Where to visit To fully appreciate the biodiversity of the big rock, we suggest you kick off the visit with a foraging edition in the company of the delightful Oonagh O’Dwyer, a horticulturist who creates food-based events in her house and garden, Wild Kitchen (Callura South, Lahinch). Meet her near the village of Lahinch and stroll down beautiful bramble-lined lanes to the seaside. It’s surprising what’s edible, both on the shore and growing wild along the paths that lead to it – kelp, mulberries, hazelnuts, rosehips, meadowsweet, ribwort and nettles. The region’s biggest success story is the Burren Smokehouse (Kincora Rd) in Lisdoonvarna, supplying cold and hot smoked salmon to important international food retailers such as Fortnum & Mason and Dean & Deluca. Established in 1989 by Peter Curtin and his wife, Swedish-born Birgitta, a tenacious driver of the local slow food movement, there’s a visitor centre where the smoking process is explained and a store selling local artisan foods. An hour’s drive south is where Siobhan Ni Ghairibhith took over a neighbour’s cheese business in 1999, called it St Tola Irish Goat Cheese (Inagh Farmhouse, Gortbofearna, Maurice Mills, Ennistymon) and turned it into a multi-awarded international brand. The goats are raised on 26 hectares of unspoiled pastureland and if you come in the spring, the paddocks are overrun with kids. The handmade, raw milk goat’s cheese is laced with the seasonal avours of buttercups, meadowsweet and wild garlic, and the fresh logs rolled in ash are a highlight. The small shop sells what has just been produced and if you arrive by pushbike, you’ll get a 10 per cent discount.

Where to visit To fully appreciate the biodiversity of the big rock, we suggest you kick off the visit with a foraging edition in the company of the delightful Oonagh O’Dwyer, a horticulturist who creates food-based events in her house and garden, Wild Kitchen (Callura South, Lahinch). Meet her near the village of Lahinch and stroll down beautiful bramble-lined lanes to the seaside. It’s surprising what’s edible, both on the shore and growing wild along the paths that lead to it – kelp, mulberries, hazelnuts, rosehips, meadowsweet, ribwort and nettles. The region’s biggest success story is the Burren Smokehouse (Kincora Rd) in Lisdoonvarna, supplying cold and hot smoked salmon to important international food retailers such as Fortnum & Mason and Dean & Deluca. Established in 1989 by Peter Curtin and his wife, Swedish-born Birgitta, a tenacious driver of the local slow food movement, there’s a visitor centre where the smoking process is explained and a store selling local artisan foods. An hour’s drive south is where Siobhan Ni Ghairibhith took over a neighbour’s cheese business in 1999, called it St Tola Irish Goat Cheese (Inagh Farmhouse, Gortbofearna, Maurice Mills, Ennistymon) and turned it into a multi-awarded international brand. The goats are raised on 26 hectares of unspoiled pastureland and if you come in the spring, the paddocks are overrun with kids. The handmade, raw milk goat’s cheese is laced with the seasonal avours of buttercups, meadowsweet and wild garlic, and the fresh logs rolled in ash are a highlight. The small shop sells what has just been produced and if you arrive by pushbike, you’ll get a 10 per cent discount.

Stephen Hegarty, an experienced Burren guide, and his Finnish-born wife Eva provide pig meat to the best tables in the county at Burren Free Range Pork (Kilfenora). The British Saddlebacks graze on pasture and waste from the local brewery. Stephen and Eva are so convinced that visitors will love their pigs as much as they do, they’ve cleverly renovated a horse caravan into ‘glamping’ accommodation so that guests can (almost) sleep with the animals. Pork and sausages are available at the farm door.

The garrulous Peter Curtin (of the aforementioned Burren Smokehouse) has walked every trail in the Burren. The Burren Brewery at the Roadside Tavern (Lisdoonvarna) has been in his family since 1893, for the most part as a bakery. Upstairs, he brews his own lager, ale and stout. In the pub, Kieran’s Kitchen, overseen by Kieren O’Halloran, produces hearty pub grub. The kitchen’s signature dish is baked hot-smoked salmon from the Burren Smokehouse next door.

Casual Dining Situated on a pretty cove of Galway Bay is Linnane’s Lobster Bar (New Quay), a popular gastropub that occupies a 300-year-old whitewashed cottage overlooking the water. It has an excellent pedigree: owner Vincent Graham is a former world champion oyster shucker. Try the lobster with garlic butter, served with impossible-to-refuse baked bread.

For a charming home-style restaurant, look no further than StoneCutters Kitchen (Clare). Housed in an old stonecutter’s cottage, it recently won the Best Family Friendly Restaurant in Ireland for 2016. It’s an unmissable lunch stop on the route to the Cliffs of Moher. Chef Myles Duffy and wife Karen Courtney offer a kids’ menu, as well as chowders and stews. Meanwhile, Kate Sweeney and husband Aidan McGrath – former chef at The Dorchester and head chef at Marco Pierre White’s L’Escargot – restored a handsome old inn to create the Wild Honey Inn (Kincora Rd). They turned the downstairs pub into a fabulous bistro, serving up fresh, locally sourced produce in dishes, such as the marinated lamb neck llet with buttered greens and black olives. To appease the sweet tooth, Cafe Linnalla is a little cafe set in the most bucolic spot imaginable amid the pastures of Brid and Roger Fahy’s dairy farm. The family makes natural ice cream, using milk from its own grass-fed cows, avoured with foraged plants, such as blackberries, gorse, sloes and elderberry. To nd it, follow the picturesque walking track along the shore of Galway Bay near New Quay.

For a charming home-style restaurant, look no further than StoneCutters Kitchen (Clare). Housed in an old stonecutter’s cottage, it recently won the Best Family Friendly Restaurant in Ireland for 2016. It’s an unmissable lunch stop on the route to the Cliffs of Moher. Chef Myles Duffy and wife Karen Courtney offer a kids’ menu, as well as chowders and stews. Meanwhile, Kate Sweeney and husband Aidan McGrath – former chef at The Dorchester and head chef at Marco Pierre White’s L’Escargot – restored a handsome old inn to create the Wild Honey Inn (Kincora Rd). They turned the downstairs pub into a fabulous bistro, serving up fresh, locally sourced produce in dishes, such as the marinated lamb neck llet with buttered greens and black olives. To appease the sweet tooth, Cafe Linnalla is a little cafe set in the most bucolic spot imaginable amid the pastures of Brid and Roger Fahy’s dairy farm. The family makes natural ice cream, using milk from its own grass-fed cows, avoured with foraged plants, such as blackberries, gorse, sloes and elderberry. To nd it, follow the picturesque walking track along the shore of Galway Bay near New Quay.

For a charming home-style restaurant, look no further than StoneCutters Kitchen (Clare). Housed in an old stonecutter’s cottage, it recently won the Best Family Friendly Restaurant in Ireland for 2016. It’s an unmissable lunch stop on the route to the Cliffs of Moher. Chef Myles Duffy and wife Karen Courtney offer a kids’ menu, as well as chowders and stews. Meanwhile, Kate Sweeney and husband Aidan McGrath – former chef at The Dorchester and head chef at Marco Pierre White’s L’Escargot – restored a handsome old inn to create the Wild Honey Inn (Kincora Rd). They turned the downstairs pub into a fabulous bistro, serving up fresh, locally sourced produce in dishes, such as the marinated lamb neck llet with buttered greens and black olives. To appease the sweet tooth, Cafe Linnalla is a little cafe set in the most bucolic spot imaginable amid the pastures of Brid and Roger Fahy’s dairy farm. The family makes natural ice cream, using milk from its own grass-fed cows, avoured with foraged plants, such as blackberries, gorse, sloes and elderberry. To nd it, follow the picturesque walking track along the shore of Galway Bay near New Quay.

Fine Dining For something a little more upscale, head to Gregan’s Castle Hotel (Corkscrew Hill, Ballyvaughan). This elegant country B&B contains a highly awarded restaurant overseen by chef David Hurley. There’s great value in the A$103-a-head menu based around local and foraged foods, including seaweed, mussels, wild garlic and native hazelnuts harvested from the twisted trees that line the eldstone walled lanes.

Afternoon Tea One of the best places for tea we’ve found anywhere is situated in a stone cottage on the waterfront at Ballyvaughan. An Féar Gorta Tea & Garden Rooms (Coast Rd) is adorned with cosy replaces and a dining room that opens onto a beautiful walled cottage garden. Baker Jane O’Donoghue produces a sensational spread of cakes, such as sponges, Bakewell tarts and huge scones served with homemade

Where to Shop If you like Aran sweaters, you’re set in the Doolin Crafts Gallery, which is the gateway to the Aran Islands. There are a number of shops along the main road that sell good-quality knitwear, handspun blankets and Celtic jewellery. Try Doolin Village Crafts on Fisher Street or the Doolin Craft Gallery in Ballyvoe. In Burren, 70 per cent of Ireland’s wild ower species can be found, so maybe it’s no surprise that The Burren Perfumery, a beautiful perfumery, herb garden and cafe, ourishes deep in the countryside. A family-run business established for more than 40 years, the perfumery produces superb-quality natural and organic cosmetics, made by hand. Classes and events run throughout summer. Where to Stay If you’re feeling too settled to move after your fine-dining experience at the Gregan’s Castle Hotel, why not stay there, too? A beautiful 17th century manor house hotel, adjacent to the castle that once housed the Prince of Burren, it has a pretty rose garden set against dramatic views of the moody rock.

Where to Shop If you like Aran sweaters, you’re set in the Doolin Crafts Gallery, which is the gateway to the Aran Islands. There are a number of shops along the main road that sell good-quality knitwear, handspun blankets and Celtic jewellery. Try Doolin Village Crafts on Fisher Street or the Doolin Craft Gallery in Ballyvoe. In Burren, 70 per cent of Ireland’s wild ower species can be found, so maybe it’s no surprise that The Burren Perfumery, a beautiful perfumery, herb garden and cafe, ourishes deep in the countryside. A family-run business established for more than 40 years, the perfumery produces superb-quality natural and organic cosmetics, made by hand. Classes and events run throughout summer. Where to Stay If you’re feeling too settled to move after your fine-dining experience at the Gregan’s Castle Hotel, why not stay there, too? A beautiful 17th century manor house hotel, adjacent to the castle that once housed the Prince of Burren, it has a pretty rose garden set against dramatic views of the moody rock.

Wild Honey Inn offers not just comfort by way of its dishes, but its lodgings, too. An immaculate conversion of a corner hostelry into a stylish 14-bedroom B&B. The home-cooked breakfast features local meats and produce.