Aran Islands

Today was the changeover day in Galway from our pretour to Northern Ireland to our Grand Circle “Ireland in Depth” tour. New tour members would be arriving today. For the pretour people, we had a free day. Seven of us decided to visit Inishmore, one of the three Aran Islands off the coast of Galway. We took the ferry in this photo to Inishmore, but first a hour–long bus ride from Galway to the dock, then a 45–minute ferry ride to the island. There were 250–300 other passengers on our ferry ride.

Aran Islands
Inishmore
Transportation
Countryside
Teampall Bhreacain
Coastline
Lunchtime
Dun Aengus Fort
Church Ruin
Kilronan

Aran Islands

Today was the changeover day in Galway from our pretour to Northern Ireland to our Grand Circle “Ireland in Depth” tour. New tour members would be arriving today. For the pretour people, we had a free day. Seven of us decided to visit Inishmore, one of the three Aran Islands off the coast of Galway. We took the ferry in this photo to Inishmore, but first a hour–long bus ride from Galway to the dock, then a 45–minute ferry ride to the island. There were 250–300 other passengers on our ferry ride.

Inishmore

Photo: Arriving at Inishmore, the largest of the three Aran Islands. The population of Inishmore is about 830 and there is only one real town, Kilronan, where the ferry dropped us off.

 

Transportation

There are several ways to get around the island. One is by horse and cart, which is an expensive alternative to sightseeing by minibus, which we did. People also rent bicycles or just hike. There are accommodations on the island to spend the night or a few days.

Countryside

There are many farms on Inishmore. The terrain is rocky but grass and some crops grow easily on it. Old buildings remain such as this thatched roof dry stone barn.

Teampall Bhreacain

There are also many buildings in ruins on the island––churches, houses, forts, etc. This photo of is the Seven Churches, though only two churches remain on the site. This one is Teampall Bhreacain, part of it dating back to the 8th century. St. Breacan, founder of the church, is buried in the churchyard. Inishmore was a center of Christianity in the early Middle Ages.

Coastline

Inishmore has a wild and rugged coastline.

Lunchtime

This is one of two places where we could have lunch on our sightseeing tour. I ate at this restaurant and had beef Guinness stew––I thought it was okay but other people really liked it. There were also some stores selling sweaters and other items here.

Dun Aengus Fort

The path to the Dun Aengus (Dun Aoghasa) fort dating back to 1100 BC was near the restaurant. The fort is a 1/2–mile walk (1–km) walk up a steep rocky hill of uneven terrain. It is the major site on Inishmore but I think only one in our group climbed up to see it. The fort is from circa 1100 BC and is of three rows of half–circles at the cliff’s edge. There are no guardrails. (Photo borrowed.) This is one of those cases in which I wish I had at least attempted the climb up the hill instead of deciding beforehand that I wouldn’t have made it up.

Church Ruin

An impressive church ruin.

Kilronan

Back to the town of Kilronan. Our tour of Inishmore was over. We got back on the ferry and after the ferry ride, the bus ride back to Galway, and then a taxi ride back to our hotel, we arrived there somewhat over two hours later. We got back in time to go to the welcome dinner for our new tour members.

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