The Square, Eyrecourt, County Galway, Wednesday morning, 5 July:

Yesterday we went to Inis Méain, the middle one of the three Aran Isles.  We drove past Galway to Rossaveal and took a ferry from there, about an hour-long passage each way, with about four hours on the island in between.  We had fine weather for it and all came back sunburned, though as the ferry pulled back in to Rossaveal it was into a thunderstorm.

As we were landing on Inis Méain, an islander was launching his curragh into the turquoise waters. 

We split up on the island.  Stas and Ariadne set out for the beach and the knitwear joint, but the latter was a total disappointment and they got lost and never reached the beach.  I led Trevor and Larissa on an energetic tramp around the uplands, all crisscrossed with unmortared stone walls. 

We also were lost, but we eventually found Synge's Cottage (where he wrote Riders to the Sea) and the great ring-fort  of Dun Conor. 

We rejoined the others at a pub, where I indulged in a couple of pints of Guinness, since I would not be behind the wheel again for hours.  The children got themselves ice-cream treats from a shop across the way.  They also enjoyed all the wonderfully friendly dogs, and the sight of jellyfishes as we awaited the return ferry at the jetty.

previous entry

next entry

main/ToC page