A lifetime of Islands: Island 398 - Arranmore/Árainn Mhór, County Donegal

Arranmore (Árainn Mhór in Irish) is located 2.5 miles to the west of the village of Burtonport on the west coast of County Donegal. In 2011 it had a resident population of 514, down from a peak of 1,533 in 1911. The island is approximately 4 miles from north to south and 3 miles from east to west at its widest points. Almost all the people live on the east and south sides of the island and the largest settlement is Leabgarrow, which is located close to the pier where the ferries dock. The highest point is Cnoc an Iolair/Cluidaniller in the centre of Arranmore at 226 metres. The island is part of the Irish speaking Donegal Gaeltacht.

Arranmore can be accessed by roll-on/roll off vehicle ferries from Burtonport. There are two rival companies running similar sized ferries: the red boat and the blue boat. Each takes about 4 cars. I did contemplate taking my car but was glad I didn't, as the day I was there in early September 2017 workmen were busy resurfacing several sections of road in different parts of the island, so some roads were closed and the ferries were busy ferrying the large lorries carrying the hot tarmac to the island. I chose the red boat because the lady in the blue ferry ticket office was too busy chatting on her mobile phone to serve me, while the lady in the red ferry office was very helpful, friendly and welcoming. The journey time for both ferries is about 15 minutes.

The day I visited was warm and sunny, although on the exposed west side of the island it was extremely windy. I wouldn't recommend a visit on a wet day, as there really isn't anything indoors to visit apart from the church, shop, bars and post office. I don't know how friendly the islanders are, as the only islander I spoke to was the lady in the shop, who was short of change and I had plenty in my purse, so I exchanged it with her for some Euro notes. I had an interesting chat to 3 friendly ladies from Limerick, who like me were day visitors.

The ferry timetable leaflet comes with a sketch map of the island, although not all the tracks shown on it agreed with the Ordnance Survey map or reality. However it did show points of interest, so was useful for this.

Places of interest on Arranmore include:

Lighthouse on the north west tip of the island. A lighthouse was first built on Arranmore in 1798 and was the first lighthouse in Donegal. It was rebuilt in 1865 and automated in 1982. You can't go into the lighthouse compound but it is very photogenic. There is a derelict coastguard station close by, which was burnt down during the War of Independence in 1921.
Beaver Island Memorial in Loch Thoir/Shore. Hundreds of islanders emigrated to Beaver Island in Lake Michigan, USA after a new landlord called Chorley evicted 400 people in 1850. Arranmore is twinned with Beaver Island and the memorial was built in 2000. There is a small shrine on the shore opposite the memorial and this proved to be a useful shelter for me during a short but heavy rain shower. There is also a picnic site nearby.
Cliffs on the north and west coast. These are up to 120 metres high in places.
Trig point and memorial shrine on the top of Cnoc an Iolair (the name means Hill of the Eagle).
Church on the south coast. There is a shrine and a memorial in the graveyard and some beautiful modern stained glass windows inside.
Old Graveyard - on the opposite side of a small bay to the church. This graveyard was given to the islanders in 1725 after the tragic drowning of 9 people on their way to a funeral on the mainland. It was replaced by a new graveyard in 1992.
Cave of Slaughter: this is located at Uilinn on the south coast not far from the church and a prehistoric promontory fort. Local legend has it that a Cromwellian captain called Conyngham slaughtered 70 women and children who were sheltering in the cave in 1641.
Monument to the bravery of the 8 members of the Arranmore Lifeboat crew who rescued 18 Dutch sailors from the cargo vessel SS Stolwijk in December 1940. The Stolwijk had run aground on rocks near Tory Island in a violent storm and the rescue took 9 hours. The monument, which is at Leabgarrow Pier was only unveiled in August 2017.