Dun Aengus dates back to 1100 BC. Surprisingly, no one took an interest in it until 1991 when some archeologists showed up unannounced.
If you had nothing but rocks and needed to fortify yourself, you couldn't have done better than this. On the outside are three stone walls which are built to strengthen each other.
For the rest of the day, we have two choices:
1. Swimming. You're kidding, right? By the looks of the water, you'd think you're in the Caribbean.
2. A trip to the Worm Hole (mostly because it's the only option that doesn't involve swimming). It turns out to be a lot more clambering. But this time I have the shoes for it.
It would have taken me that long to do the button holes. I plunk down the asking price and consider it a bargain. But it's more than a bargain.
For one thing, she will be closed tomorrow. And the shops that are open offer nothing like this: hand-made with personal attention. You can see it. You can feel it. You can smell it.
This will be my go-to Winter sweater for years to come. And I will always remember her and the Island of Inishmore when I wear it. I wonder if she knows how meaningful our brief exchange - and her hand-knit sweater - will be to someone like me? It will be my best consolation during non-biking months.
But there's more to this day. This evening after dinner, we are treated to a command performance by an Irish singer/guitarist whose passion and energy fill the room with Irish songs - some funny, some sad - and some with us singing along. I don't know how they found him, but I'm thinking our local guides must have had something to do with it. I wouldn't have missed his performance for anything. None of us would.
The die hards (that's how I think of them) stay up to watch a video of the history of the Aran Islands, but I'm hoping to turn my jetlag around once and for all, and turn in instead. I'm sorry I won't see it, but I don't feel like I've missed anything today.
And I have the sweater to prove it.
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%BAn_Aonghasa
** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9iHJZY0LME
*** Sarah Flaherty, Dun Aengusa Knitwear 099 61233