Caught the bus from Galway to the town of Rossaveal; then the ferry to the largest of the Aran Islands, Inis Mor. Our B&B was an uphill walk of about 25 minutes, but the view from our upstairs room is of cows and a horse in little fields with stone walls, a few houses, and the ocean; it's beautiful!
We hopped on a tour van with a great guide/driver; there are 3 churches on the island, and 7 pubs, 3 primary schools, 1 highschool and 14 villages, with a total population of around 800. Everyone speaks Gaelic
We were at Dun Aonghasa for 2 hours (there's a 30 minute walk to the site from the visitors centre) - it's the Iron Age ring fort at the top of a 300' cliff; it's incredible. See the link at the bottom of this page for more info.
Checked out the shops nearby and each bought a toque (wool hat) - never thought I'd be wearing one in July but it's windy!
Back on the tour bus we went to the far end of the island and saw more thatched roof cottages (they grow rye for thatch), and potatoes growing. They have big wild rabbits, and horses, cows and goats, but no sheep (can't keep them in the stone fences) or pigs (tear up the ground). Every family gets some good land and some rocky; no farm has been sold in 30 years - just get passed down in the family. They've had electricity for 30 years; supply boats bring most everything; heat their houses with coal or oil - they used to burn peat brought over from the mainland, and all the cars are diesel. Rainwater is caught and stored for drinking, and every field has a stone slab on a slant to catch rainwater and send it to a trough for the animals.
Photo: CC by roncaglia
