D Irl 10336; Sea stack at Cliffs of Moher, Co. Clare

The Cliffs of Moher are sea cliffs located at the southwestern edge of the Burren region in County Clare.They run for about 14 kilometres (9 miles). At their southern end, they rise 120 metres (390 ft) above the Atlantic Ocean at Hag's Head, and, 8 kilometres (5 miles) to the north, they reach their maximum height of 214 metres (702 ft) just north of O'Brien's Tower, a round stone tower near the midpoint of the cliffs, built in 1835 by Sir Cornelius O'Brien, then continue at lower heights.

From the cliffs, and from atop the tower, visitors can see the Aran Islands in Galway Bay, the Maumturks and Twelve Pins mountain ranges to the north in County Galway, and Loop Head to the south.

Today the cliffs are subject to erosion by wave action, which undermines the base of support causing the cliff to collapse under its own weight. This process creates a variety of coastal landforms characteristic of erosional coasts such as sea caves, sea stacks, and sea stumps. Branaunmore, a 67-metre high sea stack at the foot of the Cliffs of Moher below O'Brien's Tower, was once part of the cliffs, but coastal erosion gradually removed the layers of rock that joined it with the mainland. A large sea arch can also be seen at Hag's Head below the Napoleonic signal tower and many smaller sea arches can be seen from sea level. (Source; Wikipedia)

Normally the wind around the Cliffs of Moher is a south-westerly, so it is dangereous to venture too close in to the base of the rocks. On this bright day, however, an easterly wind was blowing and so the base of the cliffs was quite calm. Getting very close to the foot of the Braunanmore Sea-Stack was a memorable and impressive moment.