July 18, 2009
There are, perhaps, no words to describe the day I spent on Inis Meáin. Any attempt will sound like I'm just repeating clichés or making things up. Inis Meáin is a place of its own and it only appeals to certain people. However, I think I spent one perfect day on that island.
I woke up on Inis Mór on Saturday, packed my luggage, and headed down towards the port. I could't attach my small carry-on to my bicycle, so I walked, about 20 minutes, down to the port with a carry-on in one hand, and my bicycle in the other. It was an awkward arrangement.
But I eventually reached the port in good time and just walked around and took pictures of the port.
The weather was not bad that morning, so the ferries would make a trip to Inis Meáin around lunchtime. There aren't a lot of ferries between the islands (they only run twice a day), so I lost some hours in the morning. But once the ferry came into the dock, I loaded my luggage and went to stand out on the deck.
The wake.
The distance from Inis Mór to Inis Meáin looks small, but it actually took about an hour to get there. The morning was still a bit foggy and when I looked back at Inis Mór, it was partially covered with clouds.
Inis Meáin is markedly different from the bustling, and much visited port of Killronan. Only two other people besides me disembarked at Inis Meáin and the rest would head to Inis Oírr or back to the mainland. There are no buildings at the port, and only one taxi was there to meet us.
I had booked a place at the B&B Ard Alainn and the owner, Sean, said that he would come pick me up at the port. However, he wasn't there and I was afraid that he might have forgotten. The taxi was heading up to Ard Alainn to drop off the other two people, so I hitched a ride with them.
Inis Meáin only has about 300 permanent residents and the rest of the island is mostly farmland. The land is split in half by two hills. One side faces the mainland and contains all the houses on the island. The other side faces the harsh weather of the Atlantic Ocean and is uninhabitable.
I booked a night at Ard Alainn because every other place on the island was booked. However, the B&B is perched on top of one of the hills and I had a beautiful view of the rest of the island.
The view of Inis Meáin from Ard Alainn.Both Sean and his wife, Maura, own the B&B and they were both very kind and gracious hosts. Maura finished preparing our rooms and I eventually settled into my room. I had a nice, small room upstairs and I was able to see Inis Mór from my window.
One of the few inhabitants of the island.
Paved roads such as this criscross the entire island and the best way to see the island is by walking. Inis Mór is also faintly visible in the distance.
The two pictures above show the stone walls that are common across Ireland. Somehow, they looked a lot better on Inis Meáin.After walking around for a while, I came to a dead end. I had been looking for "Synge's Chair", which I will explain later. I saw the sign point in the direction I was going, but I never found it.
So I turned around and walked past Ard Alainn and looked for Dún Chonchúir, an oval stone fort that is situated at one of the highest points on the island. As I walked further, I spotted the fort and several people inside of it. The path takes a right turn from the main road. I walked around the fort, but once again, I didn't find a road that led up to it. I kept walking down the path and it led me farther away from the fort. It was a nice walk, but eventually, I just turned back again to the main road.
This time, I went to go find the famous Knitwear Factory. The Aran Islands are known for their woolen sweaters. The originals were a cream color and had were knitted with specific patterns. It is said that the patterns were unique to a family and that if the body of a fisherman, who had died at sea, washed up on the shore, he would be identified by the pattern on his sweater.
I eventually did find the shop and it was full of very beautiful, but expensive sweaters. They had other items as well, and I eventually chose to buy a knitted cap. Once I finished my purchases, I headed back to Ard Alainn for a brief rest.
After arriving, I left my bags in my room and headed to the small lounge downstairs to just sit for a while and enjoy a nice, hot cup of tea. There was an old couple in there, also drinking tea and reading the newspapers. We started talking and meeting them on that island was the best part of my stay.
Their names are Mr. George and Mrs. Fiona Eogan. I was intending to keep their names private, but Mr. Eogan is very well known within the archaelogical community. Even if I had just described his background, it would have been very easy to discover their identities through the internet.
Mr. Eogan is a retired Professor Emeritus of Archaeology from University College Dublin and received his Ph.D. from Trinty College. He was the primary archaeologist that led the excavations at Knowth, a Neolithic burial tomb, very similar to Newgrange, and which is also located in the Brú na Bóinne complex in County Meath.
I will talk more about Knowth and Newgrange later, but it was amazing to meet them both on the island. They had been coming to Inis Meáin for years now, and they enjoyed it much more than the more commerical Inis Mór.
We sat in the lounge for a while, just talking, and eventually I told them about my inability to find the road to reach Dún Chonchúir. They described it to me, but I was still lost as to how to get there. Mrs. Eogan had yet to see it on this trip, so they both volunteered to walk with me and show me around the fort.
Apparently, there was no paved road to the top, and visitors have to hike over cow fields and stones to get to the entrance. When I had walked by earlier, I saw cows in the fields and I assumed that it was private property, and hence looked for another entrance. There is worn path to the fort, but there were stones that we had to climb over.
Two shots of the interior of the fort. What I loved about this fort, and perhaps about Inis Meáin in general, is how unassuming and undisturbed the place is. The cows still wander around and inside the oval fort. It wasn't at all like Dún Aonghasa, but granted, that it does sit on the edge of a cliff, and it would not be very convenient to have them walk off the edge.Once we entered, I was told that Mr. Eogan was an archaeologist and he started explaining the historical significance of the fort. These stone forts predated the Celts and were the homes of the chieftans. He pointed out that these forts are not unique to Ireland, but can also be found in Mediterranean countries.
Dún Chonchúir is one of two forts on the island (the other is Dún Fearbhaí) and they are both located on the highest points on the island. It is possible, on a clear day, to see the Cliffs of Moher from the top of the fort.
After taking a round of the interior, we headed back to the main road. They were heading off to dinner at Óstán Inis Meáin, which is a pub, restaurant, and hotel in one. They kindly invited me along, and we began another long walk down to the restaurant, which is across the island and closer to the shore. On the way, we passed the only church, and I asked if it was possible to go inside. We were not in a hurry, so we went briefly inside. After seeing the grand, and almost intimidating architecture of St. Patrick's and Christ Church, it was nice to see something more simplistic. They had a guestbook and Mr. Eogan suggested that I write my name, alongside my birthplace in India, because it would be more interesting than just writing down the US.
We headed out towards the door and we saw that it was pouring rain. It had not been a promising day, and I was surprised that it hadn't rained earlier. But it lasted for about fifteen minutes, so claimed temporary sanctuary within the church entrance.
We eventually reached the restaurant and had to wait a little while for the kitchen to start preparing for dinner. In the meantime, we watched County Galway play County Mayo in Connacht Senior Hurling Final. Nobody expected Galway to win although everyone was still cheering for the team (many gaelic football players from the island join teams in Galway).
It was an exciting match (Galway won) and the dinner was delicious. After the conclusion of the match, we headed back up towards Ard Alainn and we set a slow place because climbing steep hills with a full stomach takes a while. After making to Ard Alainn, Mrs. Eogan volunteered to take me quickly to Synge's Chair.
John Millington Synge is famous Irish playwright, perhaps best known for his work "The Playboy of the Western World". W. B. Yeats recommended a visit to the Aran Islands and Synge came to love the island of Inis Meáin. He also thought Inis Mór was too commercial, even during his time. He lived in house on the island, which is now called Teach Synge and is a museum dedicated to his life.
Anyway, Synge's Chair or Cathaoir Synge, is a small little enclosure of rocks that sits on the edge of the island. One part of the wall is open and there is a beautiful view of Inis Mór and the Atlantic Ocean. During his summers on the island, Synge would come to his chair to sit and think.
Unfortunately, I don't have a good picture of it, and my pictures became extremely grainy as soon as I left the stone fort. We didn't stay very long because it was getting late, but it was a beautiful spot. We saw part of the sunset and Inis Mór sat glimmering admist the orange-colored water.
After getting back to Ard Alainn, I went upstairs, got ready for bed, and watched the sunset from my window.
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