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Good Food
The New Ruins
Teampall Bheanain with Beehive Hut
Aran Island's new ferry passing Toward Lighthouse while on sea trials.
Characteristic Wild Atlantic Way signpost in Killeany Bay at Kilronan, the main settlement on the island of Inishmore, County Galway, Ireland
Some background information:
Inishmore (in Irish: "Árainn" resp. "Inis Mór") is the largest of the Aran Islands in Galway Bay, off the west coast of Ireland. With an area of 31 km2 (12 sq mi) and a population of currently 820, it is the second-largest island off the Irish coast (after Achill) and also the most populous of the Aran Islands. The other two Aran Islands are Inishmaan (in Irish: "Inis Meáin") and Inisheer (in Irish: "Inis Oírr").
The island is in the Irish-speaking Gaeltacht and has a strong Irish culture. Much of the island is karst landscape and it has a wealth of ancient and medieval sites including Dún Aonghasa, described as "the most magnificent barbaric monument in Europe". Although Inshmore is off the coast and only accessible by a ferry passage for pedestrians only of approx. one hour (from Rossaveel port), it is included in the Wild Atlantic Way route. A special signpost at Kilronan, the island’s main settlement, makes clear that even Inishmore off the Irish west coast belongs to the Wild Atlantic Way.
The island is an extension of the Burren. The terrain of the island is composed of limestone pavements with crisscrossing cracks known as "grikes", leaving isolated rocks called "clints". The limestones date from the Visean stage of the Carboniferous period, formed as sediments in a shallow tropical sea approximately 330 to 350 million years ago, and compressed into horizontal strata with fossil corals, crinoids, and sea urchins.
The effects of the last glacial period (the Midlandian) are evident, with the island overrun by ice. The result is that Inis Mór and the other islands are among the finer examples of Glacio-Karst landscape in the world. The impact of earlier Karstification (solutional erosion) has been eliminated by the last glacial period. So any Karstification now seen dates from approximately 10,000 years ago and the island Karst is thus recent.
The island supports arctic, Mediterranean and alpine plants side by side, due to the unusual environment. Like the Burren, the Aran islands are known for their unusual assemblage of plants and animals. The crevices provide moist shelter, thus supporting a wide range of plants including dwarf shrubs. Where the surface of the pavement is shattered into gravel, many of the hardier Arctic or alpine plants can be found.
But when the limestone pavement is covered by a thin layer of soil, patches of grass are seen, interspersed with plants like the gentian and orchids. Insects present include butterflies like the pearl-bordered fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne), the brown hairstreak (Thecla betulae), the marsh fritillary (Euphydryas aurinia) and the wood white (Leptidea sinapis), as well as moths like the burren green (Calamia tridens), the Irish annulet (Gnophos dumetata) and the transparent burnet (Zygaena purpuralis). While exploring the island, seals can often be viewed at the seaside.
Today, the Aran Islands are also a tourist destination. Private minibuses, horse-drawn carriages and bicycles are the main methods of getting about for the tourists who visit the island of Inishmore mainly in the summer months. However, if you plan to visit the inishmore, be aware that the North Atlantic Ocean on the Irish west coast can be very rough at any season. Hence, a ferry passage could become an experience comparable to a ride on the rollercoaster.
Finally, I want to note that Inishmore already appeared in several films and music videos. Recently, the island featured as a location in director Martin McDonagh's film "The Banshees of Inisherin" starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson (released 2022). At the 95th Academy Awards, this film was nominated for nine Oscars.
Cliff coast of Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands, with the Irish mainland in the far distance, County Galway, Ireland
Some background information:
Inishmore (in Irish: "Árainn" resp. "Inis Mór") is the largest of the Aran Islands in Galway Bay, off the west coast of Ireland. With an area of 31 km2 (12 sq mi) and a population of currently 820, it is the second-largest island off the Irish coast (after Achill) and also the most populous of the Aran Islands. The other two Aran Islands are Inishmaan (in Irish: "Inis Meáin") and Inisheer (in Irish: "Inis Oírr").
The island is in the Irish-speaking Gaeltacht and has a strong Irish culture. Much of the island is karst landscape and it has a wealth of ancient and medieval sites including Dún Aonghasa, described as "the most magnificent barbaric monument in Europe". Although Inshmore is off the coast and only accessible by a ferry passage for pedestrians only of approx. one hour (from Rossaveel port), it is included in the Wild Atlantic Way route. A special signpost at Kilronan, the island’s main settlement, makes clear that even Inishmore off the Irish west coast belongs to the Wild Atlantic Way.
The island is an extension of the Burren. The terrain of the island is composed of limestone pavements with crisscrossing cracks known as "grikes", leaving isolated rocks called "clints". The limestones date from the Visean stage of the Carboniferous period, formed as sediments in a shallow tropical sea approximately 330 to 350 million years ago, and compressed into horizontal strata with fossil corals, crinoids, and sea urchins.
The effects of the last glacial period (the Midlandian) are evident, with the island overrun by ice. The result is that Inis Mór and the other islands are among the finer examples of Glacio-Karst landscape in the world. The impact of earlier Karstification (solutional erosion) has been eliminated by the last glacial period. So any Karstification now seen dates from approximately 10,000 years ago and the island Karst is thus recent.
The island supports arctic, Mediterranean and alpine plants side by side, due to the unusual environment. Like the Burren, the Aran islands are known for their unusual assemblage of plants and animals. The crevices provide moist shelter, thus supporting a wide range of plants including dwarf shrubs. Where the surface of the pavement is shattered into gravel, many of the hardier Arctic or alpine plants can be found.
But when the limestone pavement is covered by a thin layer of soil, patches of grass are seen, interspersed with plants like the gentian and orchids. Insects present include butterflies like the pearl-bordered fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne), the brown hairstreak (Thecla betulae), the marsh fritillary (Euphydryas aurinia) and the wood white (Leptidea sinapis), as well as moths like the burren green (Calamia tridens), the Irish annulet (Gnophos dumetata) and the transparent burnet (Zygaena purpuralis). While exploring the island, seals can often be viewed at the seaside.
Today, the Aran Islands are also a tourist destination. Private minibuses, horse-drawn carriages and bicycles are the main methods of getting about for the tourists who visit the island of Inishmore mainly in the summer months. However, if you plan to visit the inishmore, be aware that the North Atlantic Ocean on the Irish west coast can be very rough at any season. Hence, a ferry passage could become an experience comparable to a ride on the rollercoaster.
Finally, I want to note that Inishmore already appeared in several films and music videos. Recently, the island featured as a location in director Martin McDonagh's film "The Banshees of Inisherin" starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson (released 2022). At the 95th Academy Awards, this film was nominated for nine Oscars.
An sealladh bho Dhùn Aonghasa, Árainn Mhór
○♣○♣○♣○
Yr olygfa o Dún Aonghasa, Árainn Mhór
○♣○♣○♣○
Ar gwel eus Dún Aonghasa, Árainn Mhór
○♣○♣○♣○
The view from Dún Aonghasa, Inishmore
○♣○♣○♣○♣○♣○♣○
www.visitaranislands.com/inis-mor-inishmore-island/attrac...
whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5525/
Village square in Kilronan, on the island of Inishmore in the Aran Islands (County Galway, off the coast of western Ireland), on a mostly clear afternoon in mid-September 2013. The memorial cross is dedicated to the Reverend Michael O Donoghue, who died in 1893 and whom the inscription describes as a “beloved priest and benefactor of Aran.”
Kilronan, whose official name is the Irish Cill Rónáin (“Church of [Saint] Ronan”), is the main community on Inishmore and its ferry port, with boats going to and from Doolin (County Clare) to the east and Rossaveal (County Galway) to the north across Galway Bay. The Irish name of Killeany Bay is Cuan Chill Éinne (“Bay of Saint Enda”).
Inishmore -- in Irish, Inis Mhór or Inis Mór ("Big Island") or, more officially, Árainn -- is, as its name implies, the largest of the Aran Islands (Irish: Oileáin Árann). It is the most easily accessible, as well. Despite the availability of flights and ferries, however, it still retains an aura of separateness as well as the local Aran dialect, customs, and traditions. Because the Aran Islands have drawn spiritual questers from prehistoric periods, many of the place names there, including Cill Rónáin and Cuan Chill Éinne, have their roots in sacred sites.
As the “bicycle hire” sign indicates, bicycles are one popular way to visit tourist sites on the island; locals, who used to rely on carts, now also drive motor vehicles.
Geologically, the Aran Islands are a continuation of the limestone karst landscape of the Burren, which is on mainland Ireland to the east. Their thin soil has been laboriously built up by hand to create small fields, which are typically separated by drystone walls (walls built without mortar, just stones).
(Information from Lalor, Brian. Ireland (London: A&C Black, 1988; Blue Guide) and Ireland: The Green Guide (Greenville, SC, USA; Watford, Herts., UK: Michelin Maps and Guides, 2010, ©2011), as well as logainm.ie -- The Placenames Database of Ireland -- and Wikipedia, both last consulted 30 July 2023.)
[Kilronan square afternoon 2013 sep 18 c; IMG_3814]
The "Seven Churches", a major destination for pilgrimage in the Middle Ages, but these days in ruins except for a small graveyard. The site is situated in the west of Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands in County Galway, Ireland.
Camera: Ricoh KR-10 Super.
Lens: ?
Fujichrome slide film.
Scanner: Nikon LS-5000 (by jetzt-digital).
Edited with GIMP.
The prehistoric hill fort Dun Aengus, dramatically perched on a 100-metre-high sea cliff on Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands in County Galway, Ireland.
Camera: Ricoh KR-10 Super.
Lens: ?
Fujichrome slide film.
Scanner: Nikon LS-5000 (by jetzt-digital).
Edited with GIMP.
Cows in the barren, rocky landscape near the prehistoric hill fort Dun Aengus on Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands in County Galway, Ireland.
Camera: Ricoh KR-10 Super.
Lens: ?
Fujichrome slide film.
Scanner: Nikon LS-5000 (by jetzt-digital).
Edited with GIMP.
Window of a decayed house on Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands in County Galway, Ireland.
Camera: Ricoh KR-10 Super.
Lens: ?
Fujichrome slide film.
Scanner: Nikon LS-5000 (by jetzt-digital).
Edited with GIMP.
⭐ Explored on March 25, 2022.
An ornamental Celtic cross in Kilronan on Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands in County Galway, Ireland.
Camera: Ricoh KR-10 Super.
Lens: ?
Fujichrome slide film.
Scanner: Nikon LS-5000 (by jetzt-digital).
Edited with GIMP.
The ruins of an Anglican church in Kilronan on Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands in County Galway, Ireland.
Camera: Ricoh KR-10 Super.
Lens: ?
Fujichrome slide film.
Scanner: Nikon LS-5000 (by jetzt-digital).
Edited with GIMP.
Dún Aengus / Árainn / Aran Islands / Galway Bay / Ireland
Leica c2, Agfa chrome, scan (2002)
Album of Ireland: www.flickr.com/photos/tabliniumcarlson/albums/72157711998...
A small café in the hamlet of Kilmurvy, on the island of Inishmore in the Aran Islands (County Galway, off the coast of western Ireland), as the sun breaks through during a mostly cloudy morning in mid-September 2013. It is located in a traditional thatched, whitewashed stone cottage, brightened up with flower baskets and painted benches.
Inishmore -- in Irish, Inis Mhór or Inis Mór ("Big Island") or, more officially, Árainn -- is, as its name implies, the largest of the Aran Islands (Irish: Oileáin Árann). It is the most easily accessible, as well. Despite the availability of flights and a ferry, however, it still retains an aura of separateness as well as the local Aran dialect, customs, and traditions.
Kilmurvy -- in Irish, Cill Mhuirbhigh -- lies below Dun Aengus. In Irish, the mostly prehistoric hillfort's name is Dún Aonghasa. It is thought to have been constructed in more than one stage, beginning in the Late Bronze Age (LBA) primarily during the Iron Age and early medieval period -- from approximately 1100 BC to 500 BC, with subsequent changes up to the late first millennium AD. Like the modern walls, it was built using drystone walls It is one of a number of prehistoric fortified sites on the Aran Islands; it is also the best known, both for its size and for its precipitous location at the top of a cliff that plunges into the Atlantic Ocean. (Information from the panels at the site's Visitor Centre, provided by Heritage Ireland.)
Geologically, the Aran Islands are a continuation of the limestone karst landscape of the Burren, which is on mainland Ireland to the east. Their thin soil has been laboriously built up by hand to create small fields, which are typically separated by drystone walls (walls built without mortar, just stones).
[Kilmurvy café morning 2013 sep 18 c; IMG_3726]
