What is unusual about Burren plants?

Arctic, alpine and Mediterranean plants grow together

Lakes that appear and vanish seasonally

Burren Quiz: Limestone Pavement, Rare Flowers and Poulnabrone

This Burren quiz crosses the grey limestone pavements of Ireland's west coast. Play an interactive set of 10 questions on its name meaning rocky place, karst landscape, clints and grykes, alpine and Mediterranean plants growing side by side, spring gentians and orchids, Poulnabrone dolmen, turloughs, Aillwee Cave, winter cattle grazing and the national park.

Start Burren Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

County
Which Irish county is the Burren in?
Name
What does the name Burren mean?
Rock
Which rock forms the Burren?
Type
What type of landscape is the Burren?
Plants
What is unusual about Burren plants?
Gentian
Which deep blue flower blooms in spring?
Dolmen
What is Poulnabrone?
Lakes
What are turloughs?
Cattle
Where do cattle graze in winter there?
Cave
Which show cave lies in the Burren?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Which Irish county is the Burren in?
Answer: County Clare
It is on the Atlantic coast.
Q2: What does the name Burren mean?
Answer: Rocky place
It comes from the Irish boíreann.
Q3: Which rock forms the Burren?
Answer: Limestone
Rain slowly dissolves it.
Q4: What type of landscape is the Burren?
Answer: Karst
It has caves and swallow holes.
Q5: What is unusual about Burren plants?
Answer: Arctic, alpine and Mediterranean plants grow together
It puzzles botanists.
Q6: Which deep blue flower blooms in spring?
Answer: Spring gentian
It is a Burren symbol.
Q7: What is Poulnabrone?
Answer: A portal tomb dolmen
It is thousands of years old.
Q8: What are turloughs?
Answer: Lakes that appear and vanish seasonally
Water rises from underground.
Q9: Where do cattle graze in winter there?
Answer: On the high limestone uplands
The rock stores warmth.
Q10: Which show cave lies in the Burren?
Answer: Aillwee Cave
Bear bones were found inside.

Limestone Pavements and Unlikely Flowers

The Burren in County Clare is a vast karst landscape of grey limestone on Ireland's west coast. Its name comes from the Irish word boíreann, meaning rocky place. Rainwater has dissolved the rock into pavements of flat blocks and cracks, along with caves, swallow holes and turloughs, lakes that appear and vanish with the seasons.

Botanists are amazed that arctic, alpine and Mediterranean plants grow side by side here. In spring, deep blue gentians and many orchids bloom in the cracks. The rock stores warmth, so farmers let cattle graze the uplands in winter, a tradition called winterage.

People have lived in the Burren for thousands of years. Poulnabrone, a portal tomb with a huge capstone, is one of Ireland's most famous dolmens. Aillwee Cave, where bear bones were found, is open for tours, and Burren National Park protects part of the region.

What This Quiz Teaches

Nature fans will enjoy these questions.

What the name means
How the landscape formed
Which plants grow there
Which ancient sites remain
How farmers use the land

Did You Know?

The Cliffs of Moher lie just south of the Burren.
Stone walls crisscross the Burren's fields.
Feral goats graze the hills.
The Burren is part of a UNESCO Global Geopark.
Ring forts dot the landscape.