This morning found us on the 9:00 ferry (for people not cars) to Inishmore. It is the largest of the Aran Islands. We rented bikes and headed out to explore. The island it beautiful. We biked to the very end. We spotted seals on the shore and marveled at the miles and miles of dry stone walls. Every field is sectioned off with walls. We figured that they had to put the rocks someplace, so they built walls. Here and there a walled section would be occupied by a horse, cows or sheep. We had a view of the wide ocean and a lighthouse warning mainers of the chain of islands.
On our ride back to the dock, we stopped first at the Seven Churches. A 8th century church. According to a plaque on the stone wall the church was expanded up through medieval times.
Our next stop was Dún Aonghasa, a prehistoric hill fort dating back to 1100 BC. We left the bikes at the bottom of the trail and hiked up to the site. The fort was built on the top edge of a cliff high on a hill. It was a spectacular site, but we didn't get to close to the edge. To preserve the view and the historic integrity of the site, there are no guard rails.
We continue our ride back to the ferry docks at Kilronan. We checked out the shops and found a hat for Erin from the Aron islands. It has a little leather tag that says "Erin". I bought a Ireland bike shirt, for myself. We found a place for a late lunch and hoped on our bikes to board the 4:00 ferry.
Except for me almost getting run over by a tour bus on the way to the dock, it was a perfect day. The bus came from behind, I heard it coming so I got as close to the wall on my left as I could but it didn't leave me much room. I had to put my hand out on the bus to keep from falling into the side of it and I tipped over onto the pavement as it passed. I wasn't hurt, just a little shaken. I got back on my bike and caught up with Andy who was ahead wondering what had become of me.
We rested on the ferry ride back and spent the evening exploring the Ciffs of Moher. There's a nice visitor's center and the walkways around the cliffs are developed with guard rails and warnings. Very different from the Kerry Cliff which had a simple fence. Both were wonderful!!!
Tre traffic was stopped for a farmer moving some cows to a new field! We had this happen more than once this trip.
We had dinner at McDermott's Pub in Doolin and enjoyed more live music - 3 old guys playing traditional Irish tunes with fiddles and a guitar!
The weather that started out a little cool and cloudy ended up beautiful. We have been very lucky 🍀
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