Arcadia Ireland

It’s a place I've always wanted to go, so I was very excited for this trip to the Aran Islands. The day before our trip, the weather was not looking good. In fact a taxi driver in Galway laughed out-loud when I told him, myself and 30 American students were heading to the Aran Islands in the morning. Well we had the last laugh, when we got up Saturday morning and not only was it no longer raining – it was actually sunny! 

I was pretty impressed by the amount of students who decided to go on this trip. It was organised for NUI Galway students but we got students from University College Cork, University of Limerick and University College Dublin who wanted to go. A brilliant way for the students to connect with people they had met at Orientation.

We set off bright and early, our destination was Inis Mór, the largest and most populated of the Aran Islands. On the ferry ride over I attempted to teach the students a few words of Irish, as the Aran Islands are one of the few places in Ireland where Irish is the common tongue.

When we arrived in Cill Rónáin Harbour our first stop was to pick up bikes as cycling is the easiest way to get around Inis Mór, although there are lots of other options too. I’ve forgotten how to ride a bike (Yes! It is possible!) so I set off on my hike, along the coast and up to Dún Aonghasa. The walk along the coast was stunning, and took about 2 hours. It might have been less but I had to stop to check out all the wildlife; donkeys, cows, swans and horses, all the while munching on wild blackberries.

After passing a lovely little white beach, I could finally see Dún Aonghasa in the distance; a pre-historic stone fort situated on a cliff facing onto the Atlantic Ocean. There was just one little problem, the rain the previous day had flooded the beginning of the path up. Shoes and socks off, trousers rolled up and off we went! I won’t lie, it was really cold! But it was over very quickly and definitely worth it. The view at the top was absolutely breath-taking and I felt like I was standing on the edge of the world!

I took a different route back to Cill Rónáin, taking me up uphill for yet another spectacular view of the island. I stopped at the first pub I came to for lunch, grabbed a seat outside and enjoyed the last of the summer sun.

When the group met that evening for the ferry, I was delighted to see some tired but very happy students, all clad in their newly purchased Aran sweaters! Most of the students has spent the day cycling around, and told me how much they loved the freedom of it. A few like me had walked, choosing to get a mini-bus up to Dún Aonghasa and walk back.

Great day all round, can’t wait to go back!