No trip to Ireland would be complete without visiting the west coast and the mystical Aran Islands, located just outside of Galway Bay. Their rugged natural beauty provides a splendid example of the kind of landscape you get here in Connemara.

These are Islands rich in the language, culture and heritage of Ireland and also unique in their geology and archaeology. They’re a fine example of Celtic and early Christian heritage.

The Aran Islands are desolate, isolated and stunningly beautiful. Arriving on the islands for the first time you’ll feel like you’ve just stepped in time to a place untouched by modern civilization.

Dun Aengus is one of the Aran Island’s finest treasures. It’s a stone fort on the very western edge of Europe; a subject of much romantic speculation on one of the most romantic spots in Ireland. ??

Dun Aengus has been described by many as one of the most magnificent of its kind in Europe.

It’s made up of three massive concentric semicircles covering an area of 11 acres. It has three enclosed spaces. From the innermost you’ll get the most amazing views Inishmore and the Connemara coastline.

The concentric semicircles are apparently a line of defense. There’s also a band of stones set in the ground called a “chevaux-de-frise”. The stones are closely packed, and set at an angle in order to stop an attack coming from up the slope. Because of the debris from all the stones walking around the fort can slow and sometimes hazardous.

The inner wall of the fort is an astounding thirteen feet thick and eighteen feet high. At the western edge of the fort the cliffs are as sheer as the cliffs of Moher, and nearly as steep. From the top of the fort the views are amazing. Looking west you have massive expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, all the way to North America, 3000 miles away.

But why is Dun Aengus there? When was it built? And by who ?

Nobody seems to know. Archeologists, historians and antiquarians don’t have any answers. It doesn’t make any sense. The fort has no water supply or evidence of human dwellings. It wouldn’t be much use for a long-term siege. They don’t even know when it was built. Estimates range from a few centuries B.C. all the way to the eight or ninth century. Its builders might have been the fir Bolgs or possible the Danes, but knows for definite.