You deserve a couple of nights on aran

IT’S 11 o’clock on a sunny morning and I am cycling along the High Road. On my right the tiny fields, bounded by stone walls, slope down towards the sea. To the left rises a boreen. I turn the bike in to it, prop it behind a bush, and walk a few steps higher until I am in a landscape that has not changed for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years.
The grey limestone pavement, made up of slabs several yards across and long, stretches into the distance. It appears barren, until you look into the fissures in the rock and see a profusion of wild flowers. A bee murmurs, a butterfly floats. In the near-silence, peace descends ...
This is the kind of Aran Islands experience you cannot have as a day-tripper.
It is easy to get the boat at Ros a Mhíl, spend 40 minutes skimming the sea, land at Kilronan, hop on a bus and do the island tour, have lunch, wander around a little, finger a few souvenirs or Aran jumpers, and take the 5 o’clock boat back.
Years ago they made a film “If it’s Tuesday, this must be Belgium”. It was a satire on the whistle-stop tour of Europe indulged in by Americans, and in fairness, if you have only a fortnight’s holiday and this is your one chance to go transatlantic, what choice do you have?
Likewise, if you want to “do” Ireland in a week or two, a day-trip to Aran is better than nothing.
But for Tuam Herald readers, most of whom live in Co Galway, the only way to see the place is to spend at least a night or two there.

Read the full feature in this week's edition