Ireland – A pub on the Aran Islands

 On a Spring long time ago, I stayed in Ireland for a month with a group of my friends. We travelled around Ireland, and stayed in Dublin for about a week. As we had a plenty of time, some of us went to Inishmore on the west coast.

 

The Aran islands are the group of three islands off the west coast of Ireland, including Inishmore, Inisheer, and Inishmaan. They may be popular place for those who knit as the islands of Aran Jumpers, with iconic cable patterns.

 

We took a long distant coach from Dublin to Galway, a gateway to Aran Island where the ferry to the islands departs. Galway is known as a birthplace of cladder ring, one of the popular souvenir of Ireland. The design of the ring is a combination of crown-topped heart held by two hands. This design may be well-known for Irish accessories. The heart represents love, the crown represents faith, and the hands represents friendship. I heard that the rings are used as an engage ring. We saw this impressive cladder pattern on one of the stone monument in Galway.

 

From Galway, there were red and blue boats went to and from Aran Islands. We took red boat and sailed to Inishmore, the biggest island among the three islands. The sea was rough on the day, and it was too dangerous to stay on the deck as we might be brown off from the boat. We had to remain in the cabin for the entire journey.

When we arrived Inishmore, we saw few buildings near the harbour. We checked to see if there are tourist office, as we were thinking about staying at B&B. However, tourist office was no where to be seen. Then a pub sign caught my eyes. The pub was at right in front of the harbour. We thought the pub would be an ideal place to get some information, as local people would be there. We went straight into the pub.

The pub was slightly dated building, with impressively old dark brown wooden interior. The pub’s counter must have been used long time, with dark-brown wood  smoothly polished probably due to years of use.

We tried to order some drinks at the counter. But the people on this island had quite strong accent, possibly Gaelic accent. It was very difficult to catch what had been said. We somehow managed to order some beer, relieved to find our seat, then a man sitting next to us spoked.

“ Where do you come from ?” 

“Japan” we answered.

“ I see. ......... We have lots of people coming here from Japan……………”

The man was kind enough to talk to us a plenty of thing.

But to my regret, I could only catch a few words such as “Japan “, because of his strong accent helped by plenty of beer consumed. I tried my hardest to catch up with conversation. We listened to him while we grab our pint glass and sip some beer.

The beer we had on the day was a recommendation by the pub - dark brown, rich in taste, slightly bitter, and smooth and tasty. Its smoothness and taste were something which I had never tasted before. One sip of beer, and its good taste released my tension at once, and I tried to listened to the man with all my might. Looking back now, I deeply regret that I didn't remember the name of the beer.

The man asked where we are staying. We answered that we are looking for a B&B. Suddenly, he started to talk to others nearby, and those people also started to talk  something.

The man said “You people are lucky. There  are rooms at a B&B near the harbour. Don’t you worry, we will call them and tell that Japanese are coming” He was kind enough to make a reservation for us.

We made it to the B&B. We listened very carefully to the thick accent of the landlord’s English, and he kindly let us all in. What is more, he showed us a documentary film called “Man of Aran” on the television. He said that he show it to all the people who stay at his place.

After a long journey from Dublin, and struggle with the Island’s people’s accent, I must have been very tired. I became sleepy, and went to my room a little early, and slept soundly.

On the next day, we went exploring the island on foot.

Inishmore have many graves with Celtic crosses, and there is an archaeological site called Dun Aengus. We followed the signs on the walks, and headed to Dun Aengus。

 

The island was made of rock, and there is no soil. I heard that people put seaweed on the rocks and let them rot, to make soil to grow grasses for sheep grazing. As we saw, there were heaps of seaweeds by the flock of sheep grazing on the grass.

 

Inishmore is not a big island. It may be about less than an hour to go around if we walk very quickly. We drew some sketchs at Dun Aengus, and took some pictures of Celtic crosses with magnificent carvings. And with timetable of ferry back to Galway in the back of our minds, we fully enjoyed Inishmore.

 

When I look back, I strongly recall the rustic scenery of Inishmore and the good taste of beer. 

Many waters passed since we have been there. I wonder how the man and the people at the pub, and people at B&B are doing. I sincerely hope that they are surviving COVID-19.

(Translation from the book in Japanese below )