Inisheer - Inis Oirr

The smallest island but just as beautiful as the other two, Inis Oirr is more in line with County Clare than with County Galway. Inis Oirr is mostly rock, but has the wildest and most exotic flowers and plants you could see.

It has a population of about 300 people, all still speaking our native language but again the residents also speak english.

Inis Oirr Video

Just click on the Play symbol () at the bottom of the screen below to watch a short video presentation of a visit to Inis Oirr with Aran Direct.

Historical Sites

Caislean Ui Bhriain and Dun Fhormna:

The castle is a three storey tower house probably built by the O'Brien family who owned the island up to 1585. It is built within a cashel perhaps dating to the early centuries A.D.

Cill Ghobnait:

This small (8th or 9th Century?) church, nestling against a protective cliff, is dedicated to Saint Gobnet of Ballyvourney in Co. Cork, who is believed to have fled to Inis Oírr for safety from enemies on the mainland.

Teampall Chaomhain Caomhan:

This is the patron saint of Inis Oirr and his festival is celebrated on the 14th of June each year. The church ruins dating from the 10th - 14th centuries were buried under the ever-blowing sand, and have to be dug out regularly. At the graveyard entrance, the mass of shells is a kitchen of early Christian or Medieval date.

Tobar Einne:

The holy well of St. Enda, the patron saint of Inis Mór, who is reputed to have lived in a clochán (beehive hut) nearby, of which hardly anything now remains. This well is greatly revered by the islanders.

The Plassey Wreck:

In a dramatic demonstration of the power of the Atlantic Storms, the Plassey which was wrecked in 1960 (without loss of life) on "Carraig na Finnise" Reef, was later thrown up on the rocks well above high tide mark.