Ireland Day 6: Inishmore Island

On Day 6 David and Tracey treated us to a grand excursion to the Aran Isle of Inishmore.  The journey involved a short drive from their house to the ferry terminal at Doolin. From there we jumped on the Happy Hooker.

Just kidding. We got on a large ferry with probably 80 or more passengers. It was a very fine day - warm and sunny - which appeared to be a lure to the locals. We were concerned the young adults imbibing in copious drink were oblivious to the strength of the sun on their quickly-reddening fair skin. Anyway, it was a lovely day for a boat ride across calm seas.  

As we had 3-4 miles of the North Atlantic Ocean to cross, there was even time for Drew to nap.

The Aran Islands are a group of islands off the west coast of Ireland. Our destination was Inishmore the largest of the Arans. 

We rented bicycles to explore the island after fueling up with a donut. 

 All the Arans are quite barren now but at some point they must have had enough soil to support growing enough food to feed a population large enough to create and defend a massive network of stone structures and walls.

The biggest complex is Dun Aonghasa, an impressive Bronze Age hill fort positioned close to a sheltered harbor at the narrowest point of the island and on the highest cliff, where it could dominate the island. 

(not my photo - credit here )

The walls are up to 5 meters high and 6 meters thick. That’s a lot of rock to move 3000 years ago without machinery. 

The bedrock is jointed limestone.

It forms vertical cliffs that have no guardrails! 

On the return ferry ride we caught a glimpse of the famous Cliffs of Moher. Maybe someday we’ll be back to visit them up close. 

What a splendid day. I’m so happy to have had a local guide to take us out to these islands. I don’t know that we would have taken this excursion had it not been for David’s suggestion, but I’m sure glad we did. 

We bid our friends goodbye and off we drove to our next B&B in Killarney.