I mentioned in my first post on my weekend trip that my most awesome experience in Ireland so far happened on Inishmore. The place was Dún Aengus, an ancient fort built by the Celtic people who inhabited the island thousands of years ago. We rode our bikes up to the base of the site, but we had to walk up to the top. It wasn’t a bad walk at all, but since I wasn’t entirely sure what we were going to see, it seemed a bit excessive at the time. We ran into some people from our group on the way up, who said it was absolutely amazing, so that got me a little excited.
When we finally reached the top, right before we entered the old stone fort, I started to realize I was going to see something spectacular. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. The fort was situated on a 300-foot cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. There was no rail, so I could get right up to the edge, which is what you see me doing at the top of this post. It was more thrilling than any roller coaster I’ve ever been on. It was absolutely incredible. I can’t even come up with the words to explain the experience. Check out a few more pictures looking right over the cliff, plus the rest of the story and more pictures, after the jump.
Some people were a little more daring than me; I even saw two girls sitting on a very thin outcropping of rock right over the ocean for a picture. But hanging your head over the side of the cliff is thrilling by itself, and I was glad I did it. These cliffs aren’t as high as the famous Cliffs of Moher (I’ll be visiting those sometime in the next few weeks), but the view was still amazing. Here are some pictures from inside the fort, which was pretty cool, too.
The next day, as I mentioned, DJ and I walked to Dún Dúchatair (which means “Black Fort”), a similar stone fort that overlooks the sea. There weren’t any other tourists when we got there, and the walk was a trek over lots of rickety stones, but that it made it just as enjoyable as Dún Aengus. The clifffs were more impressive at Aengus, but Dúchatair had a lot better sights around it. I can’t really say anything else, so just enjoy the pictures.
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Michael, from your Great Aunt Barbara. We went to Inishman where my husbands grandfather was born when in Ireland about five years ago. His Father was born in Loughrea, outside Galway and baptized in St. Brendan’s Cathedral, a national treasure of sorts in that all it’s contents and the structure itself were designed by and made by Irishman. You can self-tour it with a headset they make available. Other than that, it’s a town full of pubs used by the Galway natives to “weekend”. Have a great trip.