Inisheer

The last field trip my Folklore & Ethnology class took was a two day trip to Inisheer, the smallest of the Aran Islands. The island is a great representation of "the folk" since the Irish language is still widly spoken and the land is hardly touched. I had such a great time exploring the small island of Inisheer as I climbed, crawled, jumped, and ran across the landscape. On this island I was truly at peace.

Here is a castle (or possibly just a stone home) where I ate my packed lunch inside with a few friends to escape the wind. Way better than eating in a pub.

We fed this donkey my apple core and he was quite happy about it.

I mentioned there was lots of hiking during this day and most of it was off the beaten path. We found ourselves jumping over rock wall fences, climbing up castles and rock faces, and jumping across stones on the beach. There was just so much to see, do, and experience.

This was pretty neat to see. I spotted a few cairns (known for marking a trail) when we were leaving the rock beach, and then found a few more in a line as we were nearing the shipwreck. I actually learned about cairns from Nancy Drew: Danger on Deception Island and I was so glad that I knew I was able to use them to find my way across the island. Just another fun fact learned from Nancy Drew!

I'd love to return to Inisheer or explore the other Aran Islands just as I did with Inisheer.

Shannon