WALKING THE WESTERN WAY

DAY 1 and DAY 2 - GALWAY CITY TO INISHMORE

We went on a self guided walking holiday in County Galway and County Mayo.  The holiday was arranged through Hillwalk Tours based in Dublin, Ireland.  They arrange the overnight accommodation, necessary transportation and most importantly arrange for the main luggage to be transferred ahead to the next accommodation address.  This means that during the day all you need to carry is a small backpack with necessary items like some food and wet weather gear, remember we were in Western Ireland. 

We took the train to Galway on the West coast.   Before catching the train we had arranged to leave one suitcase near the station so we had less to travel with on the walk and so we were left with just two small backpacks and one large backpack.  The last time we had used the train in Ireland was in 1960 when we went to the same West coast after Anthony and Carol's wedding.  We were retracing some old steps.  The trains have changed markedly as instead of good old fashioned steam were on a nearly new diesel train (made by Hyundai).  Our walk took us to one of the Aran Islands and then onto the mainland where we started out on the long distance path, the Western Way.

You can see a larger version of any photograph by simply clicking the mouse once on the image. Another click outside the image returns you to the text  

Dublin to Galway

Arriving in Galway we collected ferry tickets to get us to the largest of the Aran Islands, Inishmore where we were to stay two nights and walk on two separate parts of the island.  Hillwalk had made excellent arrangements for us and we took the bus from Galway Town out to the ferry terminal at Rossaveel.

The ferry ride took about an hour and our instructions suggested we phone the B and B ahead of our arrival so that they could collect us.  We had bought a cheap cell phone for use in Ireland and made the call from the ferry.  It turned out the lady owner was on the same ferry! and we made contact then and there.  Her husband was going to meet her at the ferry terminal so we were all set up.

Inishmore ferry

The B and B was not a great distance from the terminal but we appreciated the ride anyway.  The B and B was excellent and we were made very welcome and looked after well.  The room was large by Irish B and B standards, en suite, as they all were.  We had great full breakfasts and they couldn't have done more to make our stay enjoyable.

Ti Catherine B and B

On our first walking day we went to the Western end of Inishmore.  We had been provided with detailed walking instructions and a complete set of maps for the entire time.  This made finding our way quite easy and we never got lost.

Inishmore

The large red cross marks the location of the B and B.  Our walk took us around the North coast, you will need to click on the map to show enough detail.  We reached the little settlement of Cill Mhuirbhigh (Kilmurvey) where we took a lunch break at Nan Phaddy's cafe.

Along the North Shore

Nan Phaddy's cafe

The principal attraction in this area is the Dun Aengus Fort.  This impressive 3,000 years old fort sits 100 m above the Atlantic Ocean and its massive walls run right up to the cliff edge.  No fences guard the sheer drop.  The fort is protected by three concentric walls.  This was one place where we met many other tourists otherwise we were nearly always alone on our walk.

Dun Aengus Fort

The coast at Dun Aengus

Along the path between the stone walls

We came across a sculpture garden that was dedicated to Liam O'Flaithearta (1896 - 1984) who was born in the remote village of Gort na gCapall through which we had just passed. Liam was a significant Irish novelist and short story writer and a major figure in the Irish literary renaissance.

The Scuplture Garden at Gort na gCapall

Detail of one of the sculptures in the garden

The walls use large amount of loose rock and stone which are readily available.

The whole region back was basically large flat slabs of rock and this is the same rock formation that you find on the Burren on the mainland as the Aran Islands are just a continuation of that region.

The Aran Islands are a popular area for the tourist. Each day a whole hoard of folk arrive on the morning ferry from Rossaveal and spend the day on the island returning later in the afternoon.  Most get out to Dun Aengus and many use a pony and trap to cover the eight or so kilometres which we had walked.  

The lazy man's way to get around Inishmore

All together on our first day out we covered about 17 kilometres, which was going to be one the longest distances we covered in a day.  A good start to the adventure.

The weather was wonderful, only one rain shower that we managed to miss, just.  We felt ourselves lucky as it rains two days out of three in that part of the world.