We drove north out of County Kerry and spent the night at tiny Rossaveel before catching the morning passenger ferry to Inishmore, one of the Aran Isles.
Inishmore reminded me of my visit to the Outer Hebredes – Lewis and Harris – many years ago. That is to say, the place is mostly rocks and grass and there’s not a lot going on. The difference, and it’s a BIG one, is that the Hebredes are Free Church of Scotland folks. Pretty severe and not a lot of fun. We were encouraged not to travel about the Island on Sunday. That did not happen.
By contrast, Inishmore is, well, Irish. Pubs, music, friendly folk. As they say, good craic. We hired bicycles, as does almost everyone, and rode about four miles to take the short hike to Dún Aonghasa, the oldest stone fort in Western Europe. I think you’ll see similarities to the fort I showed you in my earlier post.
Clai Bán Bed and Breakfast, our Island home. That’s their two “retired” donkeys playing with their food tray. The pub scene next door at Joe Watty’s ticked all the boxes.
After dropping our luggage, we walked to one of the many bike hire shops, hired a pair, and set off for the fort. The shops also hire eBikes and, to their shame, many people took them. When asked, I always reply, “We’ll get eBikes when we get old.”
We arose early, by our standards anyway, the next morning for another bike ride before catching the noon ferry.
Let’s take a last look around the village before we go.
These scenes I am seeing seem worthy of being sets for movies! I was reminded of two:
Just in time for Hallowe’en:
Grabbers is a 2012 monster horror comedy film directed by Jon Wright and written by Kevin Lehane. A co-production of Ireland and the United Kingdom, the film stars Richard Coyle, Ruth Bradley, Bronagh Gallagher and Russell Tovey among an ensemble cast of Irish actors.[3]
Grabbers premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012, and received mostly positive reviews upon release.
Mary Anne would like this one:
Leap Year (2010)
Can’t wait until you get back! I’ve got the DVD’s! Thanks for another travel glimpse! MEB
Those cliffs are stunning. And love the sunshine. I’m particularly interested in that gate, as I would never have suspected its purpose.
As to the Hebrides, while we were lowlanders my maternal grandfather was raised as a Wee Free, And my mother said Sundays were extremely strict. No music on the radio, etc. pretty much no.fun was allowed .The only thing they could do is go for walks and so she usually turned that into a hiking afternoon. Other than that, though, you would not have known. And he loosened up in his later years.