Farewell, Aran Islands

Click for larger image

All things must pass and so did our time on the Aran Islands. It was farewell in several ways, but foremost in my mind was how the islands had changed over the past nineteen years. When I first visited there was only one car on one of the islands, a taxi that would take one from the east end of Inishmore to the west end if one did not want to take a horse drawn coach. Today the island contains many cars that regularly zoom along the roads, making one step aside on a regular basis.

On one hand, some of what make the islands so attractive has gone away, on another hand it only makes sense to wish to the inhabitants the best of their choices, on a third hand those accustomed to dealing with cars will never know the difference. We may return – there are so many other places to visit – and if so my druthers will be to spend a couple of days on Inishmaan, where despite the changes on the large island, little has changed over the years. The ability to quietly contemplate over the ocean of rocks is certainly what John Millington Synge enjoyed (his house still exists there, though it has been whitewashed), and mindless exploration brings untold benefits, so I would love to pass through one more time.

Walls And Ground, Aran Islands

Click for larger image

If there is one takeaway from the Aran Islands it is that there are rocks. Many, many rocks. It is estimated that there are about 1,000 miles of ancient stone walls to contain livestock and define property ownership. If one were to conservatively estimate that each foot of wall contained five rocks then that would come to over 25 million rocks. A rock was picked up and placed in a specific location over 25 million times. I am still unable to get my head around that.

This image shows three layers of walls with the limestone ground between. Deep fissures can be seen, which may contain hints of soil. The Aran Islands of one hundred years ago looked more like this than the fields of grass of today. Although a fictional documentary, the movie Man of Aran does show the islands in 1934, when men broke these rocks with sledge hammers to get to that soil.

Though that is no longer necessary, the islands offer a unique opportunity to see back into another time when things were very different.

Cottage, Aran Islands

Click for larger image

Dun Aengus is a fort that dates back about three thousand years, and is pretty much a required location for all visitors to Inishmore. I had visited the fort the last time I was on the Aran Islands in 1995 and this time climbed up to it again. Over the past 19 years a number of shops have opened up at the base of the hill (there were none in 1995) and since I wanted to bring a few presents back to my family I looked in one.

I picked up a painted stone and decided to make the purchase. I went to the counter and pulled out the bills in my pocket.  After handing over the bills to pay for the stone I started counting the coins to complete the transaction.  The cashier said, “Oh, just give me the rubbish,” which has become a phrase I now use for many things.

We got to talking and she told me that she was the one who had painted the rock.  The image was that of the house in which she grew up, and where her mother still lives. Describing where the house was located I tracked it down and offer it here.

O’Briens Castle, Aran Islands

Click for larger image

Inisheer is small. Really small, as in around two by three kilometers (about 1.25 by 1.85 miles) with less than 300 inhabitants (although that is almost twice the population of Inishmaan), all clustered together near the harbor.

The Aran Islands were the key to the control of Galway Bay, so despite their size, they had an element of importance during the Medieval period.

Today O’Briens Castle stands atop a hill with a wonderful view of the bay. Standing there with the wind gently running past me, I had a feeling of serenity that may not have existed in the past. The opening in the stone wall offers entrance to the castle, as opposed to the challenge that may have been the case in the past.

I almost decided to remove much of the foreground and not to place the castle in the middle, but the feeling I had when I photographed the place had more to do with the present than the past.

Ground, Aran Islands

Click for larger image

I believe that most people on the Aran Islands make ends meet through tourism in one form or another. However, that was not always the case.

Go back a century and these islands were basically three large rocks off the coast of Galway. Using sledgehammers men break the fractured rock to get to the soil in the crevices. Scooping this soil out they would mix it with sand and the seaweed women could collect from the shoreline.  This would be laid on top of the rocks to serve as fertile soil to grow potatoes and other vegetables. The meals would be rounded out by whatever they could catch from the ocean.

There are a number of areas on the islands that give one an idea as to what they may have dealt with long ago, and this image shows one of those areas, contained within one of the ubiquitous stone fences, and modern (non-thatched) houses in the background.

More about this unique place can be read (free) in John Millington Synge’s The Aran Islands at http://en.wikisource.org/ or read it the Kindle.

Church, Aran Islands

Click for larger image

It is not unusual to see buildings on the Aran Islands that are long abandoned, and any walk through Inishmore will take one past this church, though from the other side.  One of my morning walks the fog was still in the process of escaping for the day.  I wandered down a small side road and finally looked back at the church.

Wandering into the past is not all that hard, lift the rope from the gate and walk forward. There may be no direct route to the destination, but with the end point in mind, there will always be a way.

House, Aran Islands

Click for larger image

I will be posting a series of images from the Aran Islands that are contained within my folio.  I will also be posting larger images so that they can be downloaded and printed out if anyone wishes.

It is sometimes difficult to define beauty. Actually, it is impossible.

This house on the island of Inishmore particularly struck me because it has apparently weathered the years, taking its hits but refusing to yield, which is the story of the people of the Aran Islands. The stone fence continues its job and holds fast as nature does its inevitable thing.

Beauty is not only new and pristine, but also old and worn, full of stories unable to be told.

Family

Click for larger image

Last lumen print for a while.

The idea of this lumen print was to give the idea of a family that starts together, then begins to drift away.  Three leaves are embedded together while one of the children prepares to go off on its own.

From the White Depths

Click for larger image

A number of years ago I purchased a print from Haley Jensen, which hangs in our family room, and wanted to create a lumen print that was in that general direction.  I was looking for something more sparse than her print, but when I gear up to make some more prints in the summer I might try compacting things a bit more.

Blasting Forward

Click for larger image

The colors in a lumen print do not necessarily have anything to do with the subject matter.  I look more for shape and let things fall as they may.

In this particular case the density of the flowers kept light from getting to the paper, while the stems allowed it peripherally.  This created the idea of the object crashing through a barrier.