Week 5! My favorite parts of my time here so far have been the trips around the country I’ve taken on the weekends. Two weekends ago, I had the opportunity to travel with the UL International Society to Inis Oirr (meaning east island in Irish), the smallest of the Aran Islands off the coast of Galway, on the north-west coast of Ireland. This was a large trip, with roughly 120 students attending. They transported us by coach bus 2 hours up the country to a ferry terminal north of Galway, where we took what I believe to be the least tame ferry ride in the history of ferry rides. The ferry I was on was full of students, many choosing to go below deck to get out of the wind and rain, and many more choosing to go up top where we could squint through the spray and fog in the hopes of getting some views of the coast. I fell into the latter group, and after squeezing into the front corner of the deck, a crew member from the ferry came out and said: “Hey everybody, there is plenty of room left below deck for you all!”. When nobody moved, he seemed perplexed and informed us “It’s a rough day. You WILL get wet staying up here”. Again, nobody moved. He shrugged his shoulders and went back into the cabin. I suppose most Irish tourists are less brave when it comes to the weather, but the forecast showed nothing but rain today anyways, so we figured if we had to get wet at some point we might as well enjoy the ocean air on the 45 minute ride.
After the ferry scooted out of the protected cove where it was docked, we all had the chance to do some experiential learning about the infamous rough seas in and just beyond the Galway Bay. The ferry was bouncing up and down like crazy in the surf, with waves splashing on deck (despite being about 10 feet off the water) and wind and rain keeping me from looking ahead. But spirits were high! Our Irish trip leaders brought two guitars and led us through such rousing sea songs as “My Heart Will Go On” (from The Titanic), “Galway Girl” and “Shape of You” (by famous artist of Irish decent Ed Sheeran), and some Irish party anthem that was indistinguishable over the sound of the sea. After stepping off the boat I took a moment to be thankful I don’t get seasick, and we set off to explore the island. The island of Inis Oirr is the smallest of the Aran Islands, at only about 3 square miles. With a population of only 260, it is the second least populated. This island is also significant in that it is one of the few places in Ireland where traditional Irish is still spoken as the predominant language. With little knowledge of attractions on the island, we set out simply to walk the whole island, as it is small enough that this is not an unreasonable feat in the 5 hours we had. There is very little in terms of shopping and eating to do on the island, especially in the off-summer months. We found one pub and hostel, one bed and breakfast, and a small fudge stand that were open, in addition to a small craft shop with a selection of the famous Aran sweaters the islands are known for.
But shopping and eating is not what we came to the islands for, and we set our first course for the castle ruins at the highest point of the island. This castle is called O’Brien’s castle, a 15th century fort named after the family that ruled the island and protected the bay of Galway from potential enemies throughout most of the last millennium. The ruins are free to explore and climb, and made for an excellent spot for lunch overlooking the rest of the island. Walking around the coast, we saw little human activity save for people taking their horses for a walk via a leash attached to their car down the narrow winding roads. Another one of the interesting ruins on the island is an ancient ruined church called Teampall Chaomháin. The church has sunken deep into a hillside over the years and is surrounded by an ancient cemetery. But by far my favorite historical feature of the island is the shipwreck of the MV Plassey. The ship ran aground unspectacularly in 1960 just offshore, but has since been washed above the high tide level by storms. This shipwreck is incredible simply because it remains completely accessible to climb and explore. It has severe rust damage, but remains largely intact.
Unfortunately, our ferry back to Galway was late, leaving us with little over an hour to explore the small city, and preventing us from seeing a few attractions that close in the evening. Galway’s charm is undeniable, as one of the major tourist destinations in Ireland, and I plan to go back and spend more time there when I get the chance.
This past weekend the International Society ran a trip to two large and famous historical attractions in County Tipperary, called the Rock of Cashel and the Cahir Castle. The Rock of Cashel is an ancient church ruin dating back to the 12th century, built on a giant rocky hill. It is significant for its two sections featuring different construction and architecture, as well as its deteriorating but historically significant paintings, and its role in historical Irish church politics.
Cahir Castle was even more impressive, being much better preserved than the Rock of Cashel thanks to its superior construction and 19th century refurbishment. Cahir was a fort for local noble family, and featured innumerable defensive features and design choices that were incredibly interesting to learn about from our tour guide. These include stairs of randomly varying step heights to trip up attackers, heavy gates that drop down from above instantly, holes in the ceilings of crossings and slanted walls to funnel rocks and hot oil down onto attackers, arrow slits, and narrow doorways. We could explore almost all the rooms and defensive features of the towers and central building in this castle, and yes, I did trip up the stairs. The castle was regarded as practically impregnable until it was taken by an English Earl during a loyalty dispute with the Butler family, the longtime residents of the castle.
From islands, ferries, ruins, churches, and castles, Ireland has a lot to offer by way of history. Limerick’s central position in Ireland makes travel around to the rest of the country easy enough as well, and I can’t wait to see where I’ll end up next weekend.
