A trip to the edge of the world
Trip Start
May 04, 2010
1
31
38
Trip End
Jun 01, 2010
Aran Islands, Western Ireland, Ireland
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Then we caught the ferry from Rossaveel over to Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands. The landscape is harsh, with steep, rugged cliffs and windswpt rocky fields divided up by many stone walls. The land is too exposed and severe for any trees to grow. However there's a stark beauty about the islands and the simple lives the people eke out of six inches of topsoil and the sea. Very little of the land is productive, and so the islanders created soil by dragging seaweed up and layering it on the limestone. Nowadays it's clear that the main industry of the islands is tourism. Only 800 people live there permanently but the islands get up to 2000 visitors a day.
The best sight of the Aran Islands is Dun Aenghus, which is a 2000 year old Celtic fortress hanging precariously on the edge of a cliff 300 feet above the Atlantic. This was a spectacular sight and we truly felt as though we've come to the edge of the world, definitely one of my favourite parts of the trip. The pictures don't do it justice, especially not the sound of the waves crashing againt the cliff.
We stopped a few more times to explore Inishmore before heading back on the ferry over to Galway for the night.
