The Aran Islands produced writers such as Liam O'Flaherty and Tim Robinson who were inspired by their surroundings. The drystone-wall field-boundary system of the islands is one of Ireland's richest cultural landscapes, retaining remarkable continuity with the past - Celtic occupation, Christianity, invasion, famine and evictions - a unique combination of the forces of humankind and nature. Unlike other cultural landscapes around the world, the surface of the islands is almost entirely made by man. This book explores this landscape, which is threatened by the change. The author outlines the background history and factors that have influenced the landscape and looks at one ceathru or quarter of a townland, a specific farm in that ceathru, and the pattern of landholding and farming practised today. This book traces the threat to traditional methods and the agricultural landscape from changes in European and Irish farming.