Day 9 of our tour was truly the icing on the cake. We boarded the Queen of Aran at the Doolin pier into the North Atlantic for a short ride across to Inisheer, the smallest of Aran Islands. Upon arrival Willy, Clay, Chris and I rented bikes to explore the island. We traveled the streets amongst the labyrinth of rock walls to reach the circa 1960s era shipwreck of the Plassey. After a few bike malfunctions including breaking a chain, we headed up to the highest point on the island, the ruins of O’Brien Castle where I even ran into some fine St. Louis folks. On our decent we stopped by Saint Caomhan’s church, also known as Sunken Church which has been buried in sand. St. Caomhan’s grave is also on site. Finally, with an hour left on the island, we decided to head cross island to the lighthouse. It was a wonderful ride, but boy am I out of shape. We once again boarded the Queen of Aran for our return, but the captain took us by way of the Cliffs of Moher for a spectacular view of these majestic cliffs from an angle that many people don’t get. What a wonderful way to spend a sunny Irish day. We finished the night with a group dinner, a set and some education from a fabulous young artist, Tara Howley, some farewells and a few songs from Willy at Fitzpatrick’s before heading back to pack before our departures tomorrow. What a tour, with fun, humor and great new friendships. I’m off to Dublin for a couple of days on my own and will be meeting up with a couple of my new friends (Jerry & Liz) while I am there.
