West Coast of Ireland

SCENE. An Island off the West of Ireland.
(Cottage kitchen, with nets, oil-skins, spinning wheel, some new boards standing by the wall, etc. Cathleen, a girl of about twenty, finishes kneading cake, and puts it down in the pot-oven by the fire; then wipes her hands, and begins to spin at the wheel. Nora, a young girl, puts her head in at the door.)

...CATHLEEN. Is the sea bad by the white rocks, Nora?

NORA. Middling bad, God help us. There's a great roaring in the west, and it's worse it'll be getting when the tide's turned to the wind...

-From John Millington Synge's Riders to the Sea

I travelled this weekend to Inis Mor, the largest of the Aran Islands, and had a lovely time riding a rented bike along the island's small roads, which are enclosed on either side by ancient looking stone walls. Scattered everywhere on the island are beautiful old stone enclosures, many of which still have animals roaming around in them, munching on tufts of grass. It was really quite spectacular biking along these winding old roads, which occasionally ran by old thatched roofed cottages overlooking rugged cliffs and

the open Atlantic ocean. At a very high point on the island sits a massive three thousand year old ring fort that clings to the edge of sharp cliffs. There were no signs or barriers lining the cliffs, and while many people lay face down to poke their heads over the cliff edge, I was content to sit further back where I could still look across the whole island and the ocean while enjoying the breeze. I was also glad to have read Synge's Riders to the Sea before coming to this island; observing some of the old fishing boats in the harbour made me imagine what type of scene Synge might have observed when he came to the Aran islands to study the culture and language. Truly a magnificent place, essential to my Irish experience!