Publisher's Synopsis
Among the many interesting features of Arainn, the largest of the Aran Islands, is a series of elaborate wayside memorials to ordinary islanders, built during the 19th century at a time of great poverty in the islands. These monuments are discussed in relation to cenotaphs built in the 1740s by the Fitzpatricks, the then landlords of the islands, and to the ancient folk custom of building little cairns at certain points along the routes of funeral processions. All the inscriptions of these monuments, in their curiously formulaic English, are recorded in full, and the book is illustrated with eighteen photographs and a location map.
