It was my first time at the spectacular spot since a school trip back in 1992, and while the stalactites and stalagmites have not changed much (they grow 1cm every 100 years) the welcome centre, gift shop and overall experience certainly have.
IJUST wish my old Geography teacher Mr Boyd was there to witness me extract an encyclopaediac knowledge of limestone and rock formations, while on a guided tour of the mind-blowing Aillwee Cave and Birds of Prey Centre, in County Clare. It was my first time at the spectacular spot since a school trip back in 1992, and while the stalactites and stalagmites have not changed much (they grow 1cm every 100 years) the welcome centre, gift shop and overall experience certainly have. As Gearóid took us deep under the rocky mountain through the meandering and undulating caves, all of the terminology I had learned in Mr Boyd’s class over three decades ago came flooding back much to my wife and daughters’ shock. For €68, a family of four can walk 1km along the other-worldly terrain, under low-lying rocks and along a manmade trail broken up by the guide stopping at seven strategic spots to tell us more yarns about Farmer McGann, who discovered the cave in the ‘40s while looking fo