ARAN ISLANDS, or SOUTH ARAN, Ireland, three islands situated on the west coast at the entrance of Galway Bay, to which they form a natural breakwater. They lie in a southeasterly direction. Beginning with the northernmost they are called respectively Inish more or Great Island; Inishmaan or Middle Island; and Inishiar or Eastern Island. The highest elevation is 354 feet. The islands are formed of carboniferous limestone, and the soil is very sandy, affording scant pasturage and yields little to cultivation. The total area of the islands is about 11,500 acres. The in habitants are perhaps the most primitive people of Europe in their mode of life and thought. Gaelic is the common tongue, although English is understood fairly well on Inishmore. Here may still be seen a curious intermingling of Christian and Druidic worship. The main in dustries are fishing and kelp-burning. There is steamer communication with Galway, 30 miles distant. The population in 1911 was 2,679. These islands are remarkable for a number of architectural remains of early date. On Inish
more, on a cliff 220 feet high, stand the re mains of a circular cyclopean fortress called Dun Aengus, its chevaux de frise is still to be seen. It is ascribed to the 1st century of our era. Inishmore is often called Ara na Naomh, Aran-of-the-Saints, from the numbers of religious recluses who dwelt here soon after the introduction of Christianity in the 5th cen tury. Here too are the remains of the abbey of Saint Enda, the patron of the islands. The chief town is Kilronan, on Inishmore, with a population of 460. In recent years the islands have been the hunting ground for philologists, linguists, artists, etc., who find here open chap ters in the history of the race which have been long since closed elsewhere. The islands were a favorite resort of the late John Millington Synge, the Irish playwright, who made them the scene of his drama 'Riders to the and has recorded his impressions of the islands and their inhabitants in 'The Aran Islands' (Dublin 1903).