Dun Aengus inspires
Our ferry was a “people” ferry; no cars are allowed on the island except the cars owned by the locals for their own personal use and source of revenue. We didn’t really know what to expect, except that once on the island we should go see the “ring fort” per Charlotte. So, we thought we might be able to rent a golf cart.
We knew they had bicycles, but I didn’t think I could do a bike because of the relatively steep, rocky island terrain. Also, I thought a “jaunting car” (a horse-drawn carriage) would take too much valuable time because our ferry left the island at 5:00 p.m. for the return trip to the mainland. After a fast ferry ride of 45 minutes, we arrive on this 9-mile island (only 2 miles wide) and as we disembark the ferry, locals advance towards us with brochures for renting bicycles and jaunting cars and drivers approach us hawking rides on their mini-bus taxis.
Christin asks one of the mini-bus taxi drivers if we can rent golf carts and he huffs, “we don’t have any golf courses here!” She explains that on one of our California islands, we rent golf carts to the visitors and he is unimpressed. We don’t ride with that taxi driver.
After briefly reviewing these options, we do decide on the mini-bus taxis and procure another one, which already has a family of three onboard. Not knowing the routine, or what to expect, we sit back to enjoy the ride.
Climbing the road and winding through rocky, barren landscape, with views to the ocean as far as the I can see, we are again struck by the number of vacant stone dwellings and stone-walled parcels of land with no people, no animals, no crops – just small, empty, walled plots of land. Dropped off at Kilmurvey Village, our driver tells us he’ll be back at 4:00 p.m. to take us back to our ferry.
This very small village (the island only has 800 inhabitants, total!), has a couple of very small restaurants and after checking out a couple, we have lunch and decide we’d better check out the main attraction, Dun Aengus (also known as Dun Aonghasa, Aenghus, Aonghus – remember I said the Irish usually have more than one name for everything!), the ring fort.
We follow the signs and arrive at a visitor center, which charges admission for us to enter into the park and are told that it is about a 15 minute walk. Well, it might take 15 minutes if you are in excellent physical condition (Day One – Castle Turret Climbing Training Day wasn’t enough) AND if you are used to walking uphill in rocky, difficult terrain AND if you have the right shoes (Christin wore flip-flops everywhere).
The beginning of the walk is misleading because the path is relatively easy – just dirt with some normal size gravel and rocks and the elevation increases at a relatively modest incline. But as you get closer to the ring fort, the terrain changes to large boulders and a much steeper, more treacherous climb.
I liken this journey could be a smaller version of China’s Great Wall because portions of the path are hedged in the typical western Ireland fashion of stacked stone walls. Along the way, you can’t see even a speck of the ringed fort, so you have no idea what the pay off is going to be, especially since you must pay attention to the road and concentrate on your climb or risk twisting an ankle!
But, what a pay off in the end!
After walking and climbing for about 45 minutes (what happened to the “15 minute walk” we were told by the admissions guy?), a spectacular semi-circular stone fortress surrounded by several semi-circular stone walls looms ahead overlooking the ocean with a menacing 300-foot cliff that drops into the crashing Atlantic Ocean below!
Thought to have been built around 3,000 years ago as a religious and ceremonial site rather than a military fortress, Dun Aengus is a place shrouded in mystery and staggering beauty. To give you a sense of its size, the outermost walls of this circular monument measure 14 acres.
The walk back is much easier and we were just in time to meet our mini-bus for the 4:00 p.m. return to the ferry landing.
If God sends you down a stony path,
May he give you strong shoes.
On the way up earlier in the afternoon, we past a sign advertising a vegetarian restaurant, so we asked our mini-bus driver to let us out. We thought we might stay later (the final ferry of the day left the island at 7:30 p.m.) if the restaurant looked promising, and have dinner. So, we followed the signs, thought we missed it and stopped to ask a local, who told us the restaurant didn’t open for dinner until 8:00 p.m.!
So much for that idea! We trudged back to the ferry landing just in time to catch our 5:00 p.m. ferry for the return to the mainland.
45 minutes later, back in Rossaveal, we need to find our way back to Galway. For an American, driving in Ireland is an adventure all its own. Between the pedestrians, buses, trucks, sheep, roundabouts, signage in Gaelic and strange parking habits of the Irish, Christin thinks that it feels more like a video game then driving. But she is improving daily, although after this long drive, her nerves are somewhat shot.
After going back the way we came, we arrive in the city center of Galway and decide we better get directions back to Glenlo Abbey before it gets dark. We ask a taxi driver, who is awesome and gives us direction AND his phone number plus a recommendation for a restaurant for dinner.
We are very nervous about driving at night, but decide to have dinner at the recommended Italian restaurant called Al Muretto’s. Since the taxi driver had given us his phone number, after dinner we called him and he talked us through step-by-step (and roundabout-by-roundabout!). We got back to Glenlo Abbey quickly and directly under his kind and patient care (a good, kind-hearted taxi-driver Leprechaun!). An Irish Blessing to bless you and yours:
Deep peace of the running wave to you
Deep peace of the flowing air to you
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you
Deep peace of the shining stars to you
Deep peace of the gentle night to you
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you
The story continues on Page 7…
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