All language subtitles for Undiscovered Vistas Series 2 5of6 Ireland Clash of the Coasts 1080p

Ireland.

The most westerly country
in europe.

An outpost in
the north atlantic,

It is the final landfall
for thousands of miles,

And towers above the sea.

>> you have the ocean,
the sky, the light,

The wind even in your hair.

You couldn't be closer
to nature than here.

>> here, land and sea
clash endlessly.

The rock of ireland, bitten
and scoured by glaciers,

Is constantly being shaped
and reshaped by water:

Pounding waves below,
and driving rain from above.

>> it's a very
dynamic landscape.

It's very rugged.

It evolves day and daily.

>> from the rugged antrim coast,
to the wild atlantic way,

This is ireland.

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The cliffs of moher, a steep
and sweeping precipice

On ireland's jagged west coast.

The cliffs tower more than 700
feet above the stormy atlantic

And present real danger
to those that fail

To heed its warning signs.

In the year 2000, two
experienced climbers died

And another was gravely injured
when rocks above them gave way.

And in 2015, a
visiting photographer

Captured a spectacular
rock fall in progress.

It won't be the last time
that these stunning cliffs

Crumble into the ocean,
piece by piece.

A powerful reminder that
the geological violence

That built ireland is still
very much alive here.

But despite their
many rock falls,

The cliffs of moher aren't
disappearing any time soon.

They have stood here,
in one form or another,

For more than 300 million years,
and greet visitors today

Coming east
across the atlantic.

The cliffs of moher
extend for five miles

Along ireland's
wild atlantic way:

A spectacular coastal
route that winds

For nearly 1,600 miles
from derry in the north

To cork in the south.

The cliffs of moher draw
close to one million visitors

Each year.

This is one of the country's
most breathtaking panoramas.

The cliffs provide shelter
for more than 30,000 birds

From 29 different species.

But the land on which they
roost began to accumulate

Long before birds had evolved.

Long before even their
ancestors, the dinosaurs,

Had appeared on the planet.

>> what you're looking at there
is a cross section through time.

You can see how the sediments
have changed from the base

Right through the top.

You can see each
successive layer.

>> the cliffs of moher
are the remains

Of an ancient river delta.

Land created as flooded rivers
dumped silt, sand, and mud

Into a shallow tropical sea.

This sediment
accumulated layer upon layer

For millions of years.

>> those sediments are
getting shallower and shallower

Because more and more sediment
is pouring out and building out

And making,
essentially making land.

Each of those layers may
represent one storm event

Or one massive flood event.

The fine shale layers then
represent longer periods of time

Where sediment has collected
more slowly over time

Then the next flood
event will come along.

>> new sediment deposited on top
created crushing pressure

On the sediment layers below,

Compacting them into the
solid rock we see today.

Over millions of years, earth's
shifting tectonic plates

Carried these
sediment deposits north

From their point of origin
south of the equator.

But the story doesn't end there.

Repeating layers of sandstone,
siltstone and shale

Provide a clear view of an
ancient sedimentary basin,

Something usually
found underwater.

Now above land,
the cliffs of moher

Reveal their history
inch by inch.

This geological treasure
has only been made visible

By the constant, clawing waves
at the base of the cliffs.

>> those waves come in,
they will undercut the
base of the cliffs,

Especially the shaley bits
that will weaken it.

And parts will fall
into the sea.

The clear shale, those dark,
very dark rocks

They've got fossils in them,

They've got bits of
plant material,

They've got goniatites,
but not much,

They don't have the same
variety of fossils

That we get in the limestone.

So it was a very
difficult environment

For things to live in.

You've got rivers flowing
on a swampy, marshy area

And we get evidence of that
from lots of tree material.

We even find the roots of those
trees in some of the sections

So we know there was plants
growing on essentially soil

In that area.

>> just offshore, branaunmore,
a 220-foot-high sea stack,

Stands like an
ancient guardian.

>> the sea stack is a
remnant actually

Of where the cliffs used to be.

The cliffs of moher
are eroding backwards.

Due to these joints, due to the
shaley nature of the cliffs,

And mostly because of these
fantastic waves that are

Coming in from the atlantic
pounding it every year.

Those promontories can get
isolated so either side of them

Will get eroded away more and
eventually they get eroded away

At the back.

And that, sometimes they'll form
arches initially and then those

Arches will collapse and
be left with a sea stack.

>> the rate of recession for the
cliffs hasn't been measured.

But on the nearby aran
islands the cliffs recede

More than a foot-and-a-half
each year due to erosion

Caused by battering waves.

The branaunmore sea
stack is a reminder

That nothing set in stone
will remain forever.

By the waves it was created.

By the waves it
will be consumed.

>> over time that sea stack
is going to be eroded

And that sea stack will fall and
collapse into the sea as well.

They come and then they go.

There'll be new ones forming
long after we're gone.

>> the cliffs of moher.

Not quite eternal, but
immortalized in films

Such as the princess bride

And harry potter and
the half-blood prince.

And no wonder:

They're a special effect 300
million years in the making.

Eight miles north of the cliffs
of moher in the region known as

The burren is the ivy cliff
cave, or as it's known today:

Doolin cave.

>> doolin cave formed like
every other cave in the burren.

It's on the limestone, so
there was groundwater,

There was water flowing,

Slightly acidic water,
and over time

That just eroded channels within
the rock and the limestone.

>> hidden 80 feet beneath the
entrance to doolin cave

Is its prized treasure:
The great stalactite.

At 23 feet, it is
one of the longest

Free-hanging stalactites
in the northern hemisphere.

Limestone stalactites form
as slightly acidic rainwater

Seeps through the bedrock,
dissolving and eroding

The minerals as it flows.

Where water drips from the roof
of a cave, dissolved limestone

In the water precipitates
out and hardens as calcite.

Over time, minuscule amounts
of calcite build up,

Eventually forming
giant solid deposits

That appear to drip
from the cave ceiling.

>> in most caves you'll get
single, small, straw-like
stalactites.

They're quite common.

It started forming almost
certainly in the same way

As all the others, but the
water continued flowing there

For a longer period of time.

>> the great stalactite
is a dramatic example

Of the geological processes
that shape ireland.

It was created over
hundreds of thousands of years,

Literally one drip at a time.

But doolin cave and
its remarkable stalactite

Are just one small feature
in the burren landscape.

>> the burren comes from the
old irish word bhoireann,

Which means rocky place.

>> this rocky place, comprised
of nearly 100 square miles

Of spectacular, rolling hills,

Was formed some
350 million years ago.

It is a limestone pavement:
Layer-upon-layer

Of calcium carbonate sediment
that was once at the

Bottom of the ocean, deposited
by the skeletal remains

Of ancient marine organisms.

The sea life that formed this
pavement once lived in the

Same tropical sea, fed by the
river that helped give rise

To the cliffs of moher.

The rock of the burren was
compressed and hardened

By the weight of successive
layers of calcium carbonate.

This sea floor once occupied
a place much farther south,

At the same latitude
where egypt is today.

As tectonic plates moved,
these rocks drifted north,

Landing here when an
ancient ocean closed

And two plates of
crust collided,

Forcing what was the seafloor to
emerge high above the waves.

In the south-eastern
part of the burren,

An arresting 560-foot-high
limestone hill

Bears the twists and
bends of a landscape

That was once under
extreme pressure.

It is mullaghmore.

In irish, it means great summit.

>> there's irregular curved
folds in the limestone there

And that's a result
of compression.

That's the result of a
continent sliding along

The surface of the earth,
hitting another continent,

The rocks buckle and they
folded, nice and gentle.

>> but this was far from the
end of the geological story

For this new piece of land.

What is now ireland
was subjected

To the unrelenting chill
and crush of glaciers.

>> this area has been
subject to glaciation.

Like most of ireland it was
covered by ice at some point.

And once the ice
travelled mostly from
the north, northeast,

It scraped off the surface,
scraped off any soil

That was there, and it
exposed bare limestone.

>> the last glacial period
to affect the burren

Ended 14,000 years ago.

But while the landscape may
have been scraped bare by ice,

The land itself is
far from barren.

>> that then got colonized
slowly afterwards by
initially grasses

And then more advanced
trees and bushes.

And then when humans came along,
around about 5,000 years ago,

They started cutting
those trees down.

>> the hunter-gatherers that cut
down great swaths of forest

For timber also raised cattle
that devoured grasses,

Contributing to the
current stark landscape.

In 1651 an english army officer
described the burren as:

"a country where there is not
water enough to drown a man,

Wood enough to hang one,
nor earth enough to bury them.

And yet their cattle
are very fat."

Wildflowers and grasses take
root in cracks and crevices in

The limestone and flourish in
the burren's sweet, damp air.

>> it's got grasses, it's got
shrubs, it's got a fantastic mix

Of alpine and
mediterranean flowers.

People come from all over the
world to see that together

In the same place, and it's
not the arctic and it's not

The mediterranean: It's in
the west coast of ireland.

>> but underneath the
surprising plant life

There's the limestone,
scrubbed and scratched by ice,

Stripped and depleted by man,
and now eroded by water.

>> once this limestone has
been exposed to the surface

What happens is
rain will fall on it,

And we get a significant amount
of rain here in the burren,

And that rain is very
slightly acidic,

A natural acidity from the
carbon dioxide in the air,

And when that hits the limestone
it will start to dissolve it.

>> this process creates what
is known as karst topography.

The limestone of the burren

Is laced with a network
of fissures called grikes.

These fissures
isolate blocks of stone

At the surface known as clints.

>> the irregular pits, the
hollows, the curves, the grooves

They're all a result of water
flowing onto the surface

And flowing maybe
under the soil as well

Where it dissolves
even further.

>> as the limestone bedrock
slowly breaks down,

Grikes grow wider and deeper,
more water flows through them,

And the grikes
continue to grow larger.

>> there are these fractures or
joints all through the limestone

Here in the burren,
also out on the coast,

And on the coast they're
wonderfully exposed.

They are exposed as lines of
weakness in the limestone.

>> about 20 miles from
mullaghmore, the cracked
doolin coast

Looks almost man-made
with its precise, sharp lines.

But it, too, is a result of the
tectonic and erosive forces

That shaped the rest
of the burren.

>> we've got the water
dissolving the limestone

Very gradually over
a long period of time.

On the coast it's much more
dynamic, it's much more active,

And every year
you go back there

You see the coast
looks different.

>> cracks in the rock bear
witness to the tremendous force

Generated far below by the
grinding of what are now

The north american and
eurasian continental plates.

>> this is two huge plates
crashing against each other,

And when I say crashing
that exaggerates a little bit.

This is a slow process.

A couple of centimeters a
year these two continents

Are pushing into each other.

But there's huge pressure
behind that and this pressure

Builds up, builds up in rock and
eventually something will give.

>> like miniature earthquakes,
these rifts in the limestone

Are the visible evidence of
that tectonic pressure.

These might have been just like
a millimeter, two millimeters

Wide these cracks, they
popped open right through

The whole burren.

>> but even a mere fraction of
an inch is enough for water

To exploit chinks
in the limestone

As rolling atlantic waves
pummel the doolin coast below.

>> these waves pack
a huge punch.

They're coming right
across the atlantic.

And when it hits the rocks,
especially at a high tide,

These joints, these cracks
that we talked about,

Are slightly open, the
water whams against that.

It pushes in the air
that's already in there

And it's like a pneumatic force
pounding in against that rock.

And it can actually
fracture the rock.

It'll fracture along lines of
weakness already there.

That makes it more susceptible
to be moved during that storm

Or the next storm or
subsequent storms.

>> the waves of the atlantic are
even powerful enough to move

Entire blocks of limestone that
have washed free from the shore.

>> the rocks are being in
some cases flipped over

On top of each other,
stacked up

Into piles of large lumps of
limestone by these waves,

And sometimes just dragged
offshore and broken up.

It's a great way to look at

How the coast is
actually eroding there.

>> while the west coast of
ireland offers dramatic cliffs

From which to gaze out over the
tempestuous atlantic ocean,

The east coast rewards visitors
with panoramic views of peaks

And glens steeped
in rich history:

The wicklow mountains.

This is the largest area
of continuous high ground

In ireland: Nearly
200 square miles

With an unbroken elevation
of more than one thousand feet.

The entire region is the
result of what's known as

An igneous intrusion: A
massive geological event

That occurred about
400 million years ago.

The continental plates of north
america and europe collided,

Generating tremendous
heat that melted the rock,

Which then rose as magma.

But without the fiery force of a
volcano, the magma slowly cooled

Without breaching the surface,
creating a form of igneous rock

Familiar to us all: Granite.

This mass of granite forms
the leinster mountain chain,

The largest continuous area of
granite in ireland and britain.

For centuries, man
has quarried granite

From the wicklow mountains,
but it's not the only product

Of these beautiful
hills and valleys.

As the rocks were subjected
to intense heat and pressure,

They were effectively cooked,

Changing form into what's
known as metamorphic rock.

These rocks contain elements

Such as lead and zinc,
copper and silver.

>> they were concentrated
into thin narrow veins of
mineral ore.

They filled those cracks in
the rock and concentrated

In specific kind of fractures
so they then became a target

For miners in the 1800s.

They were a place where
you could go in and you could

Dig in a narrow tunnel
to extract the lead ore.

It was a mining center of
great importance in the 1800s.

>> for more than 150 years,

The wicklow mountains were
mined for their treasures.

There was even a brief
gold rush in the 18th century

After nearly 200 pounds of
gold were discovered here.

Today, the lead mines, closed
for good in the mid-1950s,

Sit abandoned in the glendalough
and glendasan valleys.

But long before miners
began their excavations,

Glaciers left their mark
on the wicklow mountains.

During the ice age, layers of
snow and ice accumulated,

Growing heavier with each year.

Over time, the glacier
slid down the mountainside,

Carving out massive hollows
and valleys between the peaks.

>> the glacier came down
and scooped the rock

Out of this valley
and deepened it,

And then after all
the ice melted away

The over-deepened valley
was filled with water

And that's what's here now.

>> at the heart of the wicklow
mountains is glendalough:

The valley of two lakes.

Glendalough stretches for
nearly two miles and is

One of ireland's most popular
tourist destinations.

It is an area of
sublime natural beauty

And fascinating history: From
miners and monks, to monsters.

The sixth-century monk
st. Kevin is said to have

Banished a monster from one
of the lakes at glendalough

After it harassed the locals
and their livestock.

Upper glendalough is
a magnificent example

Of a glacial ribbon lake, a
long and narrow body of water

Usually found in a trough
formed by a glacier.

>> a normal river valley
is a kind of a v-shape

But a glacial u-shaped
valley is sculpted by ice

In a glacier going down and,
as you can see behind us,

It's got steep sides,
steep cliffs there,

And the valley floor
is relatively flat.

>> to maintain water
levels at glendalough,

These glacial basins
need to be fed,

And no glaciers
remain today.

Mountain streams and rivers
now feed these lakes

And provide drinking
water for nearby towns.

The river liffey, which runs
through the center of dublin

More than 50 miles away,
begins its journey here

At the liffey head bog.

Lots of rain, combined
with poor soil drainage

Provides the ideal
environment for wicklow's

Signature ecosystem:
The blanket bog.

>> a blanket bog is what coats
the mountain plateau here.

It's a kind of plant structure

That's growing in a waterlogged
soil on top of the rock.

Moss grows in that and it forms
this layer a meter or two thick

Over the upland
areas and it's a very

Specific kind of
plant community.

>> the blanket bog, and
the moss that dominates it,

Draw nutrients from rainfall
to create an environment

That's highly acidic, poor in
nutrients and low in oxygen.

Only certain plants can tolerate
such a hostile setting,

Making the blanket bog a
highly specialized ecosystem.

>> as as the sort of living
layer keeps growing up,

The bottom bits die away.

But because they're waterlogged,
they form this layer of peat

Which is a
low-energy carbon fuel.

And people used to
dig that in the past.

If you're on those upland areas,
you see these sort of trenches

Where people
have extracted peat.

>> for centuries, people in the
mountains cut peat for fuel

To warm their houses.

Today, just 28 percent of
ireland's original blanket bog

Remains intact.

>> but now it's protected
because it's an
ecological community

That's very well represented
in ireland.

It's important to maintain
because it's plant

And ecological diversity that
you don't see in other, say,

Upland areas in europe.

>> peat grows just a fraction
of an inch per year

And can reach down
for several yards.

The partially decomposed plant
matter that forms a peat bog

Can take thousands of
years to accumulate.

It's a slow process, like the
movement of tectonic plates,

The crush of glaciers,

And the building of
a bridge to scotland.

According to irish legend, the
amazing rock formations at the

Giant's causeway on
northern ireland's antrim coast

Are the remains of a bridge
built by the giant finn mccool.

He built it for a
showdown with his rival,

An oversized scottish
rogue named benandonner

Who lived across the
north channel in scotland.

Or so some would
have you believe.

>> the giant's causeway
is more than rocks.

I have listened to stories about
a giant called finn mccool

All my life.

And I've been working
here for 30 years.

I've been sharing them
stories with visitors

Virtually all my life.

>> it's easy to imagine why
early inhabitants would credit

A mythic giant with the creation
of this extraordinary setting.

But the 40,000
interlocking basalt columns

Of the giant's causeway
were actually formed

By a volcanic event more
than 50 million years ago.

Deep below the surface,
shifting tectonic plates

Forced massive volumes of
molten rock through fissures

In the surface to create
layers of basalt rock.

Wind, rain and waves
carved a valley.

More volcanic
eruptions followed.

Lava flowed quickly
in thick streams.

>> the valley filled up
with lava until it was
100 meters deep.

It was 1,200 degrees celsius.

And it's like everything.

If you boil a kettle
it will cool down.

The pool of lava
had to cool down.

>> lava at the bottom of
the valley cooled slowly.

Then, like mud in a shallow
pond on a hot day,

As the lava cooled it contracted
and cracked in even patterns.

During the ice age,

Glaciers scraped away at
the top layers of rock.

When the ice retreated,
sea levels rose,

And pounding waves wore
away at more rock.

Variations in the
rate of cooling

Produced the honeycomb-like
monument that stands today.

Columns can reach 39 feet tall.

While the solid lava
deposits in the cliffs

Measure more than
90 feet thick.

High seas pound the rocks
of the giant's causeway.

Ireland is known for
its volatile weather,

And here on the
north-east coast,

Sea mist can roll in quickly.

Navigation can be treacherous,

And ships need to
steer clear of the rocks.

The coastline that
surrounds giant's causeway

Has caused many wrecks.

In 1588, more than
1,000 seamen died when a

Spanish military ship loaded
with treasures sank here.

Today, these formations

Also go by the name
spaniard rock.

There are many versions of the
legend of the giant's causeway.

Some say finn
destroyed the bridge he built.

Others say the scottish
giant destroyed it.

But no one disputes why the
legend arose in the first place.

Eighty miles across
the north channel,

On the scottish
island of staffa,

There are basalt columns

Identical to those found
on the giant's causeway.

The columns at staffa are
part of the same lava field

That built the
giant's causeway,

And have fueled its
long-standing legend.

The giant's causeway has been
a tourist draw for 300 years.

More than half a million
people visit each year.

It is the by far the most
popular tourist attraction

In northern ireland.

Geological studies here
have contributed greatly

To our understanding
of basaltic volcanism.

In 1986, the causeway
was declared

A unesco world heritage site.

Today it's owned and managed by
the national trust in the uk,

To protect this iconic
segment of irish heritage

For future generations.

>> when this site was
actually privately owned,

The site was quarried.

There was a serious lot
of stones took off it.

The national trust
bought the site.

When they bought
the site all that stopped.

You know, no more
stones left the site.

>> a good thing, too.

No one wants a giant
at their door

Looking for his stolen rocks.

Some rocks near the causeway,
carved by millions of years

Of erosion, resemble elements
of finn mccool's world:

The chimney stacks,

The organ,

And the giant's boot.

The boot is one of the
most popular features

On the causeway.

Based on the size of the boot,
it's estimated that finn

Would have been
more than 50 feet tall.

>> it's a boot.

You know, it's the
shape of a boot.

I believe it's a boot.

I believe the giant
finn mccool left it there

For us to have a look at.

It's a size 93 and a half.

A geologist would totally
disagree with you.

>> the same period of
extreme volcanic activity

That created the giant's
causeway also gave rise

To slieve gullion
100 miles to the south.

>> slieve gullion is known as
the most mysterious mountain

In ireland.

And it's got lots of myths
and legends associated with it.

And it's the eroded
heart of a volcano.

>> more than 60 million
years ago, volcanic turmoil
far beneath

The surface caused the original
slieve gullion volcano

To collapse into a great
chamber far below.

The magma in this chamber

Slowly cooled to form the
solid granite seen today.

Surrounding the volcano was a
circular fracture in the rocks,

Seven miles in diameter.

Magma rose through this
crack and cooled,

Forming what's known
as a ring dyke,

Leaving a circle of hills
around slieve gullion,

Known today as
the ring of gullion.

The landscape here
has been designated

As an area of
outstanding natural beauty,

And is home to a
vibrant floral community.

>> slieve gullion is
designated as a special
area of conservation.

This heather is
very, very special.

We've got ling heather
and bell heather.

You can still see the lovely
purple shades up the mountain.

>> tales of the irish giant
finn mccool

Dwell in slieve gullion
as well.

The landscape has
ignited the imaginations

Of settlers old and new.

>> people here living nowadays,
they draw inspiration

From the mountain and
those myths and legends

And those characters
in their past.

On a day like today whenever
we do have that low-lying mist,

It's fantastic because we can
see the peaks of the ring dyke

Peeking through all that mist.

You can just imagine whenever
those myths and legends

And those characters in the
past were roaming around here

And it's very easy to see
why this is one of the most

Mystical mountains in ireland.

>> the legend of finn mccool
extends from slieve gullion

In the east, all the way west
to the slieve league cliffs.

At the base of the cliffs,

In the grey mountains
of county donegal,

Two sea stacks - the
giant's desk and chair -

Are said to be
where finn mccool

Drew up his plans for
the giant's causeway.

But there's more here
than the office furniture

Of an angry giant.

>> the big significance
here I suppose

Is the sheer size
in the landscape.

So it's notable from the
sea, so early mariners,

People coming to ireland over
the times, would've seen it.

It would've been a
landmark for them.

>> the majestic cliffs
of slieve league

Rise nearly 2,000 feet
above the ocean.

They are the highest
sea cliffs in ireland,

Twice as tall as the more
famous cliffs of moher.

Their origins are
just as remarkable.

>> about 200 million years ago,
ourselves and the appalachians

Were all the one mountain system
way down south of the equator

And over time the whole
system moved up north

And divided apart.

>> slieve league has been
recognized as the official

Landfall for the international
appalachian trail.

These mountains are
the trans-atlantic,

Geologic extension
of north america's

Appalachian mountains.

The rock here has
been directly linked

To that on the east
coast of canada.

>> our nearest neighbor
in those times

Would've been newfoundland.

So you can see where
the irish connection

Was in newfoundland even way
before the people were there.

>> the crashing waves below
seem quiet from so high above.

And although slieve league's
steep face plunges straight into

The powerful atlantic,
erosion by waves has played

Only a minor role in
shaping this part of the coast.

Slieve league was carved
not by water, but by glaciers.

>> this whole area here
would've been under ice

Maybe 70 to 100 meters deep
and the ice has ground out

And very much
shaped the cliffs.

We had thousands of years
of ice here up until about

10,000 years ago at
the end of the last ice age.

But right behind me here
down in the cove there

With the giant's
desk and chair,

Was a glacier there
for thousands of years.

>> research suggests that
the ice sheet that covered
slieve league

May have been
nearly half a mile thick.

Deep enough to
encase the summit.

The enormous weight of
that volume of ice would have

Depressed the earth's
surface by as much as 650 feet.

Slieve league's dizzying slopes
rise to the ridges and trails

Used by hikers to traverse
this natural wonder.

Leading to the summit is a trail
known as one man's pass.

It is an arete, a
knife-like ridge of rock

Formed when two glaciers erode
parallel, opposing valleys.

It offers breathtaking views
for hikers with good balance

And nerves of steel.

>> most people can cross
the one man's pass.

But it's a section of the trail
that's about a half mile long

That's only two foot wide.

You've a drop down to the ocean
of over 1800 feet.

I always lean the other way,

It's only 1400 feet
down to a wee lake.

Some people will crawl it,
some people will walk it,

Some people will pray on it.

>> the otherworldly majesty
of slieve league

Has drawn and inspired
giants and mere mortals alike

Over hundreds if not
thousands of years.

Some seek to connect
with a higher power.

>> there's a christian
pilgrimage going on here

For almost 2000 years,

Since the early christian
monks settled up here.

And these pilgrimages we
know go back pre-christian

And archaeological
evidence will show us

That there was people living,
or doing things

On these mountains
way before christianity.

>> the cliffs are also home to
military installations built

To watch over the possible
trespasses of a french emperor.

>> these signal towers,
the british built them here

From 1803 until
about 1806 or 1807.

And they built a
whole series of these

Right around the
coast of ireland.

They were watching out
for napoleon.

The british were afraid he would
invade ireland, arm the irish,

And then maybe chase
them out and invade britain.

So this system was set up -

An early watch system
basically is what they are.

And they're
still standing today.

>> shaped by glaciers,
the cliffs of slieve league

Are a breathtaking example
of ireland's natural beauty.

>> you couldn't be
closer to nature than here.

You have the ocean,
the sky, the light,

The wind even in your hair.

You can just get lost in nature.

You couldn't be
in a better place.

>> ireland: Small in size,
but epic in wonder.

Its vistas and wild spaces are
fit for ancient, mythical heroes

And 21st-century explorers.

It is surrounded by the sea,

Yet tied to other lands
far across the ocean.

Here, rock and water are
locked in constant struggle,

Keeping the earth
in a state of flux,

Ensuring that nothing
is set in stone forever.

Ireland's mountains and cliffs,
its valleys and lakes,

Will continue to rise and fall
with the passage of time

On a scale far beyond the
realm of mere mortals.

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