Beautiful Burren

FOR most of the year The Burren is more moonscape than landscape.

Walking through its gnarly karstic formations, I wouldn’t be surprised to find an astronaut poring over its clints and grykes; the odd abandoned moon buggy or American flag. The porridgy layers of rock, the supreme barrenness, the shades of grey — all exude a weird, lunar quality.

Come May, however, everything changes. The National Park is electrified as the most unlikely splashes of wildflowers burst through its limestone beds.