Cill Éinne Tour

If you are only visiting Inis Mór for a short time this tour is ideal and can encapsulate the Island 's history in a short space of time.

On this tour we shall take you to Cill Éinne, “Killeaney” so called after St. Enda, Aran's patron Saint, who founded a monastery here in the 5th century.

As we skirt eastwards along the harbour from Kilronan we shall arrive at the first item of interest – The memorial stones or “leachtaí” in Gaelic. These memorial stones were erected from the late18th century onwards and commemorate people who had died tragically at the sea or otherwise, those memorial stones are modeled on two epitaphs built by the Fitzpatrick family in 1710 and can be seen closer to the town.

Next we will see the remains of the Franciscan Monastery and it's bell tower and also St. Bennen's Church, reputedly the smallest in Europe . St. Bennen was a disciple of St. Patrick, though Bennen is not know to have any connection with Aran, it is thought that the church was built to honor him, very little of the monastic churches and abbeys remain in this area as most were dismantled in the 15th century by the Cromwellians to fortify Arkin Castle, though much of the cut stone in the walls was of earlier origin.

Rounding the corner we see Killeaney Harbour , one of Aran's oldest and most serene harbours, with its large Kelp furnace .

As we travel on past the airport some of the island's most breath taking scenery and beaches come into view and it's here we arrive at “Teampall Éinne” St. Enda's Church . An early Christian church where it is said that St. Enda and over 100 of his disciples are buried. Some other graves of interest are those of Basque sailors and passengers from the Lusatania which sank during World War 2.

As we continue eastwards to “Iaráirne” and to the most eastern of Aran's 14 villages, we travel through the most beautiful and scenic area of the island, where wildlife and fauna abound!

However you travel, on our island we hope you have a wonderful experience and we would be glad to share our expert knowledge with you, and spend time to make your visit one to remember.

“Slán go Fóill!” - Bye for Now!

The Aran Jarveys Association
serving the public since 1898