Cliffs of Moher

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Image:Cliffs of Moher, looking north.jpg

The Cliffs of Moher (Irish: Aillte an Mhothair, "Cliffs of the ruin") are located in the parish of Liscannor at the south-western edge of The Burren area near Doolin, which is located in County Clare, Republic of Ireland.

The cliffs rise 120 m (400 ft) above the Atlantic Ocean at Hag's Head and extend for a distance of eight kilometers and to a height of 214 m (702 ft).

O'Brien's Tower is a round stone tower at the rough midpoint of the cliffs. It was built by Sir Cornellius O'Brien in 1835 as an observation tower for the hundreds of tourists that frequented the cliffs even at that date. From atop that watchtower, one can view the three Aran Islands and Galway Bay, across which lie the Maumturk Mountains and the Twelve Bens in Connemara.

The cliffs consist mainly of beds of Namurian shale and sandstone.

The cliffs are a significant tourist attraction, and there is a visitor center and parking lot on the site managed by Shannon Heritage, which also operates O'Brien's Tower. A largely unenclosed walking trail runs along the top edge of the entire length of the cliffs, skirting private grazing lands and often running within mere meters of a sheer dropoff into the ocean. As of 2005 the trail is not accessible from the visitor centre due to large-scale construction work. A new much larger visitor centre is under construction in the hillside behind the cliffs. A massive section of the hill has been removed to allow the centre to be built into the hillside.

There are many animals living on the cliffs, most of them birds: 30,000 birds of 29 species. The most interesting are the famous Atlantic Puffins, which live in large colonies at isolated parts of the cliffs and on the small Goat Island. Also present are hawks, gulls, guillemots, shags ravens and choughs.

The Cliffs of Moher were filmed as the "Cliffs of Insanity" in the 1987 movie, The Princess Bride.

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