#Dún Aonghasa

[filmap]

The Banshees of Inisherin Martin McDonagh. 2022

Cliff Dún Aonghasa, Inishmore, Aran Islands, Co. Galway, H91 YT20, Ireland See in map

See in imdb

[stairnaheireann]

Dún Aonghasa | Co Galway

The view from the summit of the fort is most impressive and solemn: the desolate-looking fields…fall away to the golden crescent of Kilmurvey strand, and rise up the opposite hill…to the old lighthouse near Dun Oghil. Eastwards runs the long range of steep, dark headlands, and deep bays, rarely unsheeted by high-leaping spray… The limits of the view on clear days reach from the giant peaks of…

[travelella]

Dún Aonghasa, Aran Islands, Ireland.

[yoooko-o]

21/08/2015

これからイニシュモア島へ🚢

とにかく酔う！と定評のある船です(苦笑)。噂通り、外海に出た途端に縦揺れ横揺れが激しすぎます…。衰弱して船の中でぐったり。 私の相席はイタリア人グループの添乗員さんで、ずっとPC入力していました。年配の男性ですが、何でこんなにスーツの着こなしがカッコいいんだろ��と思ってしまいました。

そして不謹慎な話ですが、 私「今何時ですか？」 イタリア人「eleven hour」 私「は？」 11時間ですか…？ ほらほらって腕時計を見せてくれたのはちょうど午前11時。

帰国後に知りましたが、イタリア語は時計・時刻絡みの用語が１つでまとまっているらしく、「time」「hour」「o'clock」など使い分けが苦手傾向にあるそうです。 アイルランドの公用語はアイルランド語と英語なので、私がBroken Englishを話しても向こうが言いたいことを察してくれるという大変有り難い国でもあります。そして、イタリア人添乗員さんが堂々と間違えた英語を使っても、通じてしまうのを思うと私も堂々と間違えて英語を使っていいんだと根拠の無い自信がついた瞬間でもありました笑

イニシュモア島に上陸です！

海老のカクテルサラダ🦐

Dun Aengus

大西洋の外に向かう強風にあおられて、毎年観光客の死者が絶えないという、噂の場所です。 日本人観光客も毎年１人落ちて亡くなっているそうです。最近はどうなんでしょうか…？

自己責任・匍匐前進で命懸けの記念撮影です。

帰りの船を待っていると「コンニチハ」口撃で、ミラノから来たというイケメンくんにナンパされました。 アイルランドなんてアジア人は来ないエリアに日本人がいたから声をかけたそうです。 因みに彼は『日本人・韓国人・中国人の区別はつく』と言っていました笑 そんなイケメンナンパくんは美人の彼女と同伴。ふと彼女の顔を見たら鬼の形相でこちらを見るではありませんか👹 彼女の機嫌がよくなったのは帰りの船が別ということが分かり、別れる瞬間でした…(苦笑)

[celticculture]

[eopederson]

Dún Aonghasa, Inishmor, Aran Islands, County Galway, 2013.

A drystone fortress facing the open sea on the largest of the Aran Islands, the oldest part of the ruins date from about 1100 BCE. This bronze age/iron age fortress is evidence of an impressive amount of labor in the pre-literate era.

[beggars-opera]

Important Irish national heritage sites:

Brú na Bóinne

The Rock of Cashel

Dún Aonghasa

Cillian Murphy’s Cheekbones

[thethirdromana]

Top five places you've visited (not necessarily looking for anything fancy, you could take in a vacation kinda way, or in a my favorite bagel shop, park bench, etc way

This was hard!

Castlerigg stone circle - I love stone circles and this one is my favourite. It's usually a bit drizzly and invariably overrun with sheep. You go up a muddy hill and you can't see much, then all of a sudden there's the stone circle, and a horseshoe of mountains laid out around you.

Dún Aonghasa - this is an Iron Age hill fort on Inis Mór, off the west coast of Ireland. Half of it has fallen into the sea, so now it faces a sheer (unfenced!) cliff edge. It's spectacular. The Aran Islands are full of hill forts but Dún Aonghasa is the best. OK I could fill this entirely with prehistoric sites but that's probably enough.

Cefalù, Sicily - I think, in a crowded field, my favourite place I've ever been to on holiday. Just the perfect Italian coastal city: food, sights, sun, sea, sand...

That one amazing crepe place I found by accident in Paris and will never be able to find again - kind of self explanatory! The crepes were so good. The place was somewhere in central Paris. I have no idea where and I probably wouldn't recognise it again if I passed it.

Gruissan, France - this was the accidental destination of the first holiday my now-husband and I ever went on together. There were train strikes and we ended up hitchhiking with a carload of teenagers. We swam in the sea while French dogwalkers went by in coats and woolly hats. It was great.

[decompositie]

DID 💢 YOU 👊 KNOW ⁉️ there are DAISIES GROWING between the stones of the ruins of the prehistoric fort Dún Aonghasa on the Aran island of Ireland??? ‼️‼️‼️

[aldobrix]

Dún Aengus (Dún Aonghasa) è il più celebre dei forti in pietra preistorici presenti sulle Isole Aran, Contea di Galway (agosto 2005). #aldohistoryproject #irlanda #manyyearsfromnow #nature #happiness (presso Isole Aran) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpoHgZbtjkTDB7KM55u26GtGDHdR5hNMOx2Ef80/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[stairnaheireann]

Dún Aonghasa | Co Galway

Dún Aonghasa | Co Galway

The view from the summit of the fort is most impressive and solemn: the desolate-looking fields…fall away to the golden crescent of Kilmurvey strand, and rise up the opposite hill…to the old lighthouse near Dun Oghil. Eastwards runs the long range of steep, dark headlands, and deep bays, rarely unsheeted by high-leaping spray…The limits of the view on clear days reach from the giant peaks of…

[makahitaki]

Poll na bPéist or the Wormhole, rectangular shaped pool, south of Dún Aonghasa

did this happen

[thanhingalway]

Woche 4 - Teil 2

Die Fahrt nach Inis Mór

Am Sonntag hatte ich meine langersehnte Fahrt zu einer der Aran Inseln, Inis Mór. Die Aran Inseln liegen in der Grafschaft Galway und bestehen aus Inis Mór, Inis Meáin und Inis Oírr. Sie sind ein Naturwahrzeichen des Galway Bays und werden generell bei jedem Galwaybesuch empfohlen. Die Hinfahrt begann 11:45 und dauert ungefähr 40 min.

Die Aran Islands sind für ihre Steinmauern sowie kostbare Schafswolle bekannt

Die Ankunft

Nach der Ankunft auf Inis Mór hatten meine Gruppe und ich die Entscheidung zwischen einer Fahrradtour oder einer Bustour. Wir lehnten Fahrradfahren kategorisch ab, da Olga kein Fahrrad fahren konnte. Die Bustour gab uns ein herzlicher Mann namens Michael. Er zeigte uns im Schnelldurchlauf die schönsten Aussichtspunkte der Insel. Auch erzählte er etwas zu der Geschichte.

Links: Weg zur Festung Dún Aonghasa

Rechts: Landstraße

Oben auf der Festung Dún Aonghasa

Links : Die Klippen von Inis Mór

Rechts: Entfernter Blick auf die Festung

Die Insel Inis Mór beherbergt die älteste Steinfestung Irlands. Diese heißt Dún Aonghasa, steht auf dem höchsten Punkt der Insel und ist halbkreisförmig. Von dem Punkt aus kann man die Klippen der Steilküste sehen. Dún Aonghasa wurde laut Michael ungefähr in der Bronzezeit von den Kelten erbaut. Ich habe die erhobene Aussicht sehr genossen und habe trotz der mühevollen Wanderung nach oben viel Spaß gehabt.

Ende der Tour und der Gesamteindruck

Michael hat uns später ein paar andere schöne Orte gezeigt und auch seinen Lieblingsstrand. Der verlassene Strand erinnerte mich an eine surreale Szene aus einem viktorianischen Schauerroman. Meine Gruppe und ich verstanden den Reiz, den dieser Ort für Michael ausstrahlen musste. Eva meinte auch, dass der Strand sie enorm zum Schreiben inspirierte.

Links: Altes Kirchengemäuer mit Friedhof

Rechts: Verlassener Steinstrand, abseits von allem Tourismus

Michael führte uns auch zu seinem Pferd, um ihm kurz Trinken zu geben. Er erklärte auch warum die Steinmauern auf den Weideflächen in erster Linie errichtet wurden. Als die ersten Siedler*innen auf die Aran Inseln ankamen, soll das Land fast nur aus Felsen und Steinen bestanden haben, um aber sesshaft zu werden, trugen sie die Steine ab und zerkleinerten diese.

Die Weideflächen besitzen Steinmauern, um das grasende Vieh von anderen zu trennen und das Weidegras fair aufzuteilen. Alle können die Wiesen nutzen.

Dann verwendeten sie diese für Gemäuer, um die Erde freizuräumen. Zusätzlich haben sie von den Stränden Seetang und Sand gesammelt und diese auf die freien Felder verteilt, um diese fruchtbar zu machen. Später haben die Siedler*innen Kartoffeln und Getreide angebaut. Das erkläre auch das heutige Aussehen der Insel.

Links: Irischer Hachiko, der im Ort gerne herumstreunert. Sein Besitzer musste ihn leider zurücklassen und seitdem ist er eher menschenscheu.

Rechts: Drehort von Banshees of Inisherin

Nach dem Geschichtsunterricht bedeutete uns der Tourguide uns zu verabschieden, da die letzte Fähre bald fortging. Wir waren ungefähr um 18:30 wieder in Galway.

Inis Mór hat mich mit seiner malerischen Natur sehr beeindruckt. Ich kam mir bei dem Besuch wie in einem Gemälde vor. Am meisten habe mich über die schlafenden Kühe und grasenden Esel gefreut, die man beim Vorbeifahren erspäht hat. Ich mochte Michaels Lieblingsstrand am meisten, gefolgt von der Steinfestung Dún Aonghasa. Ich bin froh den Ausflug gemacht zu haben und würde gerne zu den Cliffs of Moher noch fahren.

[i-am-the-myrmidon]

Some pics of Dún Aonghasa on the Aran island of Inishmore in Galway bay. The fort is estimated to be over 3100 years old. The unbroken winds off the Atlantic nearly toppled me over as I made my way up the stone path. It wasn’t raining, but it might as well have been with the wind pushing so much fog around. It made for quite the ferry ride over! I’ve been in worse boat conditions comparatively, outside of Boston harbor in a 17 foot open motorboat, but the ferry was a good 50 feet at least so definitely the actual roughest seas I’ve been in. I loved it but I might have been the only one. Everyone in my group was like are you really gonna hike all the way up in this weather? It seems sillier to me to have flown 3000 miles, driven for 2 hours and taken a 45 minute ferry to not walk up there even though it’s a little wet?

[probably-ace-ok]

This is Dún Aonghasa, a 3000 year old example of a fortification known as a promontory fort, which are primarily found in Ireland, the British Isles, and Brittany. They’re characterised by the use of steep cliffs that act as natural defences against attack.

humans really went off with building on precipitous rock faces

[hourglassexpeditions]

Cycling at the End of the Rainbow

At Hourglass Expeditions, our mission is to provide the most amazing adventures to the most interesting locations around the world. We specialized in curating luxury and adventure trips made just for you and your traveling group. Contact us at sales@hourglassexpeditions.com to discuss your plans to experience the world.

Onthe far western end of Ireland, brushed up against the North Atlantic at the mouth of Galway Bay, sits a trio of islands known as the Aran Islands. These three — Inishmore (Inis Mór), Inishmaan (Inis Meáin), and Inisheer (Inis Oírr) are known for their wild and rural landscapes that have a long history of Gaelic culture going back to antiquity. Due to its isolation from the mainland, the islands have maintained much of their original traditions over the centuries. Many traces of this history still remain, especially on the largest island of Inis Mór with ancient forts, churches, and miles and miles of stone walls. In fact, it is estimated that just on Inis Mór alone, there is over 3,000 miles of these walls built around the island (or basically the distance from Ireland, across the Atlantic Ocean, to Boston, Massachusetts). This is almost unbelievable considering that the entire island is only about 12 square miles (31 square kilometers). Other estimates reduce that length down to around 700 miles. Whatever the actual number may be, it must have been quite the construction project.

One of the primary activities when visiting the Aran Islands is cycling. While you can bring your own on the ferry from the mainland, it might just be easier to rent one as you disembark from the ferry station in Kilronan, the main village on Inis Mór. From here, the island is yours to explore. At only 8.7 miles (14 km) in length and a maximum width of 2.4 miles (3.8 km), it is easy to cross the entire island in under two hours, without taking stops. But that isn’t the point of cycling here. There is a plethora of places to explore and soak in the both the captivating panorama as well as the ancient monuments.

While little is known about the island’s earliest inhabitants, one of the earliest dwellings, a fort made of limestone called Dún Aonghasa (or Dun Aengus), dates back to the 11th century BC, though most of its standing structure came much later. This semicircular site, with its three terraced walls, sits on the southern side of the island sitting on a 300-foot-high cliff overlooking the ocean. It is thought that these walls formed a full circle. However, the cliffs have eroded into the sea over the centuries and we are now seeing what is left of this fort, covering an area of around 14 acres. It is an easy bike ride to this location and certainly worth your time as one of the spots to hit.

About a mile to the south of Dún Aonghasa is a naturally formed tidal pool that has been cut into the limestone rock. However, once you actually view it, you’ll think that it is manmade. It looks like a rectangular swimming pool. Referred to as either “The Wormhole” or “The Serpents Lair”, its Gaelic name is Poll na bPéist. This tidal pool has underwater channels that connect it to the nearby sea which supplies the water from these caverns. It is difficult to bike all the way to this location as there are a lot of uneven and jagged rocks stretching out for some distance. You can either leave your bikes at the nearest road about half a mile away and walk, or walk your bike across that distance if you don’t want to leave it behind.

Heading west from here, a 12-minute ride will bring you to a far more recent structure, the misappropriately named Seven Churches (Na Seacht Tempaill). This 8th century site was one of the largest centers of pilgrimage in western Ireland. However, despite the numerical specificity of this site, there are actually only two churches located here — St. Breacan’s Church and The Church of the Hollow. One theory as to why it is named the Seven Churches is because the site contains additional structures, such as dwellings where monks would have lived, and this gives an allusion to the number of buildings contained here. Another explanation for the name is that it is in reference to a Roman pilgrimage trail which had seven churches. Either way, it is a well-preserved spot and worthy of a visit. I leaned my rental bike against one of the surrounding stone walls and walked among the ruins and the graves marked with Celtic crosses so familiar to Ireland.

Beyond the three major points described here, the rest of the island is dotted with interesting sites to stop. The quaint cottages that line the narrow roads of the island set against the backdrop of the North Atlantic offer their own charm, and I am told that on a good day, you can spot the Cliffs of Moher. However, it is much easier to them from Inis Oírr, which is much closer to the mainland of Ireland than Inis Mór.

With a permanent population of around 1,100 souls, there is enough to see and do here to consider spending a night in one of the inns or taverns dotted around the island. However, I didn’t plan for a night here as my hotel was almost a 2-hour journey back to Galway. So, with the October wind picking up, I cycled back to the dock in Kilronan, returned the bike, and hopped back onto the second to last ferry of the day with Aran Island Ferries to the small fishing village of Rossaveel, where my rental car was waiting for me.

All in all, this was a great day of getting out into rural Ireland. Feeling the cool autumn breeze of the North Atlantic while cycling on a remote island finding hidden jewels of ages gone by was a very different experience than what I would have expected. I would highly recommend this to anyone with a passion for adventure and history that is off the beaten path.

If you would like to travel to Ireland to cycle the Aran Islands, marvel at the Cliffs of Moher, or absorb the incredible landscapes of the Ring of Kerry, head over to our Ireland page and find your own adventure in the Emerald Isle.