Ailladie (; also known locally as the Ballyreen Cliffs), is an west-facing

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

sea cliff, that varies in height from to , situated on the coast of

The Burren The Burren ( ; ) is a karst/glaciokarst landscape centred in County Clare, on the west coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland.

County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Ailladie is one of Ireland's most highly regarded

rock-climbing Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in guidebooks, and ...

locations, particularly for high technical grade single pitch

traditional climbing Traditional climbing (or trad climbing) is a type of free climbing in rock climbing where the lead climber places removable protection while simultaneously ascending the route; when the lead climber has completed the route, the second climber ...

routes and

deep-water soloing Deep-water soloing (DWS), also known as psicobloc (from "psycho-bouldering"), is a form of free solo climbing where any fall should result in the climber landing safely into deep water below the climbing routes, route. DWS is therefore considere ...

routes. It is also a location for shore-angling competitions, and, with its cliffs and view of the

Aran Islands The Aran Islands ( ; , ) or The Arans ( ) are a group of three islands at the mouth of Galway Bay, off the west coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a total area around . They constitute the historic barony (Ireland), barony of Aran in ...

, is a popular photography stop for tourists.

Naming

The name Ailladie is an

anglicized Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

translation from the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

name, ''Aill an Daill'', which means 'The Blind Man's Cliff' or 'Cliff of the Blind Person'. The cliffs are also referred to locally, and by anglers, as Ballyreen Cliffs and Ballyreen Point, which is an anglicised version of the name given to Ailladie's local townland of ; 'Ó Rinn's homestead'.

Geography

Ailladie is an long west-facing

sea-cliff, varying in height from metres to metres, that is situated on the coast of The Burren in County Clare, in Ireland. The northernmost sections are not sea-cliffs, and their bases can be accessed by short descent routes (see Access) to flat limestone shelves below. The southernmost sections are all sea-cliffs that can only be accessed by rope

abseil Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling, the person descending controls their own movement down a static or fixed rope, in cont ...

. The cliff straddles the Clare townlands of Ballyryan (southern section), and Crumlin (northern section).

Access

The cliffs of Ailladie are hidden from direct view, and are situated just a short walk from the R477 road, , at a point before the road turns inland and south-east to Lisdoonvarna. The Ailladie car-park (grid ), is marked on online maps, and it lies directly opposite the ''Stone Wall'' section of the cliffs (see Ailladie map below). Beside the car park, to the southeast, is the smaller rock climbing crag known as

Ballyryan Ballyryan or Ballyreen (; Ring's homestead) is a small inland mostly west-facing limestone crag in The Burren in County Clare, Ireland. It is popular with rock climbers due to its easy access, the range of short easy-to-intermediate rock clim ...

(climbers on the Ballyryan crag can be seen by the passing R477 traffic). Access to the base of the cliff is only possible without abseiling at the northernmost end, where a roped ''fisherman's descent'' gives access to a large limestone platform at the cliff-base of Ailladie.

Rock climbing

Reputation

Ailladie is a

crag, with no bolted or

sport climbing Sport climbing (or bolted climbing) is a type of free climbing in the sport of rock climbing where the Lead climbing, lead climber clips their climbing rope, rope — via a quickdraw — into pre-drilled in-situ bolt (climbing), bolts for their ...

routes. With few exceptions, the vast majority of the climbing routes are single pitch long traditional climbs. Where bolts and

piton A piton (; also called ''pin'' or ''peg'') in big wall climbing and in aid climbing is a metal spike (usually steel) that is driven into a crack or seam in the climbing surface using a Rock climbing hammer, climbing hammer, and which acts as an ...

s have appeared, they have generally been removed. Ailladie has remained at the "cutting edge" of Irish outdoor traditional rock climbing, along with the

dolerite Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grain ...

cliff of Fair Head in

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

. The UKC described Ailladie as ''"Best coastal limestone in the world! Fact!"''. The ''

Irish Examiner The ''Irish Examiner'', formerly ''The Cork Examiner'' and then ''The Examiner'', is an Republic of Ireland, Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork (city), Cork, though it is ...

'' said, "The mecca for rock climbing in Ireland is Ailladie". The ''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' called it "one of Ireland's best rock-climbing sites". In 2007, American

free solo Free solo climbing, or free soloing, is a form of rock climbing where the climber (or ''free soloist'') climbs Solo climbing, solo (or alone) without Climbing rope, ropes or other Rock climbing equipment#Protection devices, protective equipmen ...

climber Michael Reardon made the first of several visits to Ailladie and said that it was "redefining everything I know about the mental game of climbing", and that it was "one of my favorite places on the planet". In 2019, ''On Reflection'' (E6 6a), on the ''Mirror Wall'' section, was listed in ''UK Climbing's'' "The Five Best E6 Routes in the UK and Ireland".

Layout

Ailladie's northern half includes the sections known to climbers as the ''Dancing Ledges'' and the ''Aran Wall'', and sits above a large rock platform that is accessible, via the 3-metre roped ''fisherman's descent'' (see Access), regardless of tides. Experienced climbers use a ''climber's descent'' at ''O'Conner's Corner'' (10-metre, Diff). The ''Dancing Ledges'' are the lowest cliffs of Ailladie with routes of 10–15 metres and many below the E-grade, which makes them the most popular section for intermediate climbers; whereas the ''Aran Wall'' routes are up to 30-metres in height and mostly E-grade. The first part of Ailladie's southern-half is ''Mirror Wall'' (mostly graded E4–E7), and it is accessible by boulder-hopping at low-tide, although climbers also

down to start routes. The remainder of the southern-half of Ailladie, the ''Stone Wall'', ''An Falla Uaigneach'', and ''Boulder Wall'' sections, require abseils for access. Many of the climbs in the imposing ''An Falla Uaigneach'' sector are started from a hanging belay, and the sector also offers extreme deep water soloing (DWS) routes (e.g. ''The Jelly Situation'' 7c+ S1, and ''King Crozzle'', 7b+ S1), and with significant drops. The rock is limestone, of a clean blue/grey quality and mostly hanging in a sheer vertical form, with both vertical and horizontal cracks described as reminiscent of

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

routes, and texture described as "varies from smooth, in the few small areas recently exposed by

rockfall A rockfall or rock-fallWhittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, 1984. . is a quantity of Rock (geology), rock that has fallen freely from a cliff face. The term is also used for collapse of rock from roof or wa ...

, to a sharp ''popcorn'' texture which provides excellent friction". Most climbs follow steep narrow finger-crack lines, and the rock climbing

protection Protection is any measure taken to guard something against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although ...

is considered to be good. The last

guidebook A guide book or travel guide is "a book of information about a place designed for the use of visitors or tourists". It will usually include information about sights, accommodation, restaurants, transportation, and activities. Maps of varying det ...

, published in 2008, lists 170 climbs (the current Ailladie online database, see below, has over 200), nearly all single-pitches, with

grades Grade most commonly refers to: * Grading in education, a measurement of a student's performance by educational assessment (e.g. A, pass, etc.) * A designation for students, classes and curricula indicating the number of the year a student has reach ...

up to E7 6c (e.g. ''Snell's Law'', ''No Reflection'', ''Black Mirror'', all at E7 6c and over 35-metres in length). Most Ailladie routes are at, and above, E1 5b grades; there is little quality below VS 4c graded routes, although Ailladie has several classic VS and HVS routes. The lower sections of some routes, and the grade, can change due to the movements of boulders in sea storms, and hence why many ''Mirror Wall'' climbers start from a hanging belay.

History

The climbing potential of Ailladie was discovered in August 1972, when it was visited by a group of

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

climbers who would return several times culminating in the November 1972 ascent of one of Ireland's most classic rock climbs, the 30-metre corner of ''Pis Fluich'' (HVS 5a) by Jim McKenzie. Word of Ailladie's quality spread, and development also began alongside the smaller nearby crags in

The Burren The Burren ( ; ) is a karst/glaciokarst landscape centred in County Clare, on the west coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland.

area, which became the only on-shore

rock climbing locations in Ireland; the others being mainly

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

and dolerite. Early pioneers of the crag in the late 1970s included Dermot Somers and Calvin Torrans (''The Ramp'' E1 5b, 5a), but it was with the arrival of Tom Ryan and Keefe Murphy, that many of the crag's most important classics began to appear by the early 1980s, including ''Skywalker'' (E3 5c), ''Kleptomaniac'' (E3 6a), ''Through the Looking Glass'' (E3 6a), and ''Wall of Fossils'' (E4 6a). Throughout the 1980s, classic lines were put up by Eddie Cooper including ''Quicksilver'' (E5 6a), ''Damn the Torpedoes'' (E5 6a), and ''White Witch'' (E5 6b), and a visiting British climbing team of Gary Gibson, John Codling and Martin Manson, who added ''Ice Queen'' (E5 6a), ''Refraction'' (E5 6a), ''The Cutter'' (E4 6a), ''On Reflection'' (E6 6a), and ''Prism Sentance'' (E5 6a, 6b) in a June 1985 visit. The 1990s saw new harder 3-starred routes such as Welsh climber George Smith's ''Very Big Springs'' (E6 6b, 1993), and ''Seeing Things'' (E6 6b, with Alan Wainwright, 1993), and

Peak District The Peak District is an Highland, upland area in central-northern England, at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It is subdivi ...

climbers Dominic and Daniel Lee's ''Phoenix in the Mirror'' (E6 6c, 1996). The following years saw more E6 and E7 graded routes from some of the leading Irish-based climbers such as

Dalkey Quarry Dalkey quarry ( ) is a long-disused 19th century granite quarry located on Dalkey Hill in the Dublin suburb of Dalkey, which was used to build several large maritime structures in south Dublin. Since passing into public ownership in the early 2 ...

regulars Ronan Browner and Herbert Hebblethwaite (''Earthling'' and ''Forbidden Kink'' both E6 6c, 1997), and by Ricky Bell (''The Happiness that Hurts'' and ''The Power of the Hobo'' both E7 6c, 2006), and Andy Long (''The Vein'' and ''Forever Young'' both E7 6c, 2004, and ''Faith'' E7 6c, 2005). In addition, Bell,

ist Julian Lines, and later, Colm Shannon, developed the DWS potential of the ''An Falla Uaignech'' section, establishing extreme DWS routes at grades of up to 7c+ S2/3. In 2007, Belgian climber established a new E7 on ''Mirror Wall'' that he named ''Snell's Law'' (E7 6c), and in 2021, Irish climber Conor McGovern added two further E7s on ''Mirror Wall'', named ''No Reflection'' (E7 6c), and ''Black Mirror'' (E7 6c).

Facilities

Visiting climbers either camp in the fields above the crag (however, there is no source of freshwater), or stay at one of the many

hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory sleeping 4–20 people, with shared use of a lounge and usually a kitchen. Rooms can be private or shared - mixe ...

s in the surrounding villages (particularly

Doolin Doolin () is a coastal village in County Clare, Ireland, on the Atlantic coast. It is southwest of the spa town of Lisdoonvarna and 4 miles from the Cliffs of Moher. It is a noted centre of traditional Irish music, which is played nightly in ...

for nightlife and additional bouldering, or Fanore for serviced camping grounds). There are several nearby inland high limestone crags with a good range of graded rock climbs, especially in the grades below VS, that are within walking distance (e.g. Ballyryan) or a short driving distance (e.g. Murroughkilly, Aill na Cronain and Oughtdarra), from Ailladie; however, these do not have anything like the quality or popularity of Ailladie.

Other sports

Cave diving

Starting at circa below sea level, Cliff Cave (also known as Mirror Wall Cave or Pollaillte), extends inland from the crag. It was discovered in 2012, and containing over of passages, is the longest-known marine cave in Ireland. Exploration of the cave can only be undertaken after a prolonged period of calm and stable conditions to avoid becoming trapped.

Shore angling

The limestone ledges at the base of Ailladie's cliffs (at the far north and far south ends), are regarded for their shore-angling and are described as providing "superb bottom fishing". Anglers know the area as Ballyreen-south of Fanore, and several of the rocks have numbers painted on them for shore-angling competitions. Ballyreen is noted as one of the few shore-angling locations in Clare where sharks ( porbeagle and

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

), and

conger eel ''Conger'' ( ) is a genus of marine congrid eels. It includes some of the largest types of eels, ranging up to or more in length, in the case of the European conger. Large congers have often been observed by divers during the day in parts of ...

s have been successfully landed. Because of the proximity of these low limestone ledges to deep Atlantic waters, the ledges have seen several fatalities over the years of anglers who were caught by sudden swells or large waves, and were carried out to sea.

Accidents

As well as accidents from rock-climbing activities (there are no recorded rock climbing fatalities at Ailladie), and accidents and fatalities from shore-angling activities, Ailladie has also seen a number of accidents and fatalities from tourist activities as a result of falls at the cliffs.