The word Aran – What Does It Mean?

The word Aran has traditionally been explained as an old Gaelic word for 'kidney'. Writers over many centuries have argued that the main island of the Aran Islands, Inis Mór, is the shape of a kidney. That does not resonate with me, and it does not explain why two other islands located in Celtic regions are also called Aran. We have Arranmore in County Donegal, Ireland, and the Isle of Arran in Scotland. Watch this video and find out the far more likely meaning of the word Aran.