Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [344]
Aran Direct ( 091-566 535; www.arandirect.com; return adult/child/concession €25/15/20; April–late Sep) serves Inishmór.
Schedules peak in July and August, when both companies run several boats a day. The crossing can take up to one hour and is subject to cancellation in high seas. Buses from Galway (€6 return) connect with the sailings; ask when you book.
Ferries to Inisheer also operate from Doolin.
Getting Around
Interisland services run in high season only; from October to April connections require a trip back to Rossaveal.
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INISHMÓR
pop 1300
Most visitors who venture out to the islands don’t make it beyond Inishmór (Árainn) and its main attraction, Dún Aengus, the stunning stone fort perched perilously on the island’s towering cliffs. The arid landscape west of Kilronan (Cill Rónáin), Inishmór’s main settlement, is dominated by stone walls, boulders, scattered buildings and the odd patch of deep-green grass and potato plants.
Tourism turns the wheels of the island’s economy: an armada of tour vans greet each ferry and flight, offering a ride round the sights. As one local said: ‘We move ’em through like a conveyor belt.’ Happily, you can set your own pace.
The 2010 romantic comedy Leap Year starring Amy Adams and Adam Scott was partially filmed on Inishmór. Rather tellingly, it involves a woman bedevilled by travel mishaps.
Orientation
Inishmór is 14.5km long and 4km at its widest stretch. All boats arrive and depart from Kilronan, on the southeastern side of the island. The airstrip is 2km further southeast of town; a shuttle to Kilronan costs €5 return. One principal road runs the length of the island, intersected by small lanes and paths of packed dirt and stone.
Information
The useful tourist office ( 099-61263; Kilronan; 11am-7pm Jun-Sep, 11am-2pm & 3-5pm Oct-May), on the waterfront west of the ferry pier in Kilronan, changes money, as does the post office. The good-sized Spar supermarket (Kilronan; 9am-6pm Mon-Wed, 9am-7pm Thu-Sat year-round, 10am-5pm Sun Jun-Aug) has an ATM.
Mainistir House Hostel offers public internet access ( 9am-1pm, 5-7pm).
Sights
DÚN AENGUS
Three spectacular forts stand guard over Inishmór, each believed to be around 2000 years old. Chief among them is Dún Aengus (Dún Aonghasa; 099-61008; www.heritageireland.ie; adult/child €3/1; 10am-6pm), which has three nonconcentric walls that run right up to sheer drops to the ocean below. It is protected by remarkable chevaux de frise, fearsome and densely packed defensive stone spikes that surely helped deter ancient armies from invading the site.
Powerful swells pound the 60m-high cliff face. A complete lack of rails or other modern additions that would spoil this amazing ancient site means that you can not only go right up to the cliff’s edge but also potentially fall to your doom below quite easily. When it’s uncrowded, you can’t help but feel the extraordinary energy that must have been harnessed to build this vast site.
A small visitor centre has displays that put everything in context. A slightly strenuous 900m walkway wanders uphill through a rocky landscape lined with hardy plants to the fort.
OTHER SIGHTS
Along the road between Kilronan and Dún Aengus you’ll find the small, perfectly circular fort Dún Eochla. Dramatically perched on a clifftop promontory south of Kilronan is Dún Dúchathair.
The ruins of numerous stone churches trace the island’s monastic history. The small Teampall Chiaráin (Church of St Kieran), with a high cross in the churchyard, is near Kilronan. To the southeast, near Cill Éinne Bay, is the early-Christian Teampall Bheanáin (Church of St Benen). Near the airstrip are the sunken remains of a church; the spot is said to have been the site of St Enda’s Monastery in the 5th century, though whatever is visible dates from the 8th century onwards. Past Kilmurvey is the perfect Clochán na Carraige, an early Christian stone hut that stands 2.5m tall, and various small