Misplaced Pages

#18981

147-614: The Burren ( / ˈ b ʌr ə n / BURR -ən ; Irish : Boirinn , meaning 'rocky district') is a karst / glaciokarst landscape centred in County Clare , on the west coast of Ireland . It measures around 530 square kilometres (200 sq mi), within the circle made by the villages of Lisdoonvarna , Corofin , Gort and Kinvara . The area includes such natural features as Mullaghmore hill and Ailladie cliffs, and historic monuments such as Poulnabrone dolmen and Caherconnell Stone Fort . The Burren National Park covers

294-547: A unique dialect of Irish developed before falling out of use in the early 20th century. With a writing system , Ogham , dating back to at least the 4th century AD, which was gradually replaced by Latin script since the 5th century AD, Irish has one of the oldest vernacular literatures in Western Europe . On the island, the language has three major dialects: Connacht , Munster and Ulster Irish . All three have distinctions in their speech and orthography . There

441-400: A (usually small) angle. Sometimes multiple sets of layers with different orientations exist in the same rock, a structure called cross-bedding . Cross-bedding is characteristic of deposition by a flowing medium (wind or water). The opposite of cross-bedding is parallel lamination, where all sedimentary layering is parallel. Differences in laminations are generally caused by cyclic changes in

588-717: A bargaining chip during government formation in Northern Ireland, prompting protests from organisations and groups such as An Dream Dearg . Irish became an official language of the EU on 1 January 2007, meaning that MEPs with Irish fluency can now speak the language in the European Parliament and at committees, although in the case of the latter they have to give prior notice to a simultaneous interpreter in order to ensure that what they say can be interpreted into other languages. While an official language of

735-575: A better future for Ireland and all her citizens." The Strategy was produced on 21 December 2010 and will stay in action until 2030; it aims to target language vitality and revitalization of the Irish language. The 30-page document published by the Government of Ireland details the objectives it plans to work towards in an attempt to preserve and promote both the Irish language and the Gaeltacht. It

882-478: A cultural and social force. Irish speakers often insisted on using the language in law courts (even when they knew English), and Irish was also common in commercial transactions. The language was heavily implicated in the "devotional revolution" which marked the standardisation of Catholic religious practice and was also widely used in a political context. Down to the time of the Great Famine and even afterwards,

1029-553: A degree course in the NUI federal system to pass the subject of Irish in the Leaving Certificate or GCE / GCSE examinations. Exemptions are made from this requirement for students who were born or completed primary education outside of Ireland, and students diagnosed with dyslexia . NUI Galway is required to appoint people who are competent in the Irish language, as long as they are also competent in all other aspects of

1176-424: A diagenetic structure common in carbonate rocks is a stylolite . Stylolites are irregular planes where material was dissolved into the pore fluids in the rock. This can result in the precipitation of a certain chemical species producing colouring and staining of the rock, or the formation of concretions . Concretions are roughly concentric bodies with a different composition from the host rock. Their formation can be

1323-703: A distinct group at that point is uncertain, as they and their neighbours Corcu Baiscind may have been assimilated into or conquered by the Déisi Tuisceart of eastern Clare, who won a major battle against the Corco Modhruadh in 744. By the 9th century, the Corco Modhruadh had been driven into the Burren uplands. The Burren area is notable for the presence of several potential or likely "early" (i.e. pre-12th-century) ecclesiastical or monastic sites. These include Kilfenora, Kilnaboy, Temple Cronan and

1470-521: A few bronze horse bridles discovered near Corofin and at Ballyalla ( Kilshanny ). In the Iron Age and early Medieval times, the region was controlled by a family or tribe known as the Corco Modhruadh , meaning "seed" or "people of Modhruadh". They were one of dozens of minor tribes in Ireland at that time, which occupied a discrete area ( tuath ) and were joined by a common bloodline or origin myths. By

1617-460: A fully recognised EU language for the first time in the state's history. Before Irish became an official language it was afforded the status of treaty language and only the highest-level documents of the EU were made available in Irish. The Irish language was carried abroad in the modern period by a vast diaspora , chiefly to Great Britain and North America, but also to Australia , New Zealand and Argentina . The first large movements began in

SECTION 10

#1732772913019

1764-585: A paper suggested that within a generation, non-Gaeltacht habitual users of Irish might typically be members of an urban, middle class, and highly educated minority. Parliamentary legislation is supposed to be available in both Irish and English but is frequently only available in English. This is notwithstanding that Article 25.4 of the Constitution of Ireland requires that an "official translation" of any law in one official language be provided immediately in

1911-463: A particular sedimentary environment. Examples of bed forms include dunes and ripple marks . Sole markings, such as tool marks and flute casts, are grooves eroded on a surface that are preserved by renewed sedimentation. These are often elongated structures and can be used to establish the direction of the flow during deposition. Ripple marks also form in flowing water. There can be symmetric or asymmetric. Asymmetric ripples form in environments where

2058-575: A pass in Leaving Certificate Irish or English, and receive lessons in Irish during their two years of training. Official documents of the Irish government must be published in both Irish and English or Irish alone (in accordance with the Official Languages Act 2003, enforced by An Coimisinéir Teanga , the Irish language ombudsman). The National University of Ireland requires all students wishing to embark on

2205-465: A red colour does not necessarily mean the rock formed in a continental environment or arid climate. The presence of organic material can colour a rock black or grey. Organic material is formed from dead organisms, mostly plants. Normally, such material eventually decays by oxidation or bacterial activity. Under anoxic circumstances, however, organic material cannot decay and leaves a dark sediment, rich in organic material. This can, for example, occur at

2352-525: A regional hiatus in large construction projects during the 13th and most of the 14th century. For a long-time the Anglo-Norman incursions into Ireland had little direct impact on the region. As late as at the Battle of Dysert O'Dea in 1318 some of the local clans allied to defeat a Norman army led by Richard de Clare . The people and their rulers thus continued to live in fortified houses, often inside

2499-625: A religious context. An Irish translation of the Old Testament by Leinsterman Muircheartach Ó Cíonga , commissioned by Bishop Bedell , was published after 1685 along with a translation of the New Testament. Otherwise, Anglicisation was seen as synonymous with 'civilising' the native Irish. Currently, modern day Irish speakers in the church are pushing for language revival. It has been estimated that there were around 800,000 monoglot Irish speakers in 1800, which dropped to 320,000 by

2646-492: A result of linguistic imperialism . Today, Irish is still commonly spoken as a first language in Ireland's Gaeltacht regions, in which 2% of Ireland's population lived in 2022. The total number of people (aged 3 and over) in Ireland who declared they could speak Irish in April 2022 was 1,873,997, representing 40% of respondents, but of these, 472,887 said they never spoke it and a further 551,993 said they only spoke it within

2793-489: A rock is usually expressed with the Wentworth scale, though alternative scales are sometimes used. The grain size can be expressed as a diameter or a volume, and is always an average value, since a rock is composed of clasts with different sizes. The statistical distribution of grain sizes is different for different rock types and is described in a property called the sorting of the rock. When all clasts are more or less of

2940-465: A sediment after its initial deposition. This includes compaction and lithification of the sediments. Early stages of diagenesis, described as eogenesis , take place at shallow depths (a few tens of meters) and is characterized by bioturbation and mineralogical changes in the sediments, with only slight compaction. The red hematite that gives red bed sandstones their color is likely formed during eogenesis. Some biochemical processes, like

3087-431: A sedimentary rock may have been present in the original sediments or may formed by precipitation during diagenesis. In the second case, a mineral precipitate may have grown over an older generation of cement. A complex diagenetic history can be established by optical mineralogy , using a petrographic microscope . Carbonate rocks predominantly consist of carbonate minerals such as calcite, aragonite or dolomite . Both

SECTION 20

#1732772913019

3234-509: A small part of the Burren and is the smallest of the eight National Parks in Ireland, while the adjacent territory, including the Cliffs of Moher , is included in the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark . While the name is generally applied to the limestone uplands of northwestern Clare, and adjacent lowlands, and generally excludes the area of Clare shales to the southwest, the exact extent of

3381-516: A small-scale property of a rock, but determines many of its large-scale properties, such as the density , porosity or permeability . The 3D orientation of the clasts is called the fabric of the rock. The size and form of clasts can be used to determine the velocity and direction of current in the sedimentary environment that moved the clasts from their origin; fine, calcareous mud only settles in quiet water while gravel and larger clasts are moved only by rapidly moving water. The grain size of

3528-952: A term for a fissile mudrock (regardless of grain size) although some older literature uses the term "shale" as a synonym for mudrock. Biochemical sedimentary rocks are created when organisms use materials dissolved in air or water to build their tissue. Examples include: Chemical sedimentary rock forms when mineral constituents in solution become supersaturated and inorganically precipitate . Common chemical sedimentary rocks include oolitic limestone and rocks composed of evaporite minerals, such as halite (rock salt), sylvite , baryte and gypsum . This fourth miscellaneous category includes volcanic tuff and volcanic breccias formed by deposition and later cementation of lava fragments erupted by volcanoes, and impact breccias formed after impact events . Alternatively, sedimentary rocks can be subdivided into compositional groups based on their mineralogy: Sedimentary rocks are formed when sediment

3675-417: A texture, only the average size of the crystals and the fabric are necessary. Most sedimentary rocks contain either quartz ( siliciclastic rocks) or calcite ( carbonate rocks ). In contrast to igneous and metamorphic rocks, a sedimentary rock usually contains very few different major minerals. However, the origin of the minerals in a sedimentary rock is often more complex than in an igneous rock. Minerals in

3822-460: A thickness of up to 330 metres (1,080 ft) in north Clare. These top layers protected the underlying limestone from erosion for millions of years before being largely stripped away by glaciers, except in the south west, where they still extend from Doolin to Slieve Elva, Lisdoonvarna, Kilfenora and to the western shore of Lake Inchiquin. One "island" of shale is the hill Poulacapple, southwest of Ballyvaughan, where an upland moor has formed on top of

3969-425: A valuable indicator of the biological and ecological environment that existed after the sediment was deposited. On the other hand, the burrowing activity of organisms can destroy other (primary) structures in the sediment, making a reconstruction more difficult. Secondary structures can also form by diagenesis or the formation of a soil ( pedogenesis ) when a sediment is exposed above the water level. An example of

4116-545: A wider meaning, including the Gaelic of Scotland and the Isle of Man , as well as of Ireland. When required by the context, these are distinguished as Gaeilge na hAlban , Gaeilge Mhanann and Gaeilge na hÉireann respectively. In English (including Hiberno-English ), the language is usually referred to as Irish , as well as Gaelic and Irish Gaelic . The term Irish Gaelic may be seen when English speakers discuss

4263-503: Is deposited out of air, ice, wind, gravity, or water flows carrying the particles in suspension . This sediment is often formed when weathering and erosion break down a rock into loose material in a source area. The material is then transported from the source area to the deposition area. The type of sediment transported depends on the geology of the hinterland (the source area of the sediment). However, some sedimentary rocks, such as evaporites , are composed of material that form at

4410-603: Is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family . It is a member of the Goidelic language group of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous to the island of Ireland . It was the majority of the population's first language until the 19th century, when English gradually became dominant, particularly in the last decades of the century, in what is sometimes characterised as

4557-421: Is a structure where beds with a smaller grain size occur on top of beds with larger grains. This structure forms when fast flowing water stops flowing. Larger, heavier clasts in suspension settle first, then smaller clasts. Although graded bedding can form in many different environments, it is a characteristic of turbidity currents . The surface of a particular bed, called the bedform , can also be indicative of

The Burren - Misplaced Pages Continue

4704-452: Is also An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , a standardised written form devised by a parliamentary commission in the 1950s. The traditional Irish alphabet , a variant of the Latin alphabet with 18 letters , has been succeeded by the standard Latin alphabet (albeit with 7–8 letters used primarily in loanwords ). Irish has constitutional status as the national and first official language of

4851-409: Is called bedding . Single beds can be a couple of centimetres to several meters thick. Finer, less pronounced layers are called laminae, and the structure a lamina forms in a rock is called lamination . Laminae are usually less than a few centimetres thick. Though bedding and lamination are often originally horizontal in nature, this is not always the case. In some environments, beds are deposited at

4998-511: Is divided into four separate phases with the intention of improving 9 main areas of action including: The general goal for this strategy was to increase the number of daily speakers from 83,000 to 250,000 by the end of its run. By 2022, the number of such speakers had fallen to 71,968. Before the partition of Ireland in 1921, Irish was recognised as a school subject and as "Celtic" in some third level institutions. Between 1921 and 1972, Northern Ireland had devolved government. During those years

5145-429: Is higher when the sedimentation rate is high (so that a carcass is quickly buried), in anoxic environments (where little bacterial activity occurs) or when the organism had a particularly hard skeleton. Larger, well-preserved fossils are relatively rare. Fossils can be both the direct remains or imprints of organisms and their skeletons. Most commonly preserved are the harder parts of organisms such as bones, shells, and

5292-440: Is managed through extensive low input farming and active thinning of high density stands. Of the more than 30 species of butterflies and moths found in Ireland only two are not present in the Burren. Notable insects present in the Burren include the butterflies the pearl-bordered fritillary ( Boloria euphrosyne ), brown hairstreak ( Thecla betulae ), marsh fritillary ( Euphydryas aurinia ) and wood white ( Leptidea sinapis );

5439-491: Is mirrored by the broad categories of rudites , arenites , and lutites , respectively, in older literature. The subdivision of these three broad categories is based on differences in clast shape (conglomerates and breccias), composition (sandstones), or grain size or texture (mudrocks). Conglomerates are dominantly composed of rounded gravel, while breccias are composed of dominantly angular gravel. Sandstone classification schemes vary widely, but most geologists have adopted

5586-705: Is one of the main breeding areas in Ireland of the European pine marten . Also present are badgers, foxes and stoats. The hillsides of the Burren also host herds of feral goats. All seven species of bats present in Ireland can be found in The Burren. Otters live along the coast, as do grey seals . A wide range of bird species are also found in the Burren, including crows and ravens , peregrine falcons , kestrels and various gulls. Archaeological evidence from cave finds of butchered bones have been radiocarbon dated to 33,000 years ago, showing evidence of hunters during

5733-587: Is only in Gaeltacht areas that Irish continues to be spoken as a community vernacular to some extent. According to data compiled by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht , Sport and Media , only 1/4 of households in Gaeltacht areas are fluent in Irish. The author of a detailed analysis of the survey, Donncha Ó hÉallaithe of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology , described

5880-401: Is reduced. Sediments are typically saturated with groundwater or seawater when originally deposited, and as pore space is reduced, much of these connate fluids are expelled. In addition to this physical compaction, chemical compaction may take place via pressure solution . Points of contact between grains are under the greatest strain, and the strained mineral is more soluble than the rest of

6027-412: Is still spoken daily to some extent as a first language . These regions are known individually and collectively as the Gaeltacht (plural Gaeltachtaí ). While the fluent Irish speakers of these areas, whose numbers have been estimated at 20–30,000, are a minority of the total number of fluent Irish speakers, they represent a higher concentration of Irish speakers than other parts of the country and it

The Burren - Misplaced Pages Continue

6174-512: Is the Carran depression, more than two miles long, up to a mile wide and over 200 feet deep. This is where the pre-glacial rivers of the area first eroded away the upper layers and started to dissolve the exposed limestone. Some of the smaller ones were created when caves underneath collapsed (one example of this is the Glen of Clab). Glaciers also deposited numerous granite and limestone erratics on

6321-493: Is the most stable, followed by feldspar , micas , and finally other less stable minerals that are only present when little weathering has occurred. The amount of weathering depends mainly on the distance to the source area, the local climate and the time it took for the sediment to be transported to the point where it is deposited. In most sedimentary rocks, mica, feldspar and less stable minerals have been weathered to clay minerals like kaolinite , illite or smectite . Among

6468-478: Is the sunniest time, and also a good time to view flowers, with the gentians and avens peaking (but orchid species blooming later). During counter-guerrilla operations in The Burren in 1651–52, Edmund Ludlow stated, " (Burren) is a country where there is not enough water to drown a man, wood enough to hang one, nor earth enough to bury him...... and yet their cattle are very fat; for the grass growing in turfs of earth, of two or three foot square, that lie between

6615-602: Is uncertain, but after the decline of the Eóganacht Árann the local Corco Modhruadh likely fell under the control of the Uí Fiachrach Aidhne , a tribe from what is now southern Galway, who prospered in the 7th century. The local tribes were then probably subjects of the Eóganacht Locha Léin until their influence declined in the early 9th century. Whether the Corco Modhruadh still existed as

6762-666: The Fíor-Ghaeltacht (true Gaeltacht ), a term originally officially applied to areas where over 50% of the population spoke Irish. There are Gaeltacht regions in the following counties: Gweedore ( Gaoth Dobhair ), County Donegal, is the largest Gaeltacht parish in Ireland. Irish language summer colleges in the Gaeltacht are attended by tens of thousands of teenagers annually. Students live with Gaeltacht families, attend classes, participate in sports, go to céilithe and are obliged to speak Irish. All aspects of Irish culture and tradition are encouraged. The Act

6909-451: The Dál gCais expanded into the region, against the resistance of the incumbent Uí Lochlainn and O'Conor families. The later regionally dominant O'Brien dynasty traced its origins to them. Evidence of Viking activity in the region is scant. They settled at Limerick, but in the Burren only a few artifacts of Scandinavian design have been found, centred mostly on Cahercommaun, which apparently

7056-421: The Corco Modhruadh /Corcomroe territory was made into the newly created Diocese of Kilfenora , of 13 parishes, and the church at Kilfenora became a cathedral. At some point around the 12th century, the territory of "Corcomroe" was divided in two for administrative purposes: Corco Modhruadh Iartharach ("Western Corcomroe") and Corco Modhruadh Oirthearach ("Eastern Corcomroe"), also known as Boireann which in

7203-472: The Neolithic , c. 4000 BC, settlers had clearly arrived and began changing the landscape through deforestation, likely by overgrazing and burning, and the building of stone walls. These people also constructed Megalithic sites like the portal tomb known as Poulnabrone dolmen and the court tombs at Teergonean (near Doolin) and Ballyganner (near Noughaval ). Overall, there are around 70 megalithic tombs in

7350-480: The Poulawack Cairn , also date from this period. The economy at that time was likely based on pastoral farming in fairly small groups. As is still done today, the cattle were moved in a reverse of the usual seasonal pattern: cattle are moved to the uplands in the winter, allowing year round grazing. Evidence of Beaker pottery was found on Roughan Hill, but in general few signs of the actual settlements of

7497-631: The Republic of Ireland , and is also an official language of Northern Ireland and among the official languages of the European Union . The public body Foras na Gaeilge is responsible for the promotion of the language throughout the island. Irish has no regulatory body but An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , the standard written form, is guided by a parliamentary service and new vocabulary by a voluntary committee with university input. In An Caighdeán Oifigiúil ("The Official [Written] Standard ")

SECTION 50

#1732772913019

7644-463: The history of life . The scientific discipline that studies the properties and origin of sedimentary rocks is called sedimentology . Sedimentology is part of both geology and physical geography and overlaps partly with other disciplines in the Earth sciences , such as pedology , geomorphology , geochemistry and structural geology . Sedimentary rocks can be subdivided into four groups based on

7791-682: The organic material of a dead organism undergoes chemical reactions in which volatiles such as water and carbon dioxide are expulsed. The fossil, in the end, consists of a thin layer of pure carbon or its mineralized form, graphite . This form of fossilisation is called carbonisation . It is particularly important for plant fossils. The same process is responsible for the formation of fossil fuels like lignite or coal. Structures in sedimentary rocks can be divided into primary structures (formed during deposition) and secondary structures (formed after deposition). Unlike textures, structures are always large-scale features that can easily be studied in

7938-634: The 17th century, largely as a result of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland , which saw many Irish sent to the West Indies . Irish emigration to the United States was well established by the 18th century, and was reinforced in the 1840s by thousands fleeing from the Famine . This flight also affected Britain. Up until that time most emigrants spoke Irish as their first language, though English

8085-789: The 1998 Good Friday Agreement , the language gradually received a degree of formal recognition in Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom, and then, in 2003, by the British government's ratification in respect of the language of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . In the 2006 St Andrews Agreement the British government promised to enact legislation to promote the language and in 2022 it approved legislation to recognise Irish as an official language alongside English. The bill received royal assent on 6 December 2022. The Irish language has often been used as

8232-403: The 6th century, used the Latin alphabet and is attested primarily in marginalia to Latin manuscripts. During this time, the Irish language absorbed some Latin words, some via Old Welsh , including ecclesiastical terms : examples are easpag (bishop) from episcopus , and Domhnach (Sunday, from dominica ). By the 10th century, Old Irish had evolved into Middle Irish , which

8379-571: The Act all detailing different aspects of the use of Irish in official documentation and communication. Included in these sections are subjects such as Irish language use in official courts, official publications, and placenames. The Act was recently amended in December 2019 in order to strengthen the already preexisting legislation. All changes made took into account data collected from online surveys and written submissions. The Official Languages Scheme

8526-620: The Burren area, more than half of all of these structures found in Clare. The most numerous type of prehistoric structure (apart from stone walls) in The Burren is the late-Neolithic/early- Bronze Age wedge tomb , mostly dated to the period 2500 to 2000 BC. It accounts for around 90% of the region's megalithic tombs. Many examples of these are found on Roughan Hill near Kilnaboy , including those at Parknabinnia and Creevagh . Others are located at Gleninsheen and Berneens (Rathborney) and Poulaphuca (Carran). Large stone cairns on many hills, such as

8673-471: The Burren, including unique forms such as Dactylorhiza fuchsii subsp. okellyi . The grikes (crevices in the limestone) provide moist shelter, supporting a wide range of plants including dwarf shrubs. Where the surface of the limestone pavement is shattered into gravel many of the hardier Arctic or alpine plants can be found, while when the limestone pavement is covered by a thin layer of soil patches of grass are seen, interspersed with herbaceous plants. Among

8820-688: The Burren. In another definition, the agriculture focused "Burren Programme" defines the region as extending well into the Gort plain, encompassing inter alia Coole Park and the turloughs around it, while to the south it would extend to Ruan and Crusheen , and in the southwest to the edge of Doolin , as well as the routine Lisdoonvarna, Kilfenora and Corofin. Thus the stated size of the Burren varies between around 250 square kilometres (97 sq mi) (the core area of exposed limestone), through 360 square kilometres (140 sq mi) (taking in all limestone landscapes) and 560 square kilometers (including

8967-501: The Dott scheme, which uses the relative abundance of quartz, feldspar, and lithic framework grains and the abundance of a muddy matrix between the larger grains. Six sandstone names are possible using the descriptors for grain composition (quartz-, feldspathic-, and lithic-) and the amount of matrix (wacke or arenite). For example, a quartz arenite would be composed of mostly (>90%) quartz grains and have little or no clayey matrix between

SECTION 60

#1732772913019

9114-471: The European Union , only co-decision regulations were available until 2022, due to a five-year derogation, requested by the Irish Government when negotiating the language's new official status. The Irish government had committed itself to train the necessary number of translators and interpreters and to bear the related costs. This derogation ultimately came to an end on 1 January 2022, making Irish

9261-667: The Ice Age. Pollen analysis indicates that in the Mesolithic period of 8000 to 7000 BC The Burren looked completely different from today, with most of the uplands covered in a mixture of deciduous, pine and yew trees. No clear evidence of Mesolithic settlements or camp sites in the area has yet been discovered. At the limits of the region, near Lake Inchiquin and at the so-called "Doolin Axe Factory", stone artifacts have been discovered that may be Mesolithic in origin. However, by

9408-549: The Irish language policy followed by Irish governments as a "complete and absolute disaster". The Irish Times , referring to his analysis published in the Irish language newspaper Foinse , quoted him as follows: "It is an absolute indictment of successive Irish Governments that at the foundation of the Irish State there were 250,000 fluent Irish speakers living in Irish-speaking or semi Irish-speaking areas, but

9555-483: The Mediterranean Adiantum capillus-veneris . The area is notable for the unusually close vicinity of both plants that hate lime and those that do well on it. Acid-loving plants such as Calluna grow well on patches of acidic peat that effectively isolates them from the underlying basic limestone. Woody plant encroachment by Blackthorn and Hazel is a common phenomenon in the Burren. It

9702-566: The Neolithic people have been found. This may be due to the fact that their structures were lightly built (from wood or other non-permanent materials). During the Bronze Age, locals also built many Fulachtai fiadh , remains of more than 300 survive in the region. Their exact function is still debated, but they probably served as places where water was heated by fire, either for cooking, brewing or bathing purposes. However, in contrast to

9849-620: The Republic of Ireland ), new appointees to the Civil Service of the Republic of Ireland , including postal workers , tax collectors , agricultural inspectors, Garda Síochána (police), etc., were required to have some proficiency in Irish. By law, a Garda who was addressed in Irish had to respond in Irish as well. In 1974, in part through the actions of protest organisations like the Language Freedom Movement ,

9996-525: The about 200 square kilometres (77 sq mi) of downland), depending on the approach taken. Roughly 60% of the uplands show exposed limestone pavement. The Burren has a temperate oceanic climate. Average air temperatures range from 15 °C (59 °F) in July to 4–6 °C (39–43 °F) in January, while the soil temperature does not usually drop below 6 °C (as an exception, in late 2010, there

10143-470: The activity of bacteria , can affect minerals in a rock and are therefore seen as part of diagenesis. Deeper burial is accompanied by mesogenesis , during which most of the compaction and lithification takes place. Compaction takes place as the sediments come under increasing overburden (lithostatic) pressure from overlying sediments. Sediment grains move into more compact arrangements, grains of ductile minerals (such as mica ) are deformed, and pore space

10290-522: The area is not clearly defined, and geologically it does extend into County Galway to both the north and northeast (see Geology below). The southeastern pocket of County Galway around Kinvara is usually included, and is the base for many Burren organisations. The Burren is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and by Galway Bay , with the Aran Islands representing a geological extension of

10437-746: The beginning of the following academic year. For a number of years there has been vigorous debate in political, academic and other circles about the failure of most students in English-medium schools to achieve competence in Irish, even after fourteen years of teaching as one of the three main subjects. The concomitant decline in the number of traditional native speakers has also been a cause of great concern. In 2007, filmmaker Manchán Magan found few Irish speakers in Dublin , and faced incredulity when trying to get by speaking only Irish in Dublin. He

10584-399: The bottom of deep seas and lakes. There is little water mixing in such environments; as a result, oxygen from surface water is not brought down, and the deposited sediment is normally a fine dark clay. Dark rocks, rich in organic material, are therefore often shales. The size , form and orientation of clasts (the original pieces of rock) in a sediment is called its texture . The texture is

10731-513: The cashels, mostly retaining their Gaelic culture . One example of this are the Brehon law schools of the O'Davorans at Cahermacnaghten or the MacClancys at Doolin. Only in the 15th and 16th centuries did the tower houses as exemplified today by places like Newtown Castle , Shanmuckinish Castle , Doonagore Castle or Ballinalacken Castle become widespread. Norman-type castles, such as

10878-504: The cement and the clasts (including fossils and ooids ) of a carbonate sedimentary rock usually consist of carbonate minerals. The mineralogy of a clastic rock is determined by the material supplied by the source area, the manner of its transport to the place of deposition and the stability of that particular mineral. The resistance of rock-forming minerals to weathering is expressed by the Goldich dissolution series . In this series, quartz

11025-421: The cement to produce secondary porosity . At sufficiently high temperature and pressure, the realm of diagenesis makes way for metamorphism , the process that forms metamorphic rock . The color of a sedimentary rock is often mostly determined by iron , an element with two major oxides: iron(II) oxide and iron(III) oxide . Iron(II) oxide (FeO) only forms under low oxygen ( anoxic ) circumstances and gives

11172-479: The characteristic drumlins (most of them on top of the shale and sandstone to the south). The Caher Valley was almost choked up by deposited sand and rocks and these also piled up against the western slopes of Slieve Elva. It was this protective layer of sediment that has made surface streams locally possible once more. Today, the uplands' highest point is on the hill Slieve Elva, whose shale cover rises up to 345 metres (1,132 ft) above sea level. In addition to

11319-464: The churches of Oughtmama. A broader definition of The Burren would also include Dysert O'Dea Monastery near Corofin and Kilmacduagh. The large number of extant cashels, almost 500 of which have been identified in The Burren (out of around 45,000 in Ireland), also indicates the presence of a sizeable (early) medieval population that supported and used these churches. At the end of the first millennium,

11466-639: The continents of the Earth's crust is extensive (73% of the Earth's current land surface), but sedimentary rock is estimated to be only 8% of the volume of the crust. Sedimentary rocks are only a thin veneer over a crust consisting mainly of igneous and metamorphic rocks . Sedimentary rocks are deposited in layers as strata , forming a structure called bedding . Sedimentary rocks are often deposited in large structures called sedimentary basins . Sedimentary rocks have also been found on Mars . The study of sedimentary rocks and rock strata provides information about

11613-572: The current is in one direction, such as rivers. The longer flank of such ripples is on the upstream side of the current. Symmetric wave ripples occur in environments where currents reverse directions, such as tidal flats. Mudcracks are a bed form caused by the dehydration of sediment that occasionally comes above the water surface. Such structures are commonly found at tidal flats or point bars along rivers. Secondary sedimentary structures are those which formed after deposition. Such structures form by chemical, physical and biological processes within

11760-663: The dominant particle size. Most geologists use the Udden-Wentworth grain size scale and divide unconsolidated sediment into three fractions: gravel (>2 mm diameter), sand (1/16 to 2 mm diameter), and mud (<1/16 mm diameter). Mud is further divided into silt (1/16 to 1/256 mm diameter) and clay (<1/256 mm diameter). The classification of clastic sedimentary rocks parallels this scheme; conglomerates and breccias are made mostly of gravel, sandstones are made mostly of sand , and mudrocks are made mostly of mud. This tripartite subdivision

11907-718: The education system. Linguistic analyses of Irish speakers are therefore based primarily on the number of daily users in Ireland outside the education system, which in 2022 was 20,261 in the Gaeltacht and 51,707 outside it, totalling 71,968. In response to the 2021 census of Northern Ireland , 43,557 individuals stated they spoke Irish on a daily basis, 26,286 spoke it on a weekly basis, 47,153 spoke it less often than weekly, and 9,758 said they could speak Irish, but never spoke it. From 2006 to 2008, over 22,000 Irish Americans reported speaking Irish as their first language at home, with several times that number claiming "some knowledge" of

12054-605: The end of the Bronze Age, the uplands were largely depopulated. Nevertheless, like the Mooghaun North Hoard found near Newmarket-on-Fergus, the discovery of a golden Bronze Age gorget in Gleninsheen townland indicates the (at least temporary) local presence of a late Bronze Age society that was rich, mobile and well-connected via trade networks with other regions. Like in many places of Ireland, datable Iron Age sites are rare in The Burren. This may be due to

12201-474: The end of the famine, and under 17,000 by 1911. Irish is recognised by the Constitution of Ireland as the national and first official language of Republic of Ireland (English being the other official language). Despite this, almost all government business and legislative debate is conducted in English. In 1938, the founder of Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League), Douglas Hyde , was inaugurated as

12348-554: The family tomb near the altar of Corcomroe Abbey. Their kinsmen, the O'Conor (Ó Conchubhair), clan ruled Corco Modhruadh Iartharach from Dough Castle near Liscannor . The villages and towns found within the medieval territory of Boireann include Lisdoonvarna, Ballyvaughan, New Quay (Newquay) / Burrin (Burren), Noughaval , Bealaclugga (Bellharbour), Carron and Fanore / Craggagh. Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish : Gaeilge ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( / ˈ ɡ eɪ l ɪ k / GAY -lik ),

12495-489: The field. Sedimentary structures can indicate something about the sedimentary environment or can serve to tell which side originally faced up where tectonics have tilted or overturned sedimentary layers. Sedimentary rocks are laid down in layers called beds or strata . A bed is defined as a layer of rock that has a uniform lithology and texture. Beds form by the deposition of layers of sediment on top of each other. The sequence of beds that characterizes sedimentary rocks

12642-560: The first President of Ireland . The record of his delivering his inaugural Declaration of Office in Roscommon Irish is one of only a few recordings of that dialect. In the 2016 census, 10.5% of respondents stated that they spoke Irish, either daily or weekly, while over 70,000 people (4.2%) speak it as a habitual daily means of communication. From the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 (see History of

12789-404: The flow calms and the particles settle out of suspension . Most authors presently use the term "mudrock" to refer to all rocks composed dominantly of mud. Mudrocks can be divided into siltstones, composed dominantly of silt-sized particles; mudstones with subequal mixture of silt- and clay-sized particles; and claystones, composed mostly of clay-sized particles. Most authors use " shale " as

12936-1018: The flowers recorded from the Burren is the spring gentian , an alpine plant with bright blue flowers that are used as a symbol for the area by the national tourist board, Failte Ireland . The Irish orchid ( Neotinea maculata and 21 other species of orchids ) and bloody cranesbill ( Geranium sanguineum ) also occur. Other notable flowers are Anacamptis pyramidalis , Platanthera chlorantha , Ophrys insectifera Euphrasia salisburgensis , Lathyrus linifolius , Carlina vulgaris , Centaurium erythraea , Succisa pratensis , Primula veris , Filipendula vulgaris , Parnassia palustris , Campanula rotundifolia , Helianthemum oelandicum , Polygala vulgaris , Saxifraga hypnoides , Potentilla fruticosa , Antennaria dioeca , Primula vulgaris , Hypericum androsaemum , Asperula cynanchica , Rhinanthus minor , Blackstonia perfoliata and Dryas octopetala . Another prominent presence in limestone grikes are around 24 species of fern, such as

13083-440: The formation of subterranean drainage. This has formed numerous cave systems of which more than 50 kilometres have been mapped. The most accessible of these is Aillwee Cave . Due to the processes mentioned, there are very few permanent surface rivers in the region. The Caher, flowing into the sea at Fanore , is one of the most stable. Some of the large valleys, mostly running south to north, that are still visible today are in fact

13230-485: The grain. As a result, the contact points are dissolved away, allowing the grains to come into closer contact. The increased pressure and temperature stimulate further chemical reactions, such as the reactions by which organic material becomes lignite or coal. Lithification follows closely on compaction, as increased temperatures at depth hasten the precipitation of cement that binds the grains together. Pressure solution contributes to this process of cementation , as

13377-510: The grains, a lithic wacke would have abundant lithic grains and abundant muddy matrix, etc. Although the Dott classification scheme is widely used by sedimentologists, common names like greywacke , arkose , and quartz sandstone are still widely used by non-specialists and in popular literature. Mudrocks are sedimentary rocks composed of at least 50% silt- and clay-sized particles. These relatively fine-grained particles are commonly transported by turbulent flow in water or air, and deposited as

13524-587: The host rock. For example, a shell consisting of calcite can dissolve while a cement of silica then fills the cavity. In the same way, precipitating minerals can fill cavities formerly occupied by blood vessels , vascular tissue or other soft tissues. This preserves the form of the organism but changes the chemical composition, a process called permineralization . The most common minerals involved in permineralization are various forms of amorphous silica ( chalcedony , flint , chert ), carbonates (especially calcite), and pyrite . At high pressure and temperature,

13671-524: The impermeable shale layers. The local geological succession comprises the following formations some of which are subdivided into various members . The youngest rocks are at the start of the list, the oldest at the bottom. The first three listed are of Namurian age and are a mix of mudstones, sandstones and siltstones, the remainder are Visean age limestones. Glaciation during the late Quaternary period (beginning c. one million years ago) facilitated greater denudation. Glaciers expanded and retreated over

13818-716: The language family, is derived from the Old Irish term. Endonyms of the language in the various modern Irish dialects include: Gaeilge [ˈɡeːlʲɟə] in Galway, Gaeilg / Gaeilic / Gaeilig [ˈɡeːlʲəc] in Mayo and Ulster , Gaelainn / Gaoluinn [ˈɡeːl̪ˠən̠ʲ] in West/Cork, Kerry Munster , as well as Gaedhealaing in mid and East Kerry/Cork and Waterford Munster to reflect local pronunciation. Gaeilge also has

13965-410: The language was in use by all classes, Irish being an urban as well as a rural language. This linguistic dynamism was reflected in the efforts of certain public intellectuals to counter the decline of the language. At the end of the 19th century, they launched the Gaelic revival in an attempt to encourage the learning and use of Irish, although few adult learners mastered the language. The vehicle of

14112-476: The language. For most of recorded Irish history , Irish was the dominant language of the Irish people , who took it with them to other regions , such as Scotland and the Isle of Man , where Middle Irish gave rise to Scottish Gaelic and Manx . It was also, for a period, spoken widely across Canada , with an estimated 200,000–250,000 daily Canadian speakers of Irish in 1890. On the island of Newfoundland ,

14259-451: The last glacial period. So any surface karstification now seen dates from approximately 10,000 years ago and the Burren karst is thus very recent in geological terms. Solutional processes have widened and deepened the grikes of the limestone pavement . Pre-existing lines of weakness in the rock (vertical joints) contribute to the formation of extensive fissures separated by clints (flat pavement like slabs). The rock karstification facilitates

14406-640: The late 16th century became the English administrative Baronies of Corcomroe and Burren , respectively. The end of the Medieval period was a difficult era for people in the area. Like much of Europe, the region suffered from the Great Famine (1315-7) and the Black Death . In addition, infighting between the Gaelic lords contributed to a socio-economic decline of the region. This was also reflected in

14553-434: The limestone hills that make up most of The Burren. According to one definition, the Burren extends south to a line from the coastal resort of Lahinch to Corofin and is delimited in the east by a line roughly from Kinvara to Kilmacduagh monastery , near Gort . Note that taken literally, this would includes places like the town of Ennistymon and the Cliffs of Moher , which would more commonly be considered as neighbouring

14700-590: The limestone pavement, major landscape types, providing the habitats for the flora and fauna, include limestone heath, dry calcareous grasslands, calcareous (calcifying or petrifying) springs, the intermittent water bodies called turloughs , bogs, Cladium fens, lakes, wet grasslands, scrub and light woodland, and neutral, and farm-improved, grasslands. The Burren is renowned for its remarkable assemblage of plants and animals, and over 70% of Ireland's species of flowers are found there. The region supports Arctic–alpine and Mediterranean Basin plants side-by-side, due to

14847-435: The lithologies dehydrates. Clay can be easily compressed as a result of dehydration, while sand retains the same volume and becomes relatively less dense. On the other hand, when the pore fluid pressure in a sand layer surpasses a critical point, the sand can break through overlying clay layers and flow through, forming discordant bodies of sedimentary rock called sedimentary dykes . The same process can form mud volcanoes on

14994-582: The mid-18th century, English was becoming a language of the Catholic middle class, the Catholic Church and public intellectuals, especially in the east of the country. Increasingly, as the value of English became apparent, parents sanctioned the prohibition of Irish in schools. Increasing interest in emigrating to the United States and Canada was also a driver, as fluency in English allowed

15141-450: The mineral dissolved from strained contact points is redeposited in the unstrained pore spaces. This further reduces porosity and makes the rock more compact and competent . Unroofing of buried sedimentary rock is accompanied by telogenesis , the third and final stage of diagenesis. As erosion reduces the depth of burial, renewed exposure to meteoric water produces additional changes to the sedimentary rock, such as leaching of some of

15288-410: The moths, the Burren green ( Calamia tridens , which is only present in Ireland in this area), Irish annulet ( Gnophos dumetata ) and transparent burnet ( Zygaena purpuralis ); the hoverfly Doros profuges and the water-beetle Ochthebius nilssoni . This last species is known from just five sites in the world, its type locality in northern Sweden and four marl lakes in The Burren. The Burren

15435-804: The name of the language is Gaeilge , from the South Connacht form, spelled Gaedhilge prior the spelling reform of 1948, which was originally the genitive of Gaedhealg , the form used in Classical Gaelic . The modern spelling results from the deletion of the silent ⟨dh⟩ in Gaedhilge . Older spellings include Gaoidhealg [ˈɡeːʝəlˠəɡ] in Classical Gaelic and Goídelc [ˈɡoiðʲelɡ] in Old Irish . Goidelic , used to refer to

15582-409: The new immigrants to get jobs in areas other than farming. An estimated one quarter to one third of US immigrants during the Great Famine were Irish speakers. Irish was not marginal to Ireland's modernisation in the 19th century, as is often assumed. In the first half of the century there were still around three million people for whom Irish was the primary language, and their numbers alone made them

15729-655: The number now is between 20,000 and 30,000." In the 1920s, when the Irish Free State was founded, Irish was still a vernacular in some western coastal areas. In the 1930s, areas where more than 25% of the population spoke Irish were classified as Gaeltacht . Today, the strongest Gaeltacht areas, numerically and socially, are those of South Connemara , the west of the Dingle Peninsula , and northwest Donegal, where many residents still use Irish as their primary language. These areas are often referred to as

15876-468: The one built at Quin , were absent in the Burren. T.J. Westropp counted the remains of around 70 tower houses in the Baronies of Inchiquin, Corcomroe and Burren, with 21 of them located in the latter. Only around half of those 21 survive to any height in the 21st century. The distribution of the tower houses indicates that they were built close to the barony borders, which also represented the boundaries of

16023-503: The other official language, if not already passed in both official languages. In November 2016, RTÉ reported that over 2.3 million people worldwide were learning Irish through the Duolingo app. Irish president Michael D. Higgins officially honoured several volunteer translators for developing the Irish edition, and said the push for Irish language rights remains an "unfinished project". There are rural areas of Ireland where Irish

16170-512: The pavements. The former were carried south across Galway Bay by the second-to-last glaciation. Granite boulders can be found mostly in the north of the Burren. The final ice cover came from the northeast and mostly deposited limestone erratics. On Slieve Elva these are visible today at elevations of up to 300 metres (980 ft) mabove sea level. The characteristic terracing of the hills occurred when vertical joints weathered and large blocks of limestone fell off and were further eroded away. Towards

16317-438: The place of deposition. The nature of a sedimentary rock, therefore, not only depends on the sediment supply, but also on the sedimentary depositional environment in which it formed. As sediments accumulate in a depositional environment, older sediments are buried by younger sediments, and they undergo diagenesis. Diagenesis includes all the chemical, physical, and biological changes, exclusive of surface weathering, undergone by

16464-557: The political party holding power in the Stormont Parliament , the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), was hostile to the language. The context of this hostility was the use of the language by nationalists. In broadcasting, there was an exclusion on the reporting of minority cultural issues, and Irish was excluded from radio and television for almost the first fifty years of the previous devolved government. After

16611-472: The pre-Carboniferous rocks is seen at the surface in the area. The limestones, which date from the Visean stage of the early Carboniferous, formed as sediments in a tropical sea approximately 325 million years ago. The strata contain fossil corals , crinoids , sea urchins and ammonites . This bed of limestone is up to 800 metres thick. In the north and west it lies on a shelf of Galway granite which supported

16758-627: The processes responsible for their formation: clastic sedimentary rocks, biochemical (biogenic) sedimentary rocks, chemical sedimentary rocks, and a fourth category for "other" sedimentary rocks formed by impacts, volcanism , and other minor processes. Clastic sedimentary rocks are composed of rock fragments ( clasts ) that have been cemented together. The clasts are commonly individual grains of quartz , feldspar , clay minerals , or mica . However, any type of mineral may be present. Clasts may also be lithic fragments composed of more than one mineral. Clastic sedimentary rocks are subdivided according to

16905-460: The quantity of archaeological evidence found, the population of The Burren likely declined noticeably between the late Neolithic and the end of the Bronze Age. This was likely largely due to a shift in the climate, possibly related to the volcanic eruption known as " Hekla 4 ". Around the end of the 3rd millennium BC temperatures dropped and the climate became wetter. Heavy rainfall combined with previous clearing activity to cause serious soil erosion in

17052-586: The region several times. Of the last two periods the first was the more pronounced, covering the whole of the Burren. The last advance of the ice cover was more limited, affecting only the eastern Burren. The result is that the Burren is one of the finest examples of glacio-karst landscape in the world. The effects of the last glacial period (the Midlandian) are most in evidence, with the Burren overrun by ice during this glaciation. The impact of earlier karstification (solutional erosion) has been eliminated by

17199-492: The relationship between the three Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx). Gaelic is a collective term for the Goidelic languages, and when the context is clear it may be used without qualification to refer to each language individually. When the context is specific but unclear, the term may be qualified, as Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic or Manx Gaelic. Historically the name "Erse" ( / ɜːr s / URS )

17346-477: The remains of pre-glacial river valleys. The rivers disappeared from the surface when the upper layers of stone had been stripped away. Another characteristic feature of the Burren is closed roughly circular depressions with no surface outlets for water (called poljes ). Around 100 of these exist, mostly in the eastern Burren. The most notable are the valleys of Kilcorney, Poulawilan, Caherconnel and Carran, generally stretching from northeast to southwest. The largest

17493-432: The requirement for entrance to the public service was changed to proficiency in just one official language. Nevertheless, Irish remains a required subject of study in all schools in the Republic of Ireland that receive public money (see Education in the Republic of Ireland ). Teachers in primary schools must also pass a compulsory examination called Scrúdú Cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge . As of 2005, Garda Síochána recruits need

17640-480: The result of localized precipitation due to small differences in composition or porosity of the host rock, such as around fossils, inside burrows or around plant roots. In carbonate rocks such as limestone or chalk , chert or flint concretions are common, while terrestrial sandstones sometimes contain iron concretions. Calcite concretions in clay containing angular cavities or cracks are called septarian concretions . After deposition, physical processes can deform

17787-647: The revival was the Gaelic League ( Conradh na Gaeilge ), and particular emphasis was placed on the folk tradition, which in Irish is particularly rich. Efforts were also made to develop journalism and a modern literature. Although it has been noted that the Catholic Church played a role in the decline of the Irish language before the Gaelic Revival, the Protestant Church of Ireland also made only minor efforts to encourage use of Irish in

17934-454: The rock a grey or greenish colour. Iron(III) oxide (Fe 2 O 3 ) in a richer oxygen environment is often found in the form of the mineral hematite and gives the rock a reddish to brownish colour. In arid continental climates rocks are in direct contact with the atmosphere, and oxidation is an important process, giving the rock a red or orange colour. Thick sequences of red sedimentary rocks formed in arid climates are called red beds . However,

18081-430: The rocks, which are of limestone, is very sweet and nourishing. " The area is formed from a thick succession of sedimentary rocks , largely limestones but also including sandstones , mudstones and siltstones . All of the solid rocks exposed at the surface are of Carboniferous age though they are underlain at depth by Old Red Sandstone of Devonian age which in turn overlies rocks of Lower Palaeozoic age. None of

18228-469: The same size, the rock is called 'well-sorted', and when there is a large spread in grain size, the rock is called 'poorly sorted'. The form of the clasts can reflect the origin of the rock. For example, coquina , a rock composed of clasts of broken shells, can only form in energetic water. The form of a clast can be described by using four parameters: Chemical sedimentary rocks have a non-clastic texture, consisting entirely of crystals. To describe such

18375-433: The sediment supply, caused, for example, by seasonal changes in rainfall, temperature or biochemical activity. Laminae that represent seasonal changes (similar to tree rings ) are called varves . Any sedimentary rock composed of millimeter or finer scale layers can be named with the general term laminite . When sedimentary rocks have no lamination at all, their structural character is called massive bedding. Graded bedding

18522-402: The sediment, producing a third class of secondary structures. Density contrasts between different sedimentary layers, such as between sand and clay, can result in flame structures or load casts , formed by inverted diapirism . While the clastic bed is still fluid, diapirism can cause a denser upper layer to sink into a lower layer. Sometimes, density contrasts occur or are enhanced when one of

18669-443: The sediment. They can be indicators of circumstances after deposition. Some can be used as way up criteria . Organic materials in a sediment can leave more traces than just fossils. Preserved tracks and burrows are examples of trace fossils (also called ichnofossils). Such traces are relatively rare. Most trace fossils are burrows of molluscs or arthropods . This burrowing is called bioturbation by sedimentologists. It can be

18816-453: The subsurface that is useful for civil engineering , for example in the construction of roads , houses , tunnels , canals or other structures. Sedimentary rocks are also important sources of natural resources including coal , fossil fuels , drinking water and ores . The study of the sequence of sedimentary rock strata is the main source for an understanding of the Earth's history , including palaeogeography , paleoclimatology and

18963-487: The territories controlled by clans or families (see below). 11 of the 21 tower houses in the Barony of Burren lie within 1 km of its borders. The O'Loughlin (Ó Lochlainn) clan ruled Boireann down to the mid-17th century from their chief residence at Gregans Castle (the tower house, not the house of the same name). The chief of the family was known in later times as the 'Prince of Burren' and clan members were buried in

19110-527: The three major types of rock, fossils are most commonly found in sedimentary rock. Unlike most igneous and metamorphic rocks, sedimentary rocks form at temperatures and pressures that do not destroy fossil remnants. Often these fossils may only be visible under magnification . Dead organisms in nature are usually quickly removed by scavengers , bacteria , rotting and erosion, but under exceptional circumstances, these natural processes are unable to take place, leading to fossilisation. The chance of fossilisation

19257-405: The time Christianity arrived locally, their territory had shrunk somewhat, encompassing what later became the Baronies of Burren and Corcomroe as well as some parts of Inchiquin barony (see below). During the 5th and 6th centuries, the region appears to have been ruled from the Aran Islands by the Eóganacht Árann , a minor branch of the Eóganacht dynasty of Munster . The history of these years

19404-429: The unusual environment. The region supports many rare Irish species, some of which are only found in this area. Others occur in similar karst areas in western Ireland. Notable plants include Festuca indigesta seen in 1949 and Arenaria norvegica identified only once, in 1961. Two of the 24 types of Taraxacum found here are "practically unique to the Burren". 23 of the 28 types of orchids found in Ireland grow in

19551-496: The uplands. Evidence suggests that much of the soil cover over the limestone karst was in fact removed during the Middle and Late Bronze Age. This reduction in the area of fertile land put pressure on population numbers and probably increased conflicts over scarce resources. Building of new stone walls largely came to an end – there is a gap in documented building between the late Neolithic/early Bronze Age and early Christian periods. By

19698-566: The upper layers, preventing shifts like those that created the "twisted" hills Knockanes and Mullaghmore. The limestone also extends below Galway Bay out to the Aran Islands and to the east into the Gort plain. Later in the Carboniferous (c. 318 million years ago), the limestone was covered by darker sand and mud that later turned into shale (the lower "Clare Shales") and sandstone (the upper "Millstone Grit"). These layers reached

19845-522: The use of dwellings that did not leave durable traces (wooden buildings or even tents). Some of the extant ráths, cashels or cahers may actually have Iron Age origins. However, few have been excavated and those that have been the subject of research, like Cahercommaun , Caherconnel , Cahermore or Ballyallaban , are thought to be early Medieval or later in origin. The large enigmatic enclosure of Turlough Hill (see Oughtmama ) may be Iron Age or earlier. Definite regional findings from this era are limited to

19992-671: The vacancy to which they are appointed. This requirement is laid down by the University College Galway Act, 1929 (Section 3). In 2016, the university faced controversy when it announced the planned appointment of a president who did not speak Irish. Misneach staged protests against this decision. The following year the university announced that Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh , a fluent Irish speaker, would be its 13th president. He assumed office in January 2018; in June 2024, he announced he would be stepping down as president at

20139-399: The very end of the Ice Age the glaciers ended for a time at Fanore. At that time, Slieve Elva and Knockauns hill alone rose above the surrounding ice fields. The valleys facing Galway Bay had been widened considerably by glacial action, first when the ice moved south from Connemara and then when meltwater sought a runoff. When the ice finally retreated it also left moraines in valley bottoms and

20286-404: The woody tissue of plants. Soft tissue has a much smaller chance of being fossilized, and the preservation of soft tissue of animals older than 40 million years is very rare. Imprints of organisms made while they were still alive are called trace fossils , examples of which are burrows , footprints , etc. As a part of a sedimentary rock, fossils undergo the same diagenetic processes as does

20433-594: The work of such writers as Geoffrey Keating , is said to date from the 17th century, and was the medium of popular literature from that time on. From the 18th century on, the language lost ground in the east of the country. The reasons behind this shift were complex but came down to a number of factors: The change was characterised by diglossia (two languages being used by the same community in different social and economic situations) and transitional bilingualism (monoglot Irish-speaking grandparents with bilingual children and monoglot English-speaking grandchildren). By

20580-399: Was a major producer of wool at the time. A Viking arrowhead was found at the ringfort and a Viking hollow-bead necklace (likely dating from 820 to 850 AD) was discovered in nearby Glencurran Cave. Either at the end of the 12th or early in the 13th century, Cistercian monks came to the area and established Sancta Maria de Petra Fertili , now known as Corcomroe Abbey . In the 12th century,

20727-503: Was a prolonged period of snow). Since grass will grow once the temperature rises above 6 °C, this means that The Burren (like the neighbouring Aran Islands) has one of the longest growing seasons in Ireland or Britain, and supports diverse and rich plant growth. The area has around 1,525 millimetres (60.0 in) of annual rainfall (more than twice the amount observed in eastern Ireland), with an average level of over 160 millimetres (6.3 in) monthly from October to January Late May

20874-531: Was also sometimes used in Scots and then in English to refer to Irish; as well as Scottish Gaelic. Written Irish is first attested in Ogham inscriptions from the 4th century AD, a stage of the language known as Primitive Irish . These writings have been found throughout Ireland and the west coast of Great Britain. Primitive Irish underwent a change into Old Irish through the 5th century. Old Irish, dating from

21021-668: Was enacted 1 July 2019 and is an 18-page document that adheres to the guidelines of the Official Languages Act 2003 . The purpose of the Scheme is to provide services through the mediums of Irish and/or English. According to the Department of the Taoiseach, it is meant to "develop a sustainable economy and a successful society, to pursue Ireland's interests abroad, to implement the Government's Programme and to build

21168-520: Was establishing itself as the primary language. Irish speakers had first arrived in Australia in the late 18th century as convicts and soldiers, and many Irish-speaking settlers followed, particularly in the 1860s. New Zealand also received some of this influx. Argentina was the only non-English-speaking country to receive large numbers of Irish emigrants, and there were few Irish speakers among them. Sedimentary rock The sedimentary rock cover of

21315-474: Was passed 14 July 2003 with the main purpose of improving the number and quality of public services delivered in Irish by the government and other public bodies. Compliance with the Act is monitored by the An Coimisinéir Teanga (Irish Language Commissioner) which was established in 2004 and any complaints or concerns pertaining to the Act are brought to them. There are 35 sections included in

21462-693: Was spoken throughout Ireland, Isle of Man and parts of Scotland . It is the language of a large corpus of literature, including the Ulster Cycle . From the 12th century, Middle Irish began to evolve into modern Irish in Ireland, into Scottish Gaelic in Scotland, and into the Manx language in the Isle of Man . Early Modern Irish , dating from the 13th century, was the basis of the literary language of both Ireland and Gaelic-speaking Scotland. Modern Irish, sometimes called Late Modern Irish, as attested in

21609-442: Was unable to accomplish some everyday tasks, as portrayed in his documentary No Béarla . There is, however, a growing body of Irish speakers in urban areas, particularly in Dublin. Many have been educated in schools in which Irish is the language of instruction. Such schools are known as Gaelscoileanna at primary level. These Irish-medium schools report some better outcomes for students than English-medium schools. In 2009,

#18981