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Ireland's fourth largest city, Galway is now one of the liveliest cities, for festivals, nightlife, shopping and theatre. Festivals include the annual Jazz Festival (February), the Cuirt Literature Festival (Easter), the world famous Galway Arts Festival (early/mid July), the Galway Race Festival (last week July) and Barboro Children's Festival (October). Theatres include the Druid Theatre, with its own theatre company, the Town Hall Theatre and The Galway Theatre, which presents many Irish language plays.
There are many interesting places to visit including the impressive colleagiant Church of Nicholas of Myra Protestant Church dating from 1320 and still in use, the Galway Market is held in front of it every saturday. There is also the small museum at the former home of writer James Joyce's wife Nora Barnacle, the St Nicholas Catholic Cathedral or boat trips on the Corrib River from Eglinton Pier.
On a less crowded day, an enjoyable walk can be taken around the city. This is made somewhat easier in certain areas by the pedestrianisation of roads - Shop Street being a fine example. This has led to both a thriving street life in the form of buskers, traders etc and also to a 'mainland Europe' style cafe culture, with plenty of cafes and pub's having outside seating areas with service.
Galway has experienced dramatic population growth in a generation, from about 26,000 at the end of the sixties to over 60,000 today (circa 2002). This has resulted in the creation of large suburban areas around the old city. Thus any approach to Galway by road will be through extensive, and rather featureless, built-up areas. Most visitors coming by road will come by the N6 from the east, passing three hotels and a hospital. The number of houses showing a 'B & B' sign is striking; Galway has a long history as a holiday resort. (The actual resort area is at Salthill, on the west-side of the city.) One of the least-striking buildings on this route is the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, a featureless cement box behind a playing pitch. While attempts have been made to beautify the entrance, it is the side of the building that is visible from the main Dublin road, a featureless slab of concrete with a small ribbon of glass, totally without charm. This is a pity, given the quality of much of the work that is done there.
Continuing on past this area, the visitor will either veer left, which takes you around by the docks past a large area of water that looks like a lake but is actually an offshoot of Galway Bay (Lough Atalia, the Salt-Lake), or approach the city centre by way of College Road, passing the Galway Greyhound Track and into Eyre Square.
This square should be the centre-piece for the city, but it is a sorry remnant of what it was. Formerly it was a handsome traditional city square, surrounded by tall cast-iron railings, with a good number of mature trees giving the town a cool green heart, until Galway Corporation decided to 'improve' it. The railings and the trees were removed, one side was paved for no particularly obvious reason; the other three sides were cut back to allow for car-parking. At the paved end a couple of cannon were set up, and recently a sculpture suggesting the sails of a Galway hooker was added. Opinions are divided on the merits of this, but Galwegians seem to like it. At the centre of the square stands a feeble attempt at a raised bed, growing a few bedraggled shrubs, weeds and its quota of cans and other litter. The rest of the square consists mostly of battered-looking patchy grass and a few small scrawny trees. The whole area conveys an air of disillusion and neglect, a far cry from what it once was. There has recently been some talk of the Corporation taking it in hand and putting it to rights (c2001). The history of the Corporation's stewardship of the square has not always been a happy one.
In the 13th century, walls were built around the city by the Normans to defend their settlement from the Irish O'Flaherty family from whom they had seized the land. The city was an important trading port trading with Spain and Portugal in the 15th and 16th centuries, but was sacked by Cromwell's forces in 1652, after a nine month siege. The city also stood on the side of King James against William of Orange in 1691 and was further destroyed. Its current revival has only been in recent decades. You can read more about this on Galway City's history page here.
The City's airport is Carnmore Airport. Ferries to the Aran Islands also run from the quay.
Galway Hotels: Irish accommodation and hotel booking service for hotels in Galway and Ireland.
www.galwaycity.biz - an 'information portal' for the city of Galway - created by Galway City Council. Worth checking out if you intend to visit the city.
Villages and towns of County Galway
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