We got up bright and early this morning for our bus tour of the beautiful island of Inis Mor, the biggest of the Aran Islands (filming location of Leap Year starring Amy Adams!). Here's the ferry we took over.
We learned that the Aran Islands are one of twelve areas in Ireland where Irish is the primary language spoken on a daily basis. Our tour guide, Michael Faherty, grew up there and his family has lived there for generations. He was so great! Not only did we get the history, he would point out people's houses and be like, "That's the post office on the left, and the postmaster is actually married to the island's doctor, so that works pretty well."
One of the most popular attractions on Inis More is Dun Aengus, a stone cliff fort from the 7th or 8th century. We hiked up a kilometer up to the fort. You can see it up on the top right.
We got pretty soaked on the way up, but that really just added to the authenticity. At the top, we got to check out the 300 foot cliff face. Casey got pretty close!
There are some gorgeous views from the top.
We stopped for lunch...
and then continued on our tour. The next stop was the Ruins of the Seven Churches, where there once was a monastic colony Christian religious scholars from all over Europe came to on pilgrimage and to study during the Dark Ages.
After that, we went all the way to the west tip of the island, only stopping to give a lift to a couple farmers who were walking their cows to a new field for grazing. When one of the cows veered of the road, Michael jumped out of the bus to help heard it back on!
Here's us on the western tip. Just to the left of Jake's head, you can barely see the lighthouse.
Heading back to the main village, we stopped at a beach where Jake touched the Atlantic Ocean for the first time.
We got back to the ferry and had some time before it left, so we couldn't leave the island with a snack.
