A Walk Between Worlds: The Beach and Steven Spielberg

Friday, October 7, 2011

The Beach and Steven Spielberg

Kathryn wanted to go coastal – that is drive northeast from Doolin around the Irish coast to Kinvarra.

Stop #1 – Fanore or Fan Oir, the golden slope, gets its name from the sand dunes along this section of coast.

Irish beach grass on the dunes: couch and marram grasses.

Fanore Beach is exposed to very strong winds and tides that sweep in off of the Atlantic Ocean. The sand has been stripped back in places to reveal the underlying limestone bedrock. The dark gray limestone seen here is known as the Black Head Member. On top of the exposed limestone bedrock are stacks of huge limestone blocks. This is called a storm beach; a place where the force of the waves have dislodged chunks of limestone.

Below the storm beach are sculpted limestone surfaces in the intertidal zone. The cavities and pinnacles here, called biokarst, are the result of biochemical erosion by marine flora and fauna. There is also relict karst pavements as a result of water erosion and weathering.

The mouth of the Caher River emerges from between the dunes and washes out to sea. The Caher is a shallow, limestone, spring-fed river and is the only river in the northern Burren that flows above ground for most of its course.

LOST SOLES:

Along the coastal rode to Ballyvaughan - stop #2 - to the Tea Rooms. The Tea Rooms are famous. According to Steven Spielberg "Ireland changed my life!" He flies into Shannon Airport and has his car bring him here to eat cheesecake at The Tea Rooms. So we did too!

Stop #3 - Kinvara A quaint seaport town. Not much here but a walk around the harbor revealed the original homes to this location.

And of course, a castle: Dunguaire Castle. I can imagine this as the fortress to the harbor in past centuries. We took a secret path around the second story of the castle, to see what soldiers in the day might have seen.