The nine nominations for the 2023 Oscars that the Irish film Almas en bano de Inisherin obtained -although it did not win any- have once again filled the cinema screens of half the world with the aroma of peat and Guinness. More than half a century ago, another legendary film -The Quiet Man, by John Ford- revealed to us, between fights and reconciliations between John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, that there was an ancient Ireland, with towns of strong flavor and pubs where stopped time, just like the one starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson does.
In addition to reflecting and transporting us to a prototypical Ireland, both films also share the fact that they are set in places in the west of Ireland that only exist in fiction -the classic town of Innisfree, and the contemporary island of Inisherin-, but with transcripts in real settings, as or more bucolic than those shown on the screen. They await the traveler in Connatch, the Irish region that, overlooking the Atlantic, concentrates the essence of the country in the Irish collective imagination and in which Gaelic, the traditional language, is the official language.
The island of Achill, in County Mayo, and that of Inis Mór -the largest of the Aran Islands- were the filming locations for Almas en banjo in Inisherin. Achill is the largest island in the country, with just over 140 square kilometers lashed by the winds of the Atlantic in which barely 2,500 people live: a true natural paradise that seems to be light years away from a "continental" Ireland, although only the separate from it -or connect- a jumper. Its collection of cliffs, blue flag beaches, mountains, lakes and endless green landscapes make it one of the essential tourist destinations on the Emerald Isle, and its most visited place is the abandoned village of Slievemore. The last inhabitants of the place abandoned it at the beginning of the last century and, today, the dozens of ruined stone houses that stretch out in a row along the side of a hill are a living memory of a land rich in history. Many of the houses are several centuries old and the area is rich in archaeological sites, including megalithic tombs dating back to the Neolithic period, some 5,000 years ago.
Very rich in Neolithic deposits it is also in the other scenario in which Inisherin came to life. We are now referring to Inishmore (Inis Mór, largest island), which together with Inishmaan (Inis Meáin, middle island) and Inisheer (Inis Oirthir, eastern island) forms the Aran archipelago. These islands seem to serve as a protective barrier for the Galway Bay in which they are located; and that nature of a natural breakwater against the foreign has shaped, in the Irish imagination, their image of possessing the purest Irish essence. The attribution had its heyday at the time of the Irish Renaissance, the literary/nationalist movement of the late 19th century that would lead, decades later, to Irish independence from Great Britain.
Forgotten by everything and everyone, the Aran Islands kept Gaelic as their main language for centuries -which still jingles loudly among its inhabitants-, and it was another film, the documentary Hombres de Aran, by Robert Flaherty, made in 1934, the one that cemented the image of the archipelago as a redoubt of the most authentic Ireland. In it, the harsh life of the locals was narrated, marked by deprivation, inclement weather and such a poor land in which hardly anything grew.
The islanders took to the sea in the curraghs, fragile black fishing boats with which they hunted whales that fed, heated and illuminated them. And from the hard earth, so much so that only a few bushes sprouted, only stones seemed to grow, countless limestone stones of all sizes, and with which the primitive Celts built their houses and forts, the Christian monks of the Middle Ages their monasteries and churches. , and the locals their homes, their stables and the edges of their land.
The three islands of Aran are pure stone; and it is at the northern end of Inishmore that the imposing Dún Aengus awaits, one of the most spectacular stone forts in all of Ireland and, without a doubt, the most emblematic place in the Aran Islands. Built in the Neolithic, Dún Aengus is impregnable: its three semicircular concentric enclosures, made up of limestone stacked without mortar, surround a cliff over 100 meters high from which there is no siege (or escape) possible. It is not the only Neolithic fort in Inishmore: Dubh Cathair (black fortress), also located on a dizzyingly high cliff, and Dún Eochaill, circular in shape and more "modern" -its construction dates between the 1st and 7th centuries AD-. They are also worth our visit.
To get to the Aran Islands, the best option is to board the ferries that, in a couple of hours of rough crossing, arrive from Galway, probably the most bohemian and lively city in Ireland. With just over 75,000 inhabitants, it is also the largest in the country, and a certain Spanish flavor awaits us there. History tells us that, as far back as the Middle Ages, there were commercial exchanges between the prosperous city -led by 14 merchant families, known as the "Tribes of Galway"- and the ports of northern Spain. Not a few sailors from the Invincible Armada were shipwrecked in the waters of the bay and managed to land in an area known since then as The Spanish Arch; and legend wants to convince us, no less, that Columbus visited Galway and prayed in the church of Saint Nicholas -the patron saint of travelers- before leaving for America.
The temple, built in the 13th century, is one of the places most loved by the locals and, on weekends, a traditional market is always crowded around it. And it is that Galway is a city that, regardless of the weather, can be enjoyed outside. To see it in first person, it is enough to walk along the Salthill boardwalk, a charming fishing village attached to the city and practically absorbed by it, full of pubs, restaurants and street stalls where you can eat, almost any time of day, a portion of mussels. and a pint of beer.
In addition to being the gateway to the Aran Islands, Galway is also an almost obligatory stopover to head to another of the great landmarks of the west of Ireland: the Cliffs of Moher. A couple of hours south of the city, these cliffs, recognized as a global geopark by Unesco, deserve their worldwide fame: cut with a knife over the ocean, this set of cliffs stretches for about 8 kilometers, and in some places reach 215 meters in height. You can walk to O'Brien Tower, perched on the highest cliff and, weather permitting, be amazed by the views, which can reach as far as the Aran Islands and even the mountains of Kerry and Connemara. And if the weather isn't good, it doesn't matter: the spectacle of the rough ocean, breaking at the base of the cliffs, is even more impressive.
We head north again, bordering the Atlantic and looking for the final stop on our trip to the west of Ireland: Sligo. Capital of the eponymous county, Sligo is a sleepy little town that boasts of Nobel laureate William B. Yeats. The great Irish poet was born in Dublin and grew up in London, but since he was a child he spent his summers in Sligo, which today pays tribute to him at events and urban routes that cover the places that were part of his life.
Very close to Sligo is one of the most beautiful places in Ireland, Lough Gill, to which Yeats dedicated his famous poem The Lake Isle of Innishfree - from which John Ford would borrow the name for the town in his film. The loch can be navigated in a canoe, reaching the island in the loch that Yeats sings of and which is the scene of an ancient legend that claims the silver bell of Sligo Abbey rests at the bottom of the waters, and can only be heard by those who are free from sin.
Very close is Drumcliffe, a small fishing village in Sligo Bay whose cemetery is buried the writer who, although he died in France in 1939, was transferred here following the wish expressed in his poem Under Ben Bulben. His epitaph, written by himself, reads: "Take a cold look at life and death. Rider, go your way!".
This small town is in the shadow of the Ben Bulben mountain, one of the highest peaks in Ireland and which, with its peculiar square shape, is also the scene of legends, such as the one that tells us that a set of limestone stones found in a from its hills is a door to the other world that opens every night and through which goblins, fairies, banshees and other supernatural beings of Irish folklore come out to kidnap those who do not believe in their existence. We won't be the ones doing it, toasting you in any Sligo pub (Furey's on Bridge Street is perfect) feeling longing that we're not always roaming the magical West of Ireland.
