Inishbofin

Another of our wonderful adventures in County Galway was a trip to a remote island called Inishbofin. "Inish" means island in Irish/Gaelic ~ there are many island names that start in this way.  Apparently "bofin" means white cow.  So Inishbofin means Island of the White Cow.  

It was a beautiful, sunny day as we boarded a ferry in a nearby village called Cleggan.  This was the view back toward the shore.  

Once I snapped this photo, the boys headed to seats inside (Chris had shorts on as usual), but I thought it felt wonderful to stand on the deck, a crisp breeze blowing in my face, taking in the amazing scenery.  

This photo was taken as we approached the island.

As was this photo ~ it is what remains of a fort built in the 1650's by Oliver Cromwell during his occupation of Ireland.  

In order to see as much of the island as possible, we decided to rent bikes. Once off the ferry, we followed the signs to a bike rental place.  This was a view of a pretty little harbor we saw along the way.

Here is Ben ~ ready for action.  He really was happier than he looks.

Apparently biking is serious business!

Our first stop was Dumlach Beach ~ it was GORGEOUS!  I remember being surprised by the beautiful beaches when we were in England a couple of years ago, and, though I probably shouldn't have been, I have been equally surprised by the amazing beaches here in Ireland.  

The boys had a blast climbing on this rock formation.

And, as always, regardless of the water temperature, they ended up in the water. :)

Thought this was a nice picture of me and Jeff.  

And just one more of the beach.

Eventually we realized if we wanted to see anymore of the island, we would have to tear ourselves away from the beach...not easy for these Wisconsinites after a long winter!  We continued on the road and came across another lovely harbor.  The water looked almost tropical!

I have LOVED seeing the daffodils!

A happy boy!  We have been fortunate on this trip that so far we have had many opportunities for activity ~ there has not been much sitting around and that makes for much happier boys!

The man who rented us the bikes told us that at last count 140 people live on Inishbofin.  Everyone knows everyone.  On the day we were on the island there was one restaurant open (I think there were two more that were still closed for the winter) and we found this one little shop that also served as the post office.  It really only sold the bare essentials.  Inishbofin is a very remote, secluded place ~ we felt like we were stepping WAY back in time.   On one hand, it is hard to imagine living is this isolation, but on the other hand, it was quite appealing to think of living such a simple life.

After a wonderful day on the island, we boarded the ferry and went back to the mainland.

We headed to a charming little town called Clifden for dinner.  Jeff had seen online that there was a music festival in Clifden that night and over the coming weekend so we thought we would check it out.

We had a delicious meal at E.J. King's Pub, but found out the music did not start until 10pm.  Guess we are a little old and tired for Irish music festivals.