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| Paris at Dun Aengus |
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| Dun Angues |
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| Cliffs at Dun Aengus |
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| View from Dun Angues |
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| Paris, on trail to Dun Aengeus |
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| Cross at The Seven Churches ruins |
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| Cliffs at Dun Aengus |
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| Paris, top right, Dun Angeus |
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| Herron |
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| Cemetery near Rossaveal |
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| Man attending pots? |
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| Irish Coast Guard Helicopter |
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| Helicopter paramedic |
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| Lowering crewman to ferry |
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| Inis Mor |
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Kilronan Village
Inis Mor
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| Horse cart for hire |
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| Church ruins |
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| Sailors lost at sea monument |
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| Marathon volunteer |
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| Thatched roof house |
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| Trail to Dun Angeus |
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| Dun Angeus, pre historic ring fort |
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| Coast view from Dun Angeus |
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| Josephine, Judy and Paris at Dun Angeus |
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| Paris at Dun Angeus |
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| View from Dun Angeus |
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| Another ring wall around Dun Angeus |
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| Paris at Dun Angeus |
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| Currach, at house featured in a movie |
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| Site of the seven churches ruins |
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| Paris viewing graves in church |
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| Artifacts |
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| Celtic inscriptions, tombstome |
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| Slab for rain water collection |
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| Minature houses |
W. B. Yeats' advice to another writer: "Go to the Aran Islands, and find a life that has never been expressed in literature."
The Aran islands have had an influence on world literature and arts disproportionate to their size. The unusual cultural and physical history of the islands has made them the object of visits by a variety of writers and travellers who recorded their experiences.
Some reasons why people historically chose live on the Aryan islands:
- Isolated from mainstream print and electronic media, and thus reliant primarily on local oral tradition for both entertainment and news.
- Rarely visited or understood by outsiders.
- Strongly influenced in its traditions and attitudes by the unusually savage weather of Galway Bay.
- In many parts characterized by subsistence, or near-subsistence, farming and fishing.
- Adapted to the absence of luxuries that many parts of the Western world had enjoyed for decades and in some cases, centuries.
We picked a fine day for our first trip to the renowned Aran Islands, off the coast of western Ireland. We can see them in the distance from our house in Carna. Inish Mor is the largest and most popular, where we headed today. Justine's mother Josephine, and one of Justine's sisters, Judy, went with Paris and myself on this trip. They are here for a couple of weeks, exploring Ireland in the Spring, and venturing with Justine to Paris and London. Justine's family had lived for a year in France, when she was growing up.
We took the passenger ferry to Inis Mor. There is also a cargo only ferry going there 3 days per week, taking food and other goods. I was suprised how reasonable the food cost in the only food store on the island.
We were treated to quite a spectacle on the ferry ride. The Coast Guard helicopter came across the sea towards the ferry. I had an inkling what might happen next. The helicopter came up behind the stern, hovering at perhaps seventy five feet. I had a great view, having staked out a position at the 2nd level stern railing. The noise was deafening. The paramedic (whom I recognized from the time I called in a helicopter evacuation at Carna) lowered a crew member to just above the water, then the helicopter moved up hovering over the stern, as the man dropped onto the deck, all while the ferry was at full steam. Then, the helicopter lowered a basket, and finally the crew member was hoisted back up, with the basket. I talked to a ferry crew member, who said the Coast Guard does this regularly. They also do evacuations from the Aran Islands. He mentioned the pregnant women leave the island a week before their delivery date. There is on doctor on the island. The helicoptor crew got quite a hand from the hundred ferry passengers on the deck.
Inish Mor is famous for its strong Irish culture, loyalty to the Irish language, and a wealth of Pre-Christian and Christian ancient sites including Dún Aengus, described as "the most magnificent barbaric monument in Europe." Wikipedia says: The islands were first populated in larger numbers probably at the time of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland in the mid 17th century, when the Catholic population of Ireland had the choice of going "to hell or to Connacht". Many fled to the numerous islands off the west coast of Ireland where they adapted themselves to the raw climatic conditions, developing a survival system of total self-sufficiency. Their methods included mixing layers of sand and seaweed on top of rocks to create fertile soil, a technique used to grow potatoes and other vegetables. The same seaweed method also provided grazing grass within stone-wall enclosures for cattle and sheep, which in turn provided wool and yarn to make handwoven trousers, skirts and jackets, hand-knitted sweaters, shawls, caps, and hide shoes. The islanders also constructed unique boats for fishing, building their thatched cottages from the materials available or trading with the mainland.
You have to live on the island for seven years, and be fluent in Irish, before you can build a house there. There are around eight hundred occupants on Inis Mor. Tourism is the main employer. We decided to take a tour van, in order to maximize our time at the sites. It costs ten euros,and takes 3 hours, including 1.5 hours at Dun Angeus, the major attraction. The other transportation modes included horse drawn cart and bicycles. There was a marathon run happening, so we weaved in and out of runners on the narrow streets leaving the port.
We arrived at the path to Dun Angeus, walking up the hill to the ancient ring fort, 3,500 years old Josephine, who is 84, made it as well. From Wiki: The fort consists of a series of four concentric walls of dry stone construction, built on a high cliff some one hundred metres above the sea. Surviving stonework is four metres wide at some points. The original shape was presumably oval or D-shaped but parts of the cliff and fort have since collapsed into the sea. The limestone continues to erode. One day, this magnificant site will disappear. Outside the third ring of walls lies a defensive system of stone slabs, known as a cheval de frise, planted in an upright position in the ground and still largely well-preserved. These ruins also feature a huge rectangular stone slab, the function of which is unknown. Impressively large among prehistoric ruins, the outermost wall of Dún Aonghasa encloses an area of approximately 6 hectares (14 acres). Although clearly defensible, the particular location of Dún Aonghusa suggests that its primary purpose was religious and ceremonial rather than military. It may have been used for seasonal rites by the druids, perhaps involving the bonfires that could be seen from the mainland of Ireland. The location also provides a view of as much as 120 km (75 mi) of coastline, which may have allowed for control over a coastal trading highway.
The fort and vistas were quite impressive. Paris marvelled at the fact that there was no fence at the cliff edge. Dun Aengus has to be the one of the most impressive scenes of all of Ireland. A trivia point, the closing scene of the film Leap Year was filmed here.
Our other major tour stop was at the ruins of The Seven Churches (Na Seacht Teampaill). The Seven Churches is actually a monastic ruin, and there are not actually seven churches. This ruin dates back to the 8th century and there used to be 7 churches, but now only 2 are left. There were old graves covered by stone slabs. We saw a grave marker with Celtic inscriptions.
We wrapped up our visit with a nice lunch and some souvenir shopping back in Kilronan Village. I envision returning and bicycling this island for a weekend. There are more forts and sites to see. An incredible trip.
