Saturday, June 11, 2011

Aran Islands


We arrived at Inisheer in the Aran Islands on Thursday. Our positive first impressions and our wonder and delight upon arriving at this amazing wall covered island were all substantiated in the next few days of exploring the island . The walls here are plentiful and varied. The style of walling changes from field to field. As Patrick McAfee and I walked with the group we tried to analyze the different principles and techniques the people of Inisheer have incorporated to build these more unusual types of walls. It was very much like trying to crack a code. The walls that more or less stick to a roughly horizontal plane seem to be the least interesting and no more structural than many of the other wall styles found all over the island.