Early Spring Tours in the Burren – Lesser Celandine, one of the first to bloom
The Burren is famous for its wildflowers, and if you join an e-whizz tour any time between March and October, you are bound to see some of our native wildflowers. During your e-bike tour, we will make sure to show you the native wildflower varieties that are growing at the time. Your guide will also explain the importance of these varieties to the ecosystem, in particular to the insects, birds and animals that live in the Burren, but also the folklore around the specific varieties and the uses that the local people make of some of them.
The varieties you will see vary greatly from month to month, and in this post we will examine one of the earliest of our native wildflower varieties, the lesser celandine. In 2026, we saw our first celandine in early February, and some years they can be even earlier.
Lesser Celandine
Irish name: Grán Arcáin
The lesser celandine has shiny, narrow yellow 8-12 petalled flowers (20-30mm across), and it blooms in woods, by rivers, in hedge-banks and roadsides between February and May. Its flowers bloom from dark-green, heart-shaped leaves and open in sunshine, closing up in overcast conditions and at night. As one of the first flowers to bloom in Spring in the Burren, it is important for nectar-seeking insects before other varieties bloom, and their visits help the plant’s pollination, . This is one of Ireland’s native plants. It occurs all over Ireland and the UK, though is rare in many areas because of the heavy use of agricultural fertilisers, which prevent its growth.
‘There is a Flower, the Lesser Celandine,
That shrinks, like many more, from cold and rain;
And, at the first moment that the sun may shine,
Bright as the sun itself, ’tis out again!’
From The Small Celandine William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
Perhaps not quite so poetic, this wildflower was used for home remedies in times gone by. It is also known as ‘Pilewort’ as its use was thought to be beneficial in the treatment of haemorrhoids. It was also known as ‘Scurvywort’ for the use of its Vitamin C containing leaves. However, today, these plants are protected, and we do not encourage the picking of any wildflowers in the Burren, as to do so would affect the insects, birds and animals that rely on them for survival.
What is the meaning of ‘wort’
There are many plants in the Burren with the suffix ‘wort’, which indicates that they were used for healing purposes. We will see more varieties over the course of the year on this blog.