Aillwee Cave
One Of the Oldest
Caves In Ireland
Inspiring Awareness of the Burren Underground
Landscape Overlooking the Wild Atlantic Way
Aillwee Cave
350 million years of history
One Of the Oldest
Caves In Ireland
Inspiring Awareness of the Burren Underground
Landscape Overlooking the Wild Atlantic Way
Located in the heart of The Burren, County Clare. Forty minutes from Galway and Shannon. Perched high on its Burren terraced hillside with what has to be one of the most spectacular views of Galway Bay. Aillwee Cave is a must visit for all who find themselves in The Burren.
An ancient, dramatic underworld awaits at Aillwee Cave
An ancient, dramatic underworld awaits at Aillwee Cave
Enjoy a 45-minute guided walk through stunning underground caverns, led by our expert guides who share fascinating stories along the way.
Tour highlights:
Walk over bridged chasms and under surreal rock formations
Feel the mist from a thunderous underground waterfall
See the frozen waterfall and rare bones of the extinct brown bear (Ursus arctos)
After your tour, return to the surface and explore our award-winning visitor centre, home to a unique gift shop with locally inspired products.
Tours run regularly throughout the day
Simply show your pre-booked ticket on arrival — we’ll take care of the rest
Cave Development
The guided cave tour has been sympathetically developed five times in almost 50 years, now offering an 850-metre round trip deep into Aillwee Mountain, with 90 metres of limestone overhead at its deepest point.
What to Expect:
45-minute guided walk through chasms, caverns, and calcite formations
Stroll over bridges, beneath surreal rock shapes, and beside underground waterfalls
Discover hibernation chambers and European brown bear remains (10,500 to 4,500 years old)
Learn how time and water shaped this unique underground landscape
More Than a Tour:
The cave has hosted:
Theatre, opera, and ballad performances
Ghost tours, bike races, and even a fashion show
Each Christmas, Santa’s Workshop delights families, celebrating over 25 years of festive magic
Aillwee Cave offers an unforgettable mix of nature, history, and imagination — deep in the heart of the Burren.
A Glimpse into Prehistoric Ireland
Aillwee Cave’sAncient Bear
Aillwee Cave’sAncient Bear
The Aillwee bear skull, radiocarbon dated to 10,400 years ago, belongs to the Early Mesolithic Period — making it one of the oldest known bear remains in Ireland.
What We Know:
Ireland’s population at that time was likely under 1,000
Nomadic hunter-gatherers roamed the land, living off wild pig, salmon, eel, and hazelnuts
The Burren was forested — essential for a brown bear’s survival
This bear was a young male (1–5 years old), likely using the cave for hibernation
Other Remarkable Finds:
A bear bone from Glencurran Cave (7km away) is 9,000 years old
A bear tibia from Aillwee, dated to 4,600 years ago (Late Neolithic), shows butchering marks — early evidence of human interaction
This period saw the rise of monuments like Newgrange and the Poulnabrone portal tomb, which predates the Neolithic Aillwee bear by nearly 1,000 years
Even as Poulnabrone served as a ritual site, bears still roamed the Burren’s ancient forests, leaving behind a deep, natural history captured within Aillwee Cave.
