Atlantic cliffs,Dun Aengus fort, Aran isles,Aranmore,Inishmore,Co Galway,Western Ireland,Eire.
A stone fort on the very western edge of Europe; mute about its history when questioned by scholars; subject of romantic speculation on one of the most romantic spots in Ireland - the Aran Islands - Dun Aengus was created out of the stone and mystery of Aengus (also Dun Angus and Dun Aonghusa) is located on Inish-more, the largest of the three Aran Islands. A visitor is not impressed by Dun Aengus when he views it from the low point of a long, rock strewn slope. Nor does the dun (fort) emerge slowly into view, for the visitor must concentrate on every step of the treacherous walk up the slope, every step a risk of ankle turned on a stone. But atop the slope, the visitor sees a semicircular stone wall of obvious antiquity enclosing a space that ends dramatically at a 300 foot cliff that falls off into the Atlantic Ocean. The fort consists of three irregular semicircles, each a line of defense. Aside from the walls, one mode of defense is a band of stones set in the ground. Called a chevaux-de-frise, the stones are closely packed, set at an angle and intended to thwart an attack up the slope. Fortunately for the peaceful visitor to Dun Aengus, an intact chevaux-de-frise does not surround the fort, but the debris of such a defensive use of stone makes the walking trip to the fort slow and hazardous. The inner wall is awesome, thirteen feet thick and eighteen feet high in places, immortared with stone laid by hand upon stone. The enclosed space is 150 feet north and south and 140 feet east and west. The cliff at the western edge of the fort is as sheer as the Cliffs of Moher, but at 300 feet not as steep. The view from atop the parapet is stunning. To the west is the expanse of the ocean to the horizon and 3000 miles beyond to North America. To the east is a moonscape, the rock strewn slope the walker must traverse and beyond, the openness of Inishmore and the stones of Aran everywhere.
Size: 3744px × 5616px
Location: Atlantic cliffs,Dun Aengus fort, Aran isles,Aranmore,Inishmore,Co Galway,Western Ireland,Eire.
Photo credit: © Neil Dangerfield / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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