Aran Islands

Kilronan is the main village on the island and is the landing stage for the ferry from Galway, so it sees the majority of the visitor traffic.

The ferry pier and Kilronan usually provide the visitor with their first impressions of Aranmore. While Kilronan is picturesque, the cliffs scapes on the western side of the island are much more dramatic.

Like on most of the island, Gaelge is the spoken language, though all the islanders are fluent English speakers.

Inishmore is well catered for by ferries from Rossaveel in County Galway and Doolin in County Clare. The journey time is about an hour and a number of ferries depart throughout the day.

It is best to check on the ferries web pages for the schedules close to the time of your trip. There is a bus service which links Galway City to the ferry terminal at Rossaveel. The bus usually takes just under an hour. A combined bus and ferry ticket can be purchased.

On arriving on the island, you will be offered an array of tours, by bike, bus and horse and cart.

Of course you can walk the main tour route but will need a good number of hours.

There are a number of prehistoric forts with spectacular sea views on the island.

Dún Aonghasa or Dun Aengus is the best preserved and most well-known and visited. The fort can be accessed easily whether you are touring on bicycle, horse and cart or tour bus.

The round trip of the island taking in Dun Aonghasa and the other principle sites can easily be done by bike, though a bit far on foot.

It is unknown when Dún Aonghasa was built but it is thought to be over two thousand years old and probably dating to 200BC. The fort – originally a circular fort – though actually now a semi- circle, backs dramatically right onto the edge of the cliff with a 100m sheer drop below.

The fort was built as semi-circle to take advantage of the high cliffs . The fort covers an area of 15 acres and has a number of out protective walled semi – circles. Surrounding the outer wall there is a fine example of Chevaux de fries or jagged upright stake like rocks which form an impenetrable barrier.

The inner circle’s walls are over 5 metres thick and are thought to have been almost 7 metres high.

The reason for the large flat rocked platform at edge of the cliff in the inner circle is unknown but it is thought to have played a role in ceremonial practices though thoughts differ as to whether it was a sacrificial platform with victims being sacrificed to the ragging gods below.

Visitors to the fort and to the Islands should come prepared with proper strong foot ware as enjoyment of the fort and sea cliffs is limited in sandals and fashion shoes.

Poll Peist lies below cliffs south of Dun Aonghasa, the poll or worm hole is a rectangular pool cut naturally into the rocks.

Access is a bit difficult and the path is quite hard to find, as it wiggles through boulders and stones thrown up by the last Atlantic Storms.

The best way to find the start of the path is to head to the village of Gort na gCapall, where a small sign points the way.

Walking close to the shore during stormy weather is not recommended as heavy swells and breakers can arise quite suddenly and sweep the unsuspecting away.

While Dún Aonghasa is the most popular with visitors the Black Fort or Dun Duchatair, though not as preserved as the former, still provides amazing sea views and lets one use their imagination to revisit the past and the time when the fort was in active use.

Like Dún Aonghasa the Black Fort has a Chevaux de fries of upright jagged limestone stone stakes set pointing towards any attackers from land. The fort is also semi circular backing onto the cliffs with sheer drops to the swelling Atlantic below.

The Black Fort is the closest fort to Kilronan and easily accessible by bicycle for most of the route.

Take directions from someone in the village – it’s a simple to get there – park the bike at the end of the bohreen, where the surface turns into broken stones and walk the remainder.

Just like any of the other scenic western locations, one needs to take extreme care while close to the cliffs which are unguarded.

The fort takes it’s name from the darker colour limestone on this southern side of the island, while the stone isn't black, it can appear much darker or near black when being beaten by Atlantic rains and wind

While the cliffs at Black Fort aren't as high as at Dun Aonghosa, they nevertheless drop dramatically to the sea.

From the fort on a clear day you can see the cliffs as they stretch north and south and the Atlantic breakers thunder far below as they roll and foam against the massive cliffs.

The main tour of the island, follows the upper road as far as Kilmurray and then swings back along the lower road, making a circular or ring route.

The upper road passes the old lighthouse, which sits on the highest point in the middle of the island.

The road takes you onto the village of Gort na Capall, passed some lunar looking landscape, then onto Dun Aonghosa.

At Kilmurvy Port - or jetty, the road swings back towards Kilronan, but a less frequented road continues to the most northerly point on the island, passing the The Seven Churches site - though only remains of two churches are visible.

The lower road contrasts dramtically with the upper road.

While the upper landscape is mainly lunar and isolated, the lower road, which hugs the coast at times, passes some good agricultural grazing land.

Keep an eye open when passing the seal colony, you may be lucky to see the seals basking on the rocks.

Towards Kilronan there are a number of early Christian churches - Teampaill Chiaran, Teampaill Asurnai.

Close to Dun Aonghasa visitor centre, there is a craft shop located in a number of thatched cottages. The shop has of course a range of Aran sweaters, but also a much wider range of hand crafts.

Just below the centre is the port and crescent shaped beach of Kilmurvey.

The landscape of the Aran Islands is closely associated with the limestone region of the Burren in North Clare.

Both date back to the Visean period (Lower Carboniferous) about 350 million years ago. Along the western side whole tracts of land are covered by limestone pavements.

Across the island there are numerous erratci boulders - left over since the last ice age, when they were dragged by the ice from other parts of the island.

Keep an eye open for these large granite boulders dragged over from Connemara.

Inis Oírr or the Easterly Island has a population of about 300.

A ferry connects the island with the mainland at Doolin in Co. Clare and Rosseveal in Co. Galway.

The island has an extensive covering of limestone pavements and is really an extension of the Burren which stretches out from the coast below Fanore under the sea to the island.

Seen from above the island is a patchwork of small fields bounded by high walls - often shoulder height or higher.

Due to it's temperate climate - where the temperature seldom falls below 6 deg C, grass grows throughout most of the year and the small sheltered fields are used for cattle grazing and fattening.

The walls were built by the islanders over hundreds of years in order to clear the fields for grazing.

The island has a number of historical points of interest. St Caomhán,the brother of St. Kevin of Glendalough is the patron saint of the island.

The church called after the saint still remains and is of interest due to it being built below ground level to avoid detection by sea faring raiders.

There is also a small church ( in ruins ) dating back to the 9th century and dedicated to St. Gobnait.

The island is well serviced by a number of ferry operators based in Doolin Co. Clare and from Rossaveal in Do. Galway.

The distance from the Doolin is short, taking about 45 minutes.

The island is also served by Aer Aran, the local airline operating from Inverin in Co. Galway.