The Cliffs of Moher

Inconceivable!
The Princess Bride

On our final full day of our multi-country adventures through Spain and Ireland, we decided to soak up one more day on Ireland’s west coast rather than catching an early flight back to Dublin.

It was an unusual Saturday morning in Ireland—the sun was already beating down on the coastal town, and the temperatures were climbing into the 80s.

We headed into the city to do some exploring and ended up at the Galway Saturday Market, a street market and trading post that sits in the shadow of St. Nicholas’ Church. Matt, who had visited Galway before with our good friend Caitlan, remembered the market as the place where Caitlan had purchased a beautiful claddagh ring made of green Connemara marble. Weeks before our trip, Caitlan had texted me that the ring broke, and she was so bummed about it! We bought her an identical ring from the same vendor!

After making our purchase, we wandered through the stalls, admiring the seafood and flowers for sale, as well as Irish linen, wood carvings, jewelry, and paintings.

As the sun rose higher in the sky, Matt had a sudden idea: what if we took a bus to visit Ireland’s most dazzling landmark–the Cliffs of Moher? The weather was bright, blue, clear, and sunny, and the bus didn’t leave for another hour. I quickly agreed.

Several years ago, Matt had the privilege of visiting the Cliffs of Moher, but he always describes the experiences as disappointing. The clouds and fog had rolled in so thickly that it was difficult to see the ocean below or the cliffs further away. His pictures from that day are so dark and gloomy. I think he was excited to experience the cliffs again on a much nicer day!

The Cliffs of Moher are famous for many reasons, but two cult classics come to mind: the Harry Potter movie in which Harry and Dumbledore visit the huge black sea cliffs in search of a Horcrux; and The Princess Bride, in which Fezzik scales the “mile high” Cliffs of Insanity with Inigo Montoya, Princess Buttercup, and Vizzini on his back.

Like many people on our tour, Matt and I chose to spend our first hour-and-a-half at the cliffs with a boat ride to the base of the cliffs. As our boat departed from the dock, a dolphin chased our wake and several puffins floated by on their backs.

Seeing the cliffs up close was really special. The Cliffs of Moher range from 390ft to 700ft tall, and from our vantage point below, we could just barely make out tiny ant-sized people at the top of the cliffs.

This gave me crazy Harry Potter vibes

For the second half of the tour, our bus driver picked us up from the docks and dropped us off at the top of the cliffs, where we wandered along the edge for another hour and half, starting at the highest point, O’Brien’s Tower, and working our way along the rim, stopping every few paces to marvel at the beauty.

From 700 feet up, we gazed in awe as the cliffs rose dramatically out of the swirling blue ocean below.

Not even a great photo can prepare you for this kind of view—the vistas from the edge were both terrifying and mesmerizing, when you can feel the fierce Atlantic winds ripping through the wild grass at your feet, or hear seabirds crying out against the salty sea breeze, watching them swoop down the cliffs at epic speeds. Standing on (or near) the edge, looking down, is both chaotic and serene. A truly sublime, maddening experience.

If you ever have the chance to visit the Cliffs of Moher, I urge you to stay safe and be smart! We saw so many tourists dangling out over the ledge or walking out onto the unstable edge for the perfect ‘gram. We were a bit too chicken to wander out to the very edge (the Cliffs are notoriously unstable and there are plenty of videos of large sections of the edge falling into the ocean 700 feet below).