The road to Doolin held some interesting sites, including Doonagore Castle. It was built c. 1350 by the O'Connors.

We arrived just as scheduled in Doolin.  Checked in at the ferry office and then made our way to the docks.
	Because the tide was out, small boats ferried 12 passengers at a time to larger boat (The Happy Hooker) anchored in harbor and then larger boat took us to the island (about 1 hour 15 minute ride).
Lighthouse and wreck on Inisheer.	Ruins on Inishmaan.	Lighthouse approaching Inishmore harbor.	Harbor.
		Cliffs of Mohr as viewed from The Happy Hooker.

One of the families on the boat was western European (Slavic) and their 7-8 year old son spent the trip bouncing all over the boat and playing with his cool medieval action figures (he and Jakob would have gotten along famously).

The islands were first populated in larger numbers around the time of the Cromwellian conquest (kind of a religious purging when many fled the mainland of Ireland in the mid 17th century).  They adapted themselves to the raw climatic conditions, developing a survival system of total self-sufficiency. Their methods included mixing layers of sand and seaweed on top of rocks to create fertile soil, a technique used to grow potatoes and other vegetables.  The same seaweed method also provided grazing grass within stone-wall enclosures grass for cattle and sheep, which in turn provided wool and yarn to make handwoven trousers, skirts and jackets, handknitted sweaters, shawls, caps, and hide shoes. The islanders also constructed unique boats for fishing, building their thatched cottages from the materials available or trading with the mainland.

The island of Inis Mór ( meaning the big island) is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Ireland.  Well known internationally, it is steeped in history and resembles an outdoor museum with over 50 different monuments of Christian, pre Christian and Celtic mythological heritage.

Low tide.	As we departed the ferry, we were approached by Mike (a local pony trap operator) who offered a 2+ hour ride around the island complete with little history lessons along the way.  The trap was pretty small with just enough (barely) room for the three of us and our luggage (a backpack and small carry on).	Mike and Prince
Mike was very receptive to our questions about him and his family history on the island.  His family has been living on the island for over 300 years.		Along the way, we saw old churches, cows, sheep, and some horses (some with foals).
	It’s pretty hard to take pictures from a moving buggy, but we snapped off a few good ones – including some interesting shots of the walled fields and the stone pits that were built to collect rainwater.	Seals sunning.

On our hike up, we passed a trio of local boys playing music (fiddle, flute, squeezebox).  The boy in the middle sang (with an amazingly sweet voice) a song about going to America with his sweetheart.

Dun Aengus Fort which stands over a dramatic 300 foot cliff that spans the entire western part of the island. It was built during the Bronze Age and dates from around 1,000 B.C.
	The fort consists of a series of four concentric walls of dry stone construction.  Outside the third ring of walls lies a defensive system of stone slabs, known as a ‘Chevaux de frise’, planted into the ground that is still largely well-preserved. Although clearly defensible, the particular location suggests that its primary purpose was religious and ceremonial rather than military. It may have been used for seasonal rites by the druids, perhaps involving the bonfires that could be seen from the mainland of Ireland.

	We enjoyed a couple of pints and grilled ham & cheese sandwiches (a pub favorite) in Ti Joe Mac bar while watching hurling.
		Then we set out for a little exploring on foot before grabbing another pint at a pub/restaurant with a Celtic name that I can’t even decipher…but the English sign said “Restaurant”.	Yes, she comes with chips.

John ducked into the Spar (Irish cross between a small grocery store and a mini-mart) and grabbed a couple of bottles of red wine for later before catching a cab back to our B&B.

The Man of Aran B&B is a beautiful house.
	Built specifically for the filming of the movie, it is a bit of a famous place on the island.
The couple who own the place (Joe and Maura) are great - she is a great cook and talks at the top of her lungs all the time, half in Gaelic and half in English.  He’s pretty quiet, kinda sweet and definitely stayed in the background.
		They do both breakfast and dinner and the kitchen has earned many awards and much recognition.  The herb and vegetable garden out back contributes to their success.

This is how you get over the wall.	We spent a little time exploring down at the sea side behind the B&B.  Cracked a bottle of red and enjoyed a little down time before dinner. We watched the cows grazing in the nearby fields and Erin relaxed on the rocks while John played along the water’s edge and found some round ocean rocks to take home as souvenirs.	Hard to believe these things stay stacked.
New dirt on top of old stone.

After dinner, some of us gathered in one of the sitting rooms and watched “The Man of Aran”.  A docufiction filmed in 1934 with all local talent it is the quintessential silent black/white flick relying on the overacting and overly dramatic cinematography to convey emotions and plot…but they dubbed some dialog into it, although you needed subtitles to understand what they were saying since between the poor audio quality, the loud sound effects, and the thick Irish brogue.  During the movie, there are some pretty harrowing scenes with high waves including one unplanned scene in which the woman falls and has to be pulled out of the surf by her hair (she didn’t know how to swim). Apparently that scared her enough that she never did watch the movie.

After the movie we turned in for the night and got much needed sleep.
We, once again, had beautiful weather all day today. It was so warm that all the island visitors were sunburned (including John).