ARAN's IRISH Heritage at the Crossroads

Aran is like nowhere else on earth. Its Stony landscape includes vast areas that are virtually covered by a solid rock surface with only the meagre vegetation growing between the crevasses. It is easy to forget that during earlier stages of life on Aran it must have been a challenge for the inhabitants to adapt themselves to this environment. It is very difficult to picture what life was like back then. Like the young generations all over the western world, little though is given to the past. The focus is on living in the present and looking to the future. The drive to write this book has grown greater as the years have gone by. My memories of growing up have become clearer. Learning aspects of living on Aran in the past, present and attempting to predict the future while researching material for this book was very interesting. I certainly did not know the history of Kilmurvey House the best known and oldest hotel on Aran. I remember knocking on the door as a 10year old and waiting on the door step while my can got filled with milk. This only occurred when our own cow had run dry. The other memory that came flooding back was when, I accompanied by a few school friends climbed over the wall at the back of the hotel to get to the orchard and steal some apples. We used a bag to stop our hands getting cut by the glass placed at the top of the wall to keep us out. On one occasion I got a deep cut to the palm of my right hand when rushing over the wall to get out that caused a lot of bleeding while we retreated across the fields towards our village of Gort na gCapall. In a similar scenario, when returning home from school after getting the stick I would not divulge what caused the injury to my hand. This was for a very good reason, as I was likely to get more punishment for my misdeeds.In writing this book I wanted to include as many Pictures of Aran people as possible, for the sake of future generations. I know the satisfaction I gained when I saw a picture of my mother as a "young women in the crowd" attending the wedding of Mary Powell and Pat Hernon in the book ('Images of Aran" by Father Browne 1925-1938).Included in the book are photographs I took while on Aran. Sadly a few taken in the pubs failed the required standard for clarity. All Aran people have a story to tell even though I came across quite a few who did not believe their story was important enough to tell. I also failed to catch up with others I had on my list. I encourage other writers and photographers to capture stories and photographs, especially of the older generation of men and women of Aran who are unlikely to appear on social media. I believe Aran is presently at the cross roads in its history. Since Aran people gained out-right ownership of the land 100 years ago they are now defenders of its distant past for future generations. Decisions taken to close the Heritage Centre have shaped the future of Aran in a fundamental and irreversible way. People visit Aran because of its past original traditions of looking after the land, the monuments, the Irish language, song and dance, folklore and craftmanship.

• | Author: Pat O'Flaherty
• | Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• | Publication Date: Apr 03, 2019
• | Number of Pages: 336 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback
• | ISBN-10: 1727848160
• | ISBN-13: 9781727848168