Magical

The title says it all.  Today will be burned in my memory forever.
We left the still sleeping town of Ennis at 8 AM and traveled 45 minutes to the coastal town of Doolin.  We figured out that both Scotland and Ireland have late starts.  People just don't get going much before 8 or 9, especially on bank holidays.

In Doolin, we grabbed our tickets to ride the Bill O'Brien ferries over to the Aran Island, Inis Oirr (Gaelic for Island East) and then to the Cliffs of Moher.

The ferry ride was uneventful.  We were hoping to see a dolphin or two since there were signs posted to not swim with the dolphins, but we only saw some sea birds and some jellyfish on the 30 minute journey.

 
 Once we landed, there were several Jaunting Carts waiting to be hired.  We tried to decide if we should hire a bike, walk, or do the jaunting cart.  After deciding not to sweat through our many layers we wore for the crossing, we chose jaunting.  Who isn't up for a good jaunt??


Tom, our driver, was very informative and told us all about the island.
This island is absolutely covered in dry stacked rock walls.  Mainly because the island was a big rock floor.  The people who lived here centuries ago had to remove the rock from the ground so they could get useful land.  They brought in seaweed and sand to grow on and used the rock for fences.  These fences are still here today except for a few on the north side of the island which were wiped out by storms.
All of the residents of Innis Oirr speak Irish (same as Gaelic, but the Irish call it Irish).  They have to speak Irish for the government to allow them to purchase/build/live there.  The kids speak Irish as a first language and learn English in schools.  We've noticed that every sign in Ireland is written in both Irish and English (well, until you get to the outer areas - then they're just Irish).  I love this - they're working hard to keep their heritage intact.  I've learned a few words: An is "the", Innis is "island", Oirr is "east" and actually Oirr is shortened down from another word.  Mall is "slow" and Failte is "welcome".

Tom pointing out how the ground originally looked (rocky)

How the ground looks after clearing the rock to make a fence

Ship wreck due to storm from 1960

On our jaunting tour we saw a big ship wreck from 1960 - luckily all survived.  There is also the remains of the O'Brien castle.  O'Briens were the first large clan, and then the Flaherty's came and took over after a battle.  But these islands date back much later than the clan system.  There is a ring fort where O'Brien built his fort.  I don't know the exact age of this, but let's just say it's hard to fathom.

Potato Garden

Thatched Roof

O'Brien's Castle in the distance

After our jaunt, Eric and I supported the local economy by buying a pint to cool off and then set off on our own little treck through the hills.  We were joined by a little dog we like to call Sean.  He was our tour guide for most of it and we were the only people around - surrounded by miles of rock fence.

More Rock Walls :)

Our guide, "Sean"

Paul Haggins, the artist carving Ogham pendants

On our way back into town, we saw a man chiseling away on something.  We found out he was carving into slate.  He had some images and some writing in Ogham - an alphabet used in the 4th to 6th century.  Because we're saps, we got necklaces that say Soul Mates :)

Soul Mates (on the far left)

Beach at Inis Oirr

Blue water - Inis Oirr

We then tracked down Tom and gave him another 5er to let him know how much we appreciated his great story telling.  We noticed other drivers weren't as talkative and we wanted to make sure he knew we valued it.  Tipping isn't big in the culture over here unless you get great service, and we felt he should get one.  It was only 10 euro a ride.

The ferry arrived at 1:45 PM and we all crammed on, jockeying for the best position to see the Cliffs.  It took about 30 minutes to get there.  We saw more jellyfish along the way and spoke to a nice Ohio couple.

The cliffs...They're like the Grand Canyon.  You can't describe it unless you see it.  I can tell you they're 700 feet high, but even we had a hard time grasping that height until we saw little people walking along the top.  They're composed of sandstone.

Tanya and Eric and the cliffs of insanity

When we arrived back at port, we decided to jump in the car and head towards the top and become an ant as well.  The visitor center was 6 euro a person... We didn't feel like paying it after we saw it from the water, so we kept driving and then saw a "parking" sign.  We turned off a narrow one lane/two way road and drove about 5 miles back, back, back, back (where is the sea??  where is the cliffs??), back, back.  Finally we found a house that was charging 2 euro to park there and then there was a 10 minute walk to the cliffs. OK!  We paid our 2 euro to the 9 year old manning the parking lot and set off.  Glad we did!

It's now about 4:00 and we've decided to head towards Galway.  En route, we see The Burens along the way.  We've been seeing this on the map, but didn't know what it was.  It's an odd geological site.  The countryside gives way to rock.  There is a sign for a Poulnabrone Dolmen, and we decide to check it out.  We've seen this picture in brochures.  Apparently it's one of the most photographed items in all of Ireland because these rocks have been setting like this over a cairn for 3500 years!!  3500 years!!  Gonna say it one more time, because it's really hard to understand that age. 3500 years.

So we took our pictures and decided to make haste for Galway before dark and/or rain.  Clouds were darkening up and we did get a bit of a sprinkle - still that's the worst weather we've had this whole trip!

We stop for a quick bite to eat in town and then drive in circles looking for our B & B.  Finally found.  So hot in the room - no a/c and did I mention how warm it's been since we've been here?  We lay on the bed for a while trying to cool off before we get ready and head to city center, hoping to find some traditional music.  Preferably with people singing along.  We've wanted to do this every night of our trip, but we haven't had any luck.

Jackpot!!  We found several.  The streets were teaming with people of all ages and everyone singing along, even in the street!  Absolutely fantastic evening!!!  What an amazing and MAGICAL day.