are invited to partner in the project using Google technology to capture images in areas where terrain makes access difficult.

Eoin Hogan, rural recreation officer for Clare Local Development Company, said their motivation for getting involved in the programme was to enable them to showcase “our stunning native landscape and inspire a wider audience to come and visit the county’s trail for themselves”.

“Over the period of three weeks and 46km, we collected 21 hours, or 1,260 minutes of footage from six key trails,” he said.

“The project was a joint effort made possible by the help of many local farmers who provided access to their land, Clare County Council, National Parks and Wildlife Service, Fáilte Ireland and Shannon Development.”

The Trekker is one of several pieces of equipment Google officially utilises for Street View imagery. Others include the well-known cars and trikes, trolleys, and snowmobiles.

Go to google.ie/maps/views/streetview to begin exploring the trails of Clare.