Riding Stats (Link to Tom’s Strava)
Accommodations (daily mileage, elevation, etc.)
Route Tracker (track our northbound ride on a Google Map)
Tom packed up the tent in misty rain this morning and we cycled a short 13 miles to the ferry to Inishmore.
It’s the largest of the three Aran Islands and quite beautiful as well as historic.
As we’ve been riding around western Ireland, we’ve been intrigued by all the little stone-walled fields—but on Inishmore, it’s hard to imagine how anyone ever farmed this land because there’s barely ANY soil.
We sat in between two lovely couples at dinner, (one from Des Moines and one from Buffalo).
Iowans Randal and Kathy have been making their way around Ireland for days and this is Kathy’s third visit.💚💚💚
Tom and I were asking them about the all of the rock enclosures around the island, particularly on our exploratory ride this afternoon that’s not actually on an Inishmore tourist cycling route.🤣 Kathy explained the following:
Basically islanders made their own soil. They gathered seaweed from the Atlantic shore, mixed it with sand and whatever soil and organic material they could find, and spread it over the bare limestone. Animal 💩 was also used as fertilizer. Year after year, they built up enough soil to grow crops.
As for the stone walls, when farmers cleared the fields of the limestone rocks, they stacked them into walls. The walls helped protect the soil from the strong Atlantic winds (yes we understand allll about the wind here in Ireland) and the stone walls also kept their livestock contained.
So when we looked across the landscape today on our ride, we didn’t seen fields of green as on the mainland, we saw what was left of incredibly hard work. The islanders didn’t just farm the land; they practically built the land they farmed. To me this is further evidence of Irish resilience, tenacity and work ethic.
There are bike hires and tours available but since we had our own bikes and Internet access we put together our own little tour. We didn’t find everything we were looking for but sometimes the fun of it is the exploring!
One of our fave stops was Seven Churches which is an ancient monastic site dating back to the seventh century. There are actually only two churches remaining but it wasn’t difficult to see where the others may have stood centuries ago. Among the ruins were graves, stone crosses and a holy well.
And finally our Pint Size Review of our Pub of the Day which will be very pint sized because it was our first meal of the day and we went there for dinner more hungry than thirsty.
Ti Joe Watty’s is a long time gathering spot on Inishmore. Our new pals Randal and Kathy had the pleasure of meeting 91 year Patrick who is an island local earlier in the day (probably while we were out on our self-created bike tour losing my sandals). They commented on his youthfulness and that when he left the pub he confidently took hold of his shillelagh and went on about his day.
As for our pub review, I’m reviewing the dessert at the pub because it was so delish. Sorry no pic to share. The fudge brownie, chocolate syrup and ice cream didn’t last long enough. Thanks to Randal and Kathy for the dessert tip of the day AND intel on a pub we shouldn’t miss near Sligo.
Click on the image below to see views from today’s ride on Inishmore:
Keep Calm and Pedal On 