Western Ireland

We got away around 9am and headed north east towards Galway with the vague plan of getting to Clifden or around the Connemara region for the night.

We passed through Tipperary and Limerick passing through some amazing scenery and stopped in Ennis for lunch. Ennis was the first town we had been to that seemed like it was ‘alive’. There were people in the streets, most shops were filled and open, and people seemed to be happy. We left saying how much we liked Ennis.



Galway was even more vibrant that Ennis. A great and bustling town. From Galway we went west, the roads getting more winding and narrow and following the coast. We discussed the idea of visiting the Aran Islands. After a bit of inquiry Steve made the executive decision that we would take the late afternoon ferry over, stay overnight and then come back on the morning ferry. This turned out to be a great decision.

We had a couple of hours to kill before getting the ferry over. There was little around so headed to the pub for a drink and books in hand. It had about 8 locals and us. Listening to the locals chat we realised they were all speaking in Gaelic. To me it sounded a bit like the Swedish Chef off the Muppets but with your tongue drawn back into your throat all along. After one drink I was a little restless and decided for a stroll.

The few houses were robust against the cold and windy weather they surely get here. Last winter they had extremes of -15C which is quite rare for them. Their biggest disappointment is the hedges are all burned and dead as are some other plants. Spotting a little supermarket (like a 7-11) with an internet cafe we all headed there to catch up and post a blog.
The Aran islands are a group of 3. We were heading to the largest, Inis More and departing the mainland at 6:30pm. The ferry trip was a little bouncy and took around 40mins. As we approached the landscape could be noted as beautiful or bleak. I thought it beautiful and like a scene from a book or movie. The houses were solid little structures, the landscape had low lying plants and what few trees there was were low growing and hardy.


We prebooked a B&B at the ferry ticket office and were greeted by the owner in his van at the harbour. The B&B was basic but clean and there was not much choice given the population of the island is only 800. Our host pointed out a couple of options for dinner. There was NOT alot of choice. After a bit of a wander we chose one of the 2 pubs. It was a good atmosphere and after a good meal and a bottle of wine we headed back (5 mins walk) to our beds for an earlyish night.
There is a tour we could take and our host Martin kindly agreed to take us at 6:00am the next morning so we could get the 8:15 ferry back. FYI- he couldn’t do it at night even though it was light, as he goes to the pub every night. And tourist or no tourist... that’s what he does!!! I loved his conviction on this point and thought.... yep... you do it once... and you are stuck doing it again and again.


It is believed the island was founded by North Africans approx 8000 yrs ago. Though I guess the Anglo’s came along at some point and booted them out. The Aran Islands have the most amazing rock walls everywhere. Martin pointed out a small area that showed how the island originally was. Basically a Big rock with small rocks all over it. In between the small rocks were some small ground plants. How anyone saw this and thought they could eke a living out of it amazed me.

Apparently they gathered up the rocks, built the walls with them and proceeded to fill the ‘field’ they had made with sand and seaweed. This eventually gave them a basis from which to grow stuff. They averaged one field a year. You can see by the close up, the stones are more vertical with gaps to allow the wind to pass through and not know them over. It was quite beautiful when you got at the right angle and could see the sun through them.



On this particular island there is one main attraction. It’s called Dun Aongus and is an old fort and possible meeting place. Well it was incredible. All the more as were 3 were the only ones there at this early hour.

Apparently there were full circles but now there are only half circles left. This is due to erosion and the collapse into the sea 300ft below. It was a little scary near the edge I can tell you.
BEEutiful self portrait standing in the inner of the 4 circles. This is a view of the island from Dun Aongus. Its only about 30 sq km.
Once off the island we headed straight to Derry/ Londonderry through Westport, Sligo and Omagh.
OK>>> call me ignorant but I didn’t know that Northern Ireland had a different currency to Ireland and that it is considered England NOT Ireland. I KNEW there are issues ... but clearly have not been paying enough attention to the details.