CONTENTS
| CHAPTER I. | |
| page | |
| Island of Aran—Galway bay, anciently Lough Lurgan—Population—Religion, etc.—Inishmore, ruins on—Inishmaan, ruins on—Inisheer, ruins on—Mailboat—Hotel—Aran landscape—Flora—Potatoes—Aran wildfowl—Capture of the puffin—Cragsmen—Geology of islands—Limestone terraces—Boulders—Cliffs on islands—Seaweeds—Moving sands—Pinus maritima | [1] |
| CHAPTER II. | |
| Monuments of Druidism—Druids—Cairns—Cromlechs—Baal,worship of—Zodiacal rings—Sacred fires—Druidical religion—Sir Edward Coke,on—Groves—Immense fortresses—Dun Ængus—Its situation, dimensions,etc.—Dun Conor—Christian remains—St. Enda, romantic story of—His haplesslove—Becomes a monk—Obtains grant of Aran from King of Cashel—St. Brendon—His leaving Aran for countries beyond the Atlantic—Rendered into verse by Denis Florence MacCarthy—St. Columba, his grief at leaving Aran—Rendered into verse by Sir Aubrey De Vere—St. Fursa—Residence in Aran—Pilgrimage to Rome—Buried in Aran—Aran monuments, pagan and Christian,vested in Board of Works—Churches facing the east—The north—Cloghauns—Dwellingsof the monks—Teampul-Chiarain—Teampul McDuach—Holy well—Childless marriages—Description of churches—Lonely lives of the monks—One of thePopes said to be buried in Aran—Ordnance Survey—Its vast stores of learning unprinted | [13] |
| CHAPTER III. | |
| Aran, 14th-18th centuries—a.d. 1308. O'Brien, lord of the isles—In consideration of twelve tuns of wine annually engages to protect the trade ofGalway—a.d. 1334. Aran plundered by Darcy—a.d. 1400. Henry IV. gives license to certain persons to attack rebels inAran—a.d. 1485. Franciscan monastery built—a.d. 1537.Suppression of religious houses—a.d. 1560. Shipwreck of Teige O'Brien, lord of theisles—a.d. 1570. Mortgage of the islands—a.d.1579. Mayor of Galway appointed admiral of Galway bay, including Aran—1586. O'Brien expulsed from Aranby the O'Flaherties—1587. Queen Elizabeth grants islands to Sir John Rawson—1588. Corporationof Galway petition in favour of O'Briens—Annals, 1618, 1641, 1645, 1651—Surrender of the islandsto the Commander-in-Chief of the Parliamentary forces—Annals, 1653, 1670, 1687, 1691, 1700, 1746,case of Mayor of Galway v. Digby—1754, 1786. Earldom of Aran—1857 | [31] |
| CHAPTER IV. | |
| Noble character of Aranite peasantry—Letters, 1841, by Dr. Petrie; 1852, by SirFrancis Head, K.C.B.; 1875, by Frank Thorpe Porter, Esq., B.L.; 1886, by Mr. R. F. Mullery, clerk of GalwayUnion; by Philip Lyster, Esq., R.M., B.L.—Rev. Fathers O'Donohoe, P.P., and Waters, C.C.—Sta viator—Isle of O'Brazil—Gerald Griffin's poem on | [52] |
| CHAPTER V. | |
| Healthful islands—Old age in—Land Commission in Aran—Aranfisheries—Letters, 1886, from Sir Thomas F. Brady, fishery commissioner, on; from C.T. Redington,J.P., D.L., on public works in islands; from Rev. William Killride, on employment and on timber—"Manyplaces in the islands covered with trees" fifty years ago—Poverty of fishermen—Baltimore fisheries—Baroness Burdett-Coutts—Irish Reproductive Loan Fund—Bounties given by Irish Parliament, in 1787, toencourage deep sea fisheries—Trawling | [65] |
| CHAPTER VI. | |
| Re-afforesting Aran—Dr. Lyons—Dermot O'Conor Donelan, J.P.—Forestindustries in Germany—Supports 300,000 families—Paper from young timber, etc. | [82] |
| CHAPTER VII. | |
| Superstitions of the grove—Concerning the oak—The ash—The mountain ash—The aspen—The pine—The holly—The ivy—The hawthorn—The blackthorn—Therose—The fern—The fairy flax—The hazel | [88] |
| APPENDIX A. | |
| Conversant with the O'Briens—Bryan Boroimhe—His descendants Kings of Thomond—and their descendants Lords of Inchiquin, junior branch of Kings of Thomond—Marshal MacMahon—Also junior branch,O'Briens of Ballynalacken | [105] |
| APPENDIX B. | |
| Statistics of Aran | [110] |
THE SOUTH ISLES OF ARAN
CHAPTER I
"Oh, Aranmore! loved Aranmore,
How oft I dream of thee,
And of those days when by thy shore
I wandered young and free;
Full many a path I've tried since then,
Through pleasure's flowery maze,
But ne'er could find the bliss again
I felt in those sweet days."
Thomas Moore.
POPE GREGORY THE GREAT