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Inishmore
It pains me to include this one, but here it is anyway. Inishmore is the largest of the Aran Islands and the most developed for tourism.
Time was when you could just get off the ferry and start to explore the island, walking up to Dún Aengus, a huge prehistoric fort on a promontory.
The Hard Sell
Now you are met by a crowd of hawkers on arrival, jostling to sell you Island tours in one of the many buses or jaunting cars lined up by the pier. These tours will whisk you around the main sites before depositing you are the interpretive centre near the fort. There you will certainly find some good and interesting information about the Island and the fort, but also yet more touristy souvenirs of dubious quality and another hard sell.
There is an "Aran Sweater museum", which is really a store, full of nonsense about clan aran sweaters, a marketing ploy designed to sell sweaters to tourists.
Updated: 17th June 2005 It pains me to report that I read today that Supermacs (think McDonalds) have opened a large outlet on Inishmore. Where will it end?
Should you go?: Yes, yes, yes - please go, it’s a wonderful place. Fight your way through the offers of tours and hire a bike to tour by yourself - nothing is more than 3-4 miles away from Kilronan where the ferry lands and is a very pleasant cycle. Or walk. Do not head straight away for Dún Aengus - as most will - but for the equally interesting but far less visited Dún Dúchathair or Black Fort.
Location Map for Inishmore
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