aran islands - inis mor

from galway we embarked on a visit to the island of inishmore (14.5 km x 4 km), which is the biggest of the three that make up the aran islands. my concern that i would get sea sick on our voyage was somewhat heightened with the announcement that we should sit down the back because it would be 'a bit' rough. however, assisted by ramsey's helpful hints, such as 'wow, look out the other window now - it's like we're on a sea saw!', i managed to survive.

we has some amazingly clear and warmish weather in which to explore this spectacular island, which we did by foot. to the left you can see kim, who led us enthusiastically around the island. the island was full of very green, very small paddocks enclosed by a maze of stone fences.

the biggest highlight of the island was the 4000 year old fort, dun aonghasa, perched atop some very impressive cliffs..

here is me closer to the edge of the cliff than i initially thought ...

and a shot looking down at our feet over the edge of the cliffs at the fort where we stopped for a rest...

and looking back through the fort entrance over the island..

on the eastern side of the island were some lovely bays, which would have been appropriate for bathing with an increase in ambient temperature of perhaps 15-20 degrees celsius.

here are some happy locals..

and ramsey rowing a boat that requires some amount of maintenance..

in the evening we frequented the local and made friends with an islander who taught us some irish words which we now cannot recall.