The Aran Islands

The Aran Islands - Inishmore, Inishmaan and Inisheer - are located about 30 miles off the West coast of Ireland. Over St. Patrick's Day weekend we ventured to Inishmore. We took a 2 1/2 hour train ride from Dublin to Galway and then took an hour bus ride north to Roscommon. We then boarded the ferry for a 45 minute (wild) ride. We left Galway Bay with everyone laughing and taking pictures as we bounced and swayed in the huge waves. After about 15 minutes the boat became silent and the crew began quickly handing out plastic bags for the seasick. Luckily, we were fine, but the others didn't enjoy their trip too much. As we disembarked the ferry, our B&B was right at the end of the pier. We were the first guests of the season to check in. The islands are so isolated, that the season runs from St. Patrick's weekend to Halloween. Inishmore is 12 miles long and 3 miles wide and about 800 people live there. They have one mini-mart, two restaurants, and being Ireland...6 pubs! A very unique feature of the Aran Islands is that it is one of the few places in the country where Irish or Gaelic is still spoken.