Swimming Between the Aran Islands
Ag Snámh an Sunda

Inis Meáin is the middle Aran Island in a row of three... as cartographer Tim Robinson describes it "The three islands, when they come into view against the Atlantic horizon as the ferry leaves the shelter of Galway Bay, are clearly the remains of a long escarpment broken through by the ocean... The sounds between the islands are each about a mile and a half wide, and ten or twelve miles separate Árainn from Connemara to the North.

In such a location it's no surprise that there's a vibrant daily sea-swimming group on Inis Meáin and in 2021 four of the group swam the east sound, An Sunda Salach, from Inis Oirr to Inis Meáin raising funds for the local RNLI Lifeboat. It took a few years to get around to it, but this August, six of the group swam the west sound, Sunda Ghríora, from Inis Mór to Inis Meáin, including our Joint Managing Directors, Ruairí and Marie-Thérèse de Blacam.

The swimmers (Pierce, Doireann, Ruairí, Marie-Thérèse, Stella and Martina) set off from Port Aodh in Inis Mór accompanied by local boats and kayaks to make the 3km crossing to Trácht Each in Inis Meáin.

Choosing a day for an oceanic swim like this is difficult as there needs to be an alignment of suitable tide and sea conditions and weather can be very variable in our exposed location. The conditions for the 1.5 hour duration of the swim where challenging making the wonderful welcome in Inis Meáin all the more special - a large gathering on the shore with a bonfire, hot soup, tae draíochta, and even a bull being temporarily moved from his field to accommodate the swimmer's safe passage from a rocky shoreline. A special day made all the more memorable by our spirited community.  Míle buíochas chuile dhuine!

The chosen charity this time was Médecins Sans Frontières and donations can still be made until the end of November to provide humanitarian medical care in conflict zones at this linkor through the QR code pictured.