Burren College of Art

The Burren College of Art is a small, independent art school on the grounds of Newtown Castle, near Ballyvaughan in County Clare. It sits within the Burren, the distinctive limestone landscape of the county’s northwest coast along the Wild Atlantic Way, and takes much of its character from that setting.

The college was founded in 1993 by Michael Greene and Mary Hawkes Greene, who restored the sixteenth-century tower house of Newtown Castle and its surrounding grounds to create the campus. Today it offers fine art education at undergraduate and postgraduate level, along with summer schools, workshops and artist residencies, and it operates as a non-profit institution.

For visitors, the main point of public interest is The Gallery, opened in 2005 as part of a complex that also houses the college’s studios. It presents changing exhibitions of contemporary art, and shows are open to the public free of charge. There is also a café on site. The combination of a working art school, a public gallery and the historic castle set against the Burren makes for a rewarding stop for anyone exploring the area.