Inisheer...

Chris and I visited Inisheer (Gaelic Inis Oirr), the smallest and closest of the Aran Islands. We took a very bumpy and wet ferry ride from Doolin Point and were there in a little over 30 minutes. Chris was very sweet and patient with my sea sickness while on board the ferry. I was really dreading the ferry ride back, but it turns out it's only choppy water that I feel sea sickness! So the return trip, on smooth water, was actually quite enjoyable!

Since moving to Ireland, I have come to love Cormorants.

Millions of tiny mussels!

Upon arriving on the island, Chris and I immediately rented bikes to see the numerous attractions scattered around. Among them were a shipwreck from the 1960's, church & castle ruins, a graveyard and a lighthouse.

My favorite picture of the trip and I took it all by myself!

Spider web in the rusty shipwreck...

the rusty ship...

The holy well...

Chris loves the livestock. He always prefers the sheep, but cows are pretty cool too!

This church was level with the rest of the ground when it was built. Over the years, the wind blew sand to the point that it was completely buried and needed to be excavated. They then planted a special type of grass around it to prevent a re-burial.

This was once the castle of the royal family that ruled the island back in the day...the O'Brien family I think.

Chris on top of the castle ruins...

When last I visited the Aran Islands, I was intrigued by how many stone walls there were, making hundreds of very small fields. From a distance (from the ferry) the islands looked grey. Chris and I speculated about the reasoning behind the many walls, but it wasn't until I was in the sitting room with Brid's husband that I found out the truth. Earlier that day, while riding our bikes out to the lighthouse, we saw him helping a neighbor build a stone wall. I asked him about it and he said he's been building stone walls all over the island since he was 13 years old. He was a builder (built his house himself over 30 years ago) and built most of the buildings on the island. He also said that when people first came to Inisheer to live, the island was covered with rocks and the land was no good for growing crops or keeping livestock. They started building stone walls to move the rocks and expose the land. They brought sand from the beach and then started seeding with grass and potatoes. It has taken many, many years, but now the land is good and crops and livestock flourish.

Our final destination on bike was the lighthouse. We were most excited about this one, imagining we would stay taking pictures for at least an hour or so, so we saved it for last. Making sure we were well fed and hydrated, we set off. The road was very bumpy and mostly downhill (giving us an idea of how our return ride would be). When we arrived at our destination, we found a gate, very much locked, with a sign stating the lighthouse was private property and we could go no further. After the disappointment washed over us, we climbed the wall and took unobstructed pictures from there.

Our time on Inisheer was wonderful. It was a quaint and friendly island. One day was just enough time to bike around to all the attractions!