March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Aran Island of Ireland> One of the Emerald Isle’s best bargains is tucked away on 3 tiny patches of land dotting the country’s west coast

The waves crashed upon the hull of the ferry and the green sea splashed my face as I stood at the bow railing. I looked out to the approaching land mass and could see the mountains high above rolling green hills. It was my first view of the Aran Islands.

Although they were the subject of a movie called “Man of Aran” and of novels including one by J.M. Synge, these rugged islands have remained largely undiscovered by U.S. tourists visiting Ireland. I was traveling out to the Aran Islands after having spent a week in the Galway area while on break from the University of Maine. Ireland is difficult enough to convey through words, so the challenge of describing a place that to me is more special then Ireland itself is daunting.

I first heard about the Aran Islands from my mother, who had owned a hand-knit Aran sweater. My parents had lived in England for more than three years while my father was in the Air Force. It was then that my mother fell in love with that Aran sweater. When I told her that I was going to visit the Aran Islands, immediately I was given the mission to get her another sweater.

The Aran Islands are accessible by taking Aran Ferries or by flying on Aer Arann. I took the ferry out, as do most travelers. Aran Ferries departs from Rossaveal, a small fishing community on Ireland’s west coast. The ride normally takes 45 minutes, but the day I was traveling the seas were rough and it took more than an hour.

There are actually three Aran Islands, named Inishmore, Inishmaan and Inisheer. I was traveling to the largest, Inishmore, which is more than 8 miles long and about 2 miles wide. The other two islands are accessible by boat and ferry, but they aren’t as frequently visited.

The ferry soon arrived at the village of Kilronaan. I later would learn that Kilronaan is home to three pubs, one grocery store, one restaurant and half a dozen craft shops. I had arrived at the Arans, population 1,612, to see all I could see.

I took a bus to the Mainistir House, a modest hostel about a mile from the center of the village. The Mainistir House is comfortable, with a spectacular ocean view. The stay cost 6 pounds 50 pence a night, about $10.

In the hostel’s sitting area in the front lobby, comfortable leather chairs have seated travelers from around the world. Soon after arriving I asked whether the hostel was preparing the vegetarian buffet I had read about in the brochures. The receptionist, a young woman named Catherine, informed me that a three-course buffet was to be served in about an hour. I paid 7 pounds, hoping that the meal would be worth more than the cost of the room itself. I soon would discover I had stumbled onto a bargain.

I learned from Catherine as she seated me an hour later that the owner of the hostel, Joel D’Anjou, serves up this meal nightly. Joining me as table guests for the evening were a couple from New Zealand taking time off from their jobs working with mentally handicapped youths to travel throughout Europe. Sitting next to me was a woman who had lived in South Africa for many years and who recently had returned to her home city of Dublin. The conversation turned out to be as rich as the fare.

The meal was served by candlelight on blue bone china. The first course was a creamy pumpkin soup accompanied by generous portions of fresh bread. For the main course, we moved to a table with large bowls full of fresh fare. I filled my plate with Caesar salad, stuffed roast beef (obviously an exception to the vegetarian theme), buttered pasta and fresh beets.

The final course was dessert. I enjoyed a heaping portion of English bread pudding covered with hot fudge sauce.

A few days before I left the United States, I could never have imagined myself here, thousands of miles from home, on a remote island off the coast of Ireland, eating a three-course meal by candlelight.

I went to bed early, worn out by the traveling and dinner conversation. I awoke to the warm Irish sun in my eyes, the beginning of a lovely day. From the kitchen I could smell hot coffee and tea.

Included in the price of the hostel was a continental breakfast. I dined on hot scones and a hearty bowl of oatmeal. After breakfast I decided to kill time before my friend Amanda Shannon and Frank Roberts, both from the University of Maine, were to arrive on the morning ferry. Amanda was a fellow student on the trip and Roberts was an accompanying professor.

I decided to hike from behind the hostel to a dirt road I thought to be about a quarter-mile away. I hiked over long, flat layers of limestone that cover most of the island. Numerous cracks in the limestone were filled with pockets of green vegetation. There were miles of stone walls. The mazelike obstacles became a problem, and I would often get stuck inside an area that had only one entrance or exit.

The solution was to look for a low point in the wall that lent itself to the movement of a few pieces of stone so I could climb over. I was careful to replace the stone after getting to the other side. Complicating matters were thorny bushes that grow over the ancient walls.

Nearing the road I chanced upon an interesting dog house. It was constructed entirely of stone, similar to ancient Celtic homes.

There was evidence that children had played in the area, leaving colored chalk marks on the side of the house.

Reaching the road, I found myself a good hike from the village pier. My next stop was a tidal beach adjacent to the pier. I gathered stones and watched the occasional seal out in the harbor. It was warm enough that I could take off my shoes and wade in the cool water. I hung around the beach until I could see the ferry in the distance, then made my way to the pier.

Only Amanda had made the journey. Glad to be on land again, she suggested we grab lunch before setting out to explore. We made our way to the Aran Fisherman, the only open restaurant on the island, for a lunch of sandwiches and apple pie.

Back at the pier, we talked about how we would get around the island. There are three options for travel on the Aran Islands. You can pay 5 pounds and ride by bus to the parts of the islands that are paved. The second option is to walk, but we decided that we wanted to cover a bit more ground and rented bikes. Amanda, a shrewd bargainer, got us the bikes for 7 pounds for two days, saving us each 3 pounds off the regular rate.

As we left the village of Kilronaan on our Diamond Back mountain bikes, we saw a black-and-white cat and nicknamed it “cat of Aran,” remembering the book and movie, “Man of Aran.”

We visited a craft shop called An Pucan located in a 500-year-old thatched house. The shop was across from Watty’s pub, up a small road. The craft shop, though very small, has its own Web site. Check out http://www.wombat.ie/pages/anpucan/ to see a picture of it. Amanda and I viewed the hand-knit sweaters, and purchased souvenirs.

We visited another shop, called Snamara. It had a variety of items for sale, including tea towels bearing a map of the island and descriptions of the knitting patterns for traditional Aran sweaters. I bought a ball of yarn for my mother, and postcards of island sights.

We then started our long bike journey around the island. The island has dozens of sheep, cows, mules, horses, cats and birds. Amanda felt it necessary to take pictures of most of them. While she took pictures I would walk around the area and take other pictures of the sea and of stone structures. We biked down a dirt road next to some fields. The road ended on a beach stacked with seaweed. We were curious what it was used for.

While we discussed the possibilities we noticed an older gentleman tending to the cows and fields nearby. He told us that the seaweed is used to make nylon and cattle feed and that the residents sell the seaweed once it is dry. The large, heavy stalks, resembling bones, are ground up in Kilkenny and are used throughout the country.

Amanda asked the man if he knew the story of the sealkies. The story tells of seals that once on land become almost human. Apparently Amanda had been asking everyone in Ireland, to determine whether the story was Irish in nature. No one had heard of the story, despite its having inspired the movie “The Secret of Roan Inish.” One fisherman, who had lived on the Aran Islands for more than 80 years, had never heard of it. We would find later that the only person in Ireland who was familiar with the story was from Minnesota.

We biked toward Kilmurvy Beach, about 3 miles from Kilronaan. Just before the beach we saw seals off the coast. It was hard to pull Amanda away from the sun and water so we could pedal inland. As we traveled around the island we saw only one other person walking, and were passed by two cars in a two-hour period.

We biked up long lanes with stone walls on both sides. The trail extended about 10 miles as we made our way back to Kilronaan, enjoying the peace and quiet. As we pedaled up to one of the highest points in the center of island, it was so quiet we could hear the waves crashing on a distant beach. It was completely relaxing.

We returned to our hostel, exhausted. We stayed up and talked to travelers, including the man from Minnesota who knew the story about the sealkies. He told us that he was on a scholarship to do history research at University College in Dublin. Some people coming in for the evening pointed out to us that a comet could be seen outside.

Amanda and I went out and saw what we later would learn was Comet Hale-Bopp. The view was superb, thanks to the lack of interfering light. The stars were in different positions, from our point of view, since we were seeing them from a different spot in the hemisphere.

The next morning we departed for Dun Aenghus, a large fort that dates from around 500 B.C. The fort was about a mile from the hostel. Amanda chose to walk with two other women who were going as well. I took my bike, and met them after stopping at the beach. I left my bike at the gate leading to the top of the hill where the fort stands.

The fort is made up of three concentric circles, the outermost stopping at the edge of cliffs 200 feet tall. The forts were designed to keep livestock safe, while at the same time keeping predators out. Stone is plentiful throughout the islands and cleared land for farming was scarce. The cliff edge, along with the walls, protected the earth and allowed development to continue.

Within the first two circles of stone are walks along the tops of the walls and a massive entrance passage. A prominent sign warns visitors not to get too close to the edge. Surrounding the two inner walls is a third composed of sharp stones standing close together. Such a stone defense is known as a chevaux-de-frise.

After walking around the fort and taking pictures as we both sat precariously on the edge of the outer wall, we made our way back to the base of the fort and a collection of small gift shops. I recommend the one selling sweaters, and another of a woman who makes candleholders and other objects of limestone found on the islands. She polishes them and makes them suitable for decoration in the home.

Amanda at this point departed with her friends to view the Seven Churches. It turns out there are actually only two churches; the rest are ruins of secular buildings. The churches date from the eighth century. A graveyard nearby has ruins of ornate crosses.

We made our way back to Kilronaan and, after visiting the one grocery store on the island, took the ferry back to the mainland. The boat was packed in the evening. I would recommend taking the morning ferry if possible both days of travel. On the way back Amanda and I talked about how much we had enjoyed the weekend on the islands. We were fortunate to have sunny weather, the temperature in the mid-60s. It was a perfect weekend in one of the best-kept secret places in Ireland.

Getting to the Aran Islands: contacts and phone numbers Island Ferries: 01-353-091-61767 Aer Arann: 01-353-091-93043 Mainister House: 01-353-099-61169 Aran Islands Hostel: 01-353-61255 For bed and breakfast accommodations, contact the Irish Tourist Board in all major Irish cities. For more links to Ireland on the Internet, visit my homepage at http://maine.maine.edu/ catwoo52/ and select the Ireland links hyperlink.


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