In 2023 I decided to visit Inis Mór (aka Inishmore), which is the largest of the three Aran Islands. In 2024 I went on to visit the other two, which I will write about soon.
The Aran Islands is a group of three islands off the west coast of Ireland. To many people, they are associated with Aran knitwear. These are distinctive, chunky woollen jumpers and cardigans traditionally made for fishermen and other natives of these islands. Because they’re out in the Atlantic, they’ve developed their own distinctive feel and identity. There is far more to these three islands than woolly jumpers, as you’ll see if you read on 😁 I’ll elaborate on the specifics at the end of this post because I don’t want to become the equivalent of those recipe websites. You know the ones – all you want is the recipe so you can make something different for dinner yet you find yourself forced to scroll past 15 paragraphs of waffle about Great Grandma Alice, some family pets, the weather and a family recipe which has been handed down through 6 generations. Enough!
Getting Around 🚤✈️🚲🏇🚶♂️
For this visit, I hired an electric bike and loved it! There are two main routes around the island and because I had this extra firepower, I chose the more challenging high road. The nice thing about travelling around all three Aran Islands is that there isn’t that much vehicular traffic, so it’s very safe. The roads can be a bit bumpy in places so watch out for that. The natives speak Irish as their first language but they have fluent English. Enjoy resurrecting your rusty Leaving Cert Irish…
Dún Aonghasa
Dún Aonghasa is a prehistoric fort and probably Inis Mór’s best-known tourist attraction. It is amazing for what it is, and it looks pretty impressive from the many aerial photos you’ve undoubtedly seen. This is where I’m going to be controversial and argue that it isn’t a must-see if time is of a premium to you. I honestly think it looks more impressive from the air than when you’re on the ground. Anyway, there is a small visitor centre which has lots of information, then an 800m walk up to the fort. This takes you over some rough ground, which proved to be a challenge to the flip-flop-wearing people I spotted. The fort itself consists of 3 dry-stone ramparts and the remains of a fourth. Perhaps its most distinctive feature is where it stops abruptly at the edge of a sheer cliff. One misstep and into the Atlantic you go. Not that it stopped the many people who wanted to take a selfie. The views are nice though.
The Wormhole/Poll na bPéist
This was my favourite part of the day. The Wormhole is a naturally-occurring blow-hole which is 25m long and 10m wide. It’s almost a perfect rectangle which makes it even more striking. It came to prominence when Red Bull held diving competitions here in 2014-2017. There are videos on YouTube if you want to watch lunatics at work! There were no TV crews or diving rigs to be seen when I visited but it made it no less spectacular. Several people dived into the water while I was there.
The walk out to the wormhole can be a bit tricky so I strongly advise you to read and read again the directions for how to get there. We took the scenic route which turned out to be a bit of a time-sink, though it did take us across a spectacular karst limestone landscape. A kind soul used a paintbrush and red paint to give directions to the Wormhole. Should you decide to try and find this amazing place, they will quickly become your favourite person.
Kilronan
Kilronan is the main village on the island and where you’ll start and end your journey. It has shops of all sorts, including ones selling the inevitable Aran Sweaters. It also has a Spar supermarket which looks to be reasonably large. Because there was a ferry to be caught, I didn’t get to see as many of the highlights of the island as I’d like to have. This, naturally, is a reason to return.
Getting There
All three islands can be reached by ferry or by air. Aran Islands Ferries in Galway runs regular ferries from Rossaveel in Connemara. They have a shuttle bus which brings people from Galway City centre out to the ferry. Alternatively, you can travel directly to Rossaveel and depart from there. On this occasion, I took the Galway shuttle bus/ferry combo.
Two ferry companies operate out of Doolin, County Clare: Doolin Ferry Company and O’Brien’s Ferry.
There are airstrips and small airports on all three Aran Islands. These are serviced by Aer Arann, which flies out of Inverin Airport in Galway. The flights are quite short so this may suit some people more.
Getting Around
As you might have guessed by now, you won’t be bringing your own car to Inis Mór. You can walk, of course, but there are other options. You can hire a mini-bus or a guided tour by pony and trap. These can be pre-booked, though in my experience there always seemed to be people offering these to people disembarking from the ferry.
Aran Islands Bike Hire , which is located just off the pier in Kilronan, has a good selection of bikes on hand. As well as regular bikes and the aforementioned e-bikes, they hire out buggies and tandems.
Other advice
Google Maps is your friend. Even though there is very little Google Streetview coverage of the Aran Islands, the directions to the various places still work fine. Signposting on Inis Mór is patchy so definitely don’t rely on that.
Inis Mór is too large to get around in one day so take a look at a map and decide what you want to see this time around. You won’t get to see everything if you’re on a day trip.
The shops and pubs all take plastic, so you don’t have to load up on cash before you leave.
Wear sensible footwear if you want to do any exploring at all.
Bogwarrior.com 