Aran Island: Inishere (Inis Oirr)

Yesterday we woke early (as you may remember from my previous post...there was a noisy cow involved) and headed to breakfast provided by our B&B. We were already very impressed with the dinner we had here and the breakfast lived up to the expectations! I had a full Irish Breakfast (which was delicious) and Shawn finally got his pancakes! His pancakes had fruit and real maple syrup. He was in heaven!

We headed out to catch our ferry to the Aran Islands after breakfast. The ferry ride to Inis Oirr is only about 30 minutes from Doolin so it didn't take too long. The ride was really nice, although a bit chilly on the water at 9:30am. I have a ton more pictures of the island, but the internet here is not great, so you'll have to wait for those!

On approaching the island you can see a lighthouse on the Southern tip and on the Eastern shore is a visible shipwreak. The entire island is pretty small though (this is the smallest of the three Aran Islands) and you can walk the entire island in 3 hours according to a pamphlet we got from the Doolin2Aran Ferry service. The pier of the island is in the center of the town on the Northern shore. The entire town is tiny! The population is only about 300 people or so. We did find animals grazing all over the island but the houses seem to be concentrated right in the area around the pier. There were some B&B's and a hostel, as well as cafes and of course, a pub. As soon as we got off the ferry there were people from the island offering to take you around the island in their van to tell you about it, or in a horse and buggy. There were lots of those, as we noticed from the horse droppings we discovered all over the roads! We decided to rent bikes for the time on the island. That turned out to be lots of fun, but a LOT of work! That island is rocky and hilly!

On the island everything is made of stone! There are stone fences that makes little grassy areas all over! There is a ruin from an old castle and once again, no signs warning you to enter at your own risk. So of course, Shawn had to climb around on it!

On a lot of the islands and over the main land there are remnants of old signal towers that were used back in the 1700's. Many on the main land are still in good condition, but this one had fallen apart. You can still see the house beside too. These signal towers were used in a similar way to the ones from LOTR. Interesting to see things like this that were used during war and conflict back...oh back a long time!

Well...I am out of pictures since my internet connection here blows. On the island we discovered a little shop where I bought a hat that was made on the island. So nice! It'll be great for the winter. We had lunch and a drink in the pub, which was totally packed! The beautiful weather is even bringing the natives out. We rode our bikes along the Western shore of the island and found an old well that is supposed to give you good luck if you see an eel in it. We did (wink wink). We also rode our bikes all the way to the lighthouse on the South. There is not road out there but we walked out to the ocean and enjoyed watching the waves crash on the rocks for a bit. This may have been the most beautiful place I've even seen!

Needless to say, we had a great time on the island. We both got some sun (our noses are red) and our legs (or I guess I should say my legs) were like jelly for the ride back to Doolin. I fell asleep on the ferry! We started our 1 hour ferry tour of the Cliffs of Moher when we got back...but I'll post pictures of that later!