The Aran Islands (Oileáin Árann) are three islands in County Galway in the west of Ireland. They have stark treeless scenery of barren limestone which makes the green of their fields and heathland shine all the brighter. They're dotted with prehistoric forts and early Christian sites, and are within a short ferry ride or an even shorter flight from the mainland.
Around 340 million years ago in the early Carboniferous age, great layers of limestone were deposited in the west of Ireland. Later glaciation wore them down and at the end of the last Ice Age 11,000 years ago, sea levels rose by 100 m. This sundered the Aran Islands from the mainland limestone area now known as the Burren in County Clare. The smooth limestone table began to weather into a fissured pavement known as "clints and grikes". There was no topsoil, no trees, and very little fresh water, because the rainfall plunged underground. The Burren bedrock is riddled with cave systems and perhaps these will one day be discovered on the Aran Islands.
It was a bleak prospect for farming. There was a collection of dirt in the fissures, the grikes, which supported Alpine-type wild flowers, and which could be eked out to use as soil, with seaweed added for fertiliser. Fishing was essential for food. The islands were places to flee to, not to conquer. The first wave of construction dates from around 1100 BC, though one tomb on Inis Meáin goes back to at least 2500 BC. The ancient builders were the Builg, who may be the same as the mythical Fir Bolg, who supposedly lost the battle to rule Ireland but were awarded the region of Connacht as a booby prize. One thing they were not short of was rocks. Great stone forts were erected, and fields were cleared by heaping stones into the drystone walls that crisscross the islands.
Early Christian refugees from the mainland, later venerated as saints, settled in the 6th century, and medieval churches were built over their cells. These are ruined but survive because there were no later major phases of building to obliterate them. Along with the forts, they're the main visitor attraction today.
The three islands are Gaeltachtaí, areas where Irish is the main language, spoken by almost everybody as a first language. So you'll seldom see the Fáinne, the badge of proficiency in Irish as a learnt language. Everyone is fluent in English, but signs are in Irish: English equivalents (e.g. "Inisheer" for Inis Oírr) are unofficial. These pages give both versions of place names but give prominence to the English version simply to help with pronunciation.
There are two ferry routes from the mainland, from Rossaveel 40 km west of Galway year round, and from Doolin in County Clare in summer. All ferries sail to Kilronan 📍 on Inis Mór, taking 40 min; they call at Inis Oírr 📍 and Inis Meáin 📍 on the way out or back. This may mean a 90 min sailing time to an island that's closer to the mainland. Day trips are feasible.
From Rossaveel Aran Island Ferries sail at least twice a day year round, with eight a day at the height of summer. In summer 2020 an adult return fare was €30. A shuttle bus from Eyre Square in Galway connects with all sailings, return fare €9. Never bring a vehicle (even a motorbike) to the Aran Islands, park at Rossaveel anywhere that won't inconvenience residents or harbour users.
From Doolin the Doolin Ferry sails 3 or 4 times a day Mar-Oct taking 40 min, foot passengers only, €30 return.
Aer Árann fly several times a day from Connemara (or Minna) Airport (IATA: NNR) at Inverin, 31 km west of Galway city. There are at least a couple of flights daily year round, more in summer, with a return fare (in 2020) of €50. Flying time is just 10 min and a day trip is always feasible. The aircraft are a pair of rinky-dinky BNF Islanders that only take 9 passengers; they rattle around in the breeze and are often cancelled in bad weather.
The airfields on Inis Mór (IATA: IOR) 📍, Inis Meáin (IATA: IIA) 📍 and Inis Óirr (IATA: INQ) 📍 are each about 1 km east of their island's ferry pier.
The flights from Connemara are all turnarounds, with no inter-island flights. Connemara has no other flights so it's not connected to the global air network. The Aran flights are a PSO - a public service obligation, subsidised by the government to support island life. There are always fraught negotiations and brinkmanship over the continuation of such PSOs: the present contract runs to autumn 2021.
Bus 424 runs ever hour or two from Galway via Spiddal and Inverin (passing within 1 km of the airport) to Rossaveel ferry pier.
The ferries from the mainland always call at Inis Mór and usually at the other islands. This means an inter-island trip is possible most days year round, and a day-trip is feasible most days in summer.
Walking is the primary transport on all three islands. On Inis Meáin and Inis Óirr it will likely be your sole method, as those islands are compact, everything's within a km or two, and the paved lanes soon give way to boreen - stone-and-grass tracks. Beyond the tracks are deeply fissured limestone "clint and grike" pavements.
Inis Mór however is 14 km long, with a collection of sights 2-3 km east of Kilronan village, then the main sights are 7-10 km west. The spine road is paved and both standard and mountain bikes can be hired.
All the islands have tours, by minibus or pony cart. There's even a day-trip from Dublin by rail and air, a frenetic excursion. These are a good option if you're short of time or the weather is iffy, but it means you'll be disgorged into places in a group, and may lose out on the atmosphere.
As of June 2020, you can get a mobile signal on Inis Mór in Kilronan and a little way up the lane west. There's no coverage anywhere else in these islands, though individual properties and the ferries may have a connection.
2nd-order administrative division
Primary administrative division