Aran Islands and Malin Head

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OK, so we didn't find the shamrock at the bottom of the cup, we found it at the top. It was a very big moment in a remote pub in Malin Head at the farthest northern point of all of Ireland!

After Dingle, we cruised farther north, but kept to the west coast. WOW! The rugged coastline was so nice, and the sun held out for us. By this point we had both had enough of the beaches, Carlee was actually peeling and I was a little pink, so...

We went over to the Aran Islands for a few days. This is off the west coast, there are 3 islands, but we only went to one, the big one, Inis Mor. So this island was only about 15 km from one end to the other with a population of about 900 people and many tourists. We rented bikes and went for a windy cruise. There is a lot to see on this island, old celtic ruins from thousands of years ago, mostly stone fortresses used as protection back in the day, we also came across old churches and gravesites, so well preserved after all these years, good ol stone seems to have stood the test of time. They had some massive cliffs and some real friendly locals.

In fact, our first day there, we walked in to this little pub and started chatting with this local named Johny. He was quite the musician, playing tunes for the tourists, and drinking guiness. He was interested to hear that I was from the Yukon as his grandfather went there looking for gold like so many others. And then he said he wanted to sing me a song. Well he broke into an amazing rendition of Rocky Raccoon and I was quite moved, how he knew how much I love that song, I do not know, but I was just delighted!!!!!

On the Aran Islands, the people have held on to their Irish language and there is a very strong sense of community and self sufficiency. It seems to me that it is mostly here and in the southwest of Ireland that people speak the Irish language as well as English, and they of course are very proud of it!!!

We could of stayed longer and I had a farming job for us lined up with a pagan priest (used to be catholic, interestingly enough), but Carlee wasn't really into it and it would have cut into the rest of our time quite severely, so we cruised on. The priest was actually off island doing a wedding, so had he been their, my interest in having a conversation with him may have won out over Carlee's rational decision to move on, but it was not to be.

Next stop, Malin Head, the most northern tip of Irleand. Very small and quite and WINDY. It was here we found the shamrock in our pint......................

And now we are in Dublin, so that will be the next blog. Love and hugs to all, angelino.
oh, i put some new pictures on the last blog, check it out.

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Photos

giant's causeway
this is on the north coast, formed by a lava a long, long, long, long time ago.

Finn MacCool
the real story behind the rocks.

Comments

[Joseph]

Hola Bonita Chica!
Hola chica! Que hermosa! Muuuuy linda fotos!!! .. Isla de Aran es linda. Espero tienes un bueno tiempo en Irlanda y dices hola a Carlee para yo... Chao bonita chica! Josello

[Deansy]

Love the Shamrock
Hey Angie and Carlee. Enjoying reading about your trip and love the shamrock. See you soon!