Holiday in Aran Islands - west coast of Ireland

From Galway Bay you can catch the ferry and visit the Aran Islands. These islands are a step into a different era. The largest of the three is Inishmore and is the only one to have a designated port-town, Kilronan. Almost all of the visitors come ashore here and a fair number leave with one of the trademark fishermen's sweaters, which are still made here. There are minibus tours, but it is best to explore either by bicycle, or better still, on foot. There are a few self-catering properties to rent on the Aran Islands and if you want a remote and isolated cottage then this is a great place to stay. The landscape is as severe as it could be. There are virtually no trees and what little topsoil there is has been built up by hand out of seaweed, sand, manure, and compost, and is saved from blowing away by dry-stone walls. The walls are something of a feature in themselves having been built over the generations from unwanted stone cleared from the fields, and although made from loosely packed, and unmortared, limestone they act as effective wind breaks. The most visited attraction is Dunaengus on the west coast of Inishmore. This is an incredible 2000 year-old fortress sited on the top of a 300ft cliff, with no one to come between you and Canada. There is a second one, Dun Duchathair, a couple of miles to the south, not so well preserved but less well visited, and so you have more of a chance to explore and marvel at the 20ft thick walls and the labyrinth at its centre. The other two islands, Inisheer, and Inishmaan, are worth a day trip and it is more likely that you will hear Irish being spoken on these than on Inishmore.

Irish tourist information

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