Galway, Ireland 53.2707°N, 9.0568°W
I lived in Ireland in the summer of 1998, and to this day it remains what I consider to be one of the best summers of my life (after the summer Sarah and I got married, of course).
As I wrote about in a previous post, a high school friend of mine and I decided to move to the city of Galway, on Ireland’s west coast, to work for the summer between our sophomore and junior years in college. We ended up sharing a two bedroom apartment with a couple of Irish guys our age that grew up north of Galway, in County Mayo. We became great friends and have kept in touch for nearly 20 years now (see post on Sydney visit).
Gerry and Danny, 1998
Irish Gerry and Paul, 1998
Since then, I’ve been to Ireland several times and have always tried to make it a priority to get to Galway for at least a few days. Sarah and I spent some time in Galway back in 2014 and Sarah ended up loving the city as much as I do (even though she may not love the repetition of stories from that summer I regale her with regularly).
A trip to Ireland was not originally part of our plans because 1) I had been there so many times, and 2) it wasn’t really in the right direction of our path around the globe. But we realized we had a unique opportunity to spend some extended time in a place we both love, and also realized that one of us was going to be turning 40 in October and that particular nameless person would love nothing more than to celebrate this progression into middle age in Ireland.
Enter Galway
We decided to base ourselves in the city of Galway for the duration of our stay, and found a great Airbnb a few minutes walk from the city center in what is now called Galway’s “West End.”
View of the Galway Cathedral from the Wolfe Tone Bridge over the River Corrib. The bridge connects Galway’s West End to the City Center.
Our Airbnb was just to the left of Monroe’s, one of Galway’s most popular live music venues.
Outside of our Airbnb we had great views of the River Corrib leading to Galway Bay
Same amazing views at sunset
With roughly 80,000 residents, Galway is small by most standards but is one of Ireland’s larger cities. Its location provides a great access point to everything Ireland’s west coast has to offer. With two large universities in the city, it is Ireland’s most well-known student city, and maybe its most lively.
There is live music and other forms of street entertainment in Galway’s city center every single day. It starts in the late morning and goes until late at night, giving the city an infectious buzz that’s impossible to ignore. The live music nightly in nearly every pub also makes it rather difficult to stay out of the pubs on a regular basis.
The Long Walk in Galway City
This band, Keywest, was one of our favorite street performers.
Some more busking in Galway
The intersection of Mainguard, High, and Shop streets
Heading out to walk along the Salthill Prom, a biking/walking path along Galway’s coast
Salthill
Claddagh Rings originated in Galway. The red building to the left houses a small museum with the history of the rings.
Roisin Dubh is a famous spot for live music in Galway. We heard this musician (Ailbhe Reddy) one night, who was awesome, and also bears a striking resemblance to Sarah in high school!
A random guy and his pet Walker (Stars Wars reference)
Galway is sometimes referred to as the “City of Tribes,” because of the 14 Anglo-Norman families that dominated the city’s commerce from the 13th to 19th centuries. Because of efforts over the years to preserve its historical sites, Galway’s medieval past can be seen throughout the city, in places like the Hall of the Red Earl, Lynch’s Castle, The Spanish Arch, or even in the Kings Head bar.
Spanish Arch
Inside the St. Nicholas Collegiate Church in Galway, built in the 13th century
View from the Fisheries Watchtower Museum on the River Corrib
Outside a museum dedicated to the history of the Claddagh Village
Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop is one of the most famous in Ireland
We couldn’t stop taking pictures of the colorful houses along The Long Walk
Enjoying a quiet pint at Tigh Neachtain’s
Cozy snug at Darcy’s, right next to Galway’s train station
Judy Greene’s pottery shop is located in a building with walls from a castle built around the 13th century, not an uncommon thing in Galway
Canal in Galway City
I decided to sign up and run a 10k along the Salthill Prom (see above for confirmation I actually ran it)
Getting Out of Galway
Sarah and I made a few trips outside of Galway in our first few weeks. The first place we visited was Swinford, County Mayo. While not on most tourist maps, Swinford is a quaint town about a 90-minute drive from Galway. It’s the hometown of my Irish roommates from the summer of 1998, and when in Ireland I’ll always make a trip to Swinford to see old friends.
Paul, Cathal and me in Swinford
We love visiting Swinford!
We stayed above this shop in town
The Gateway – Swinford’s best hotel!
I also spent a few days down in Killarney, County Kerry at a conference for travel writers and bloggers. The conference, TBEX Ireland, was a great opportunity to learn from others blogging about their travel adventures, not to mention a great excuse to spend some time in Killarney.
The opening night reception was held at the Killarney Racecourse
Samples of Dingle Gin…I think I’ll have to give it a taste
Opening session at TBEX
JM Reidy’s in Killarney hosted the closing party, with traditional sessions (above) and other live music in every corner of the bar.
Ophelia?
If someone had asked me at the start of our trip “What country are you most worried about being in if a hurricane hits?” I would respond that 1) that’s a really weird question, and 2) definitely not Ireland.
But sure enough, the easternmost hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic – Hurricane Ophelia – was bearing down on Galway not long after our arrival. The city and much of the country was shut down for a full day, as meteorologists were saying that this was going to be the largest storm to hit Ireland in 50 years.
We were a bit nervous, mostly because Ireland was not used to preparing for storms of this nature, but also because with the exception of the meteorologists, no one in Ireland seemed to give two shits about the storm. There were no “Go home Ophelia!” signs on windows, or any sort of mass exodus away from the coasts. As the “Epic Storm to Hit Ireland” headline font size grew larger and larger on the front pages of CNN, Fox News, and the like, the collective Irish apathy towards the storm only grew. It was impressive.
This guy decided to go for a swim in the bay as the storm was reaching peak force.
Enda’s words, not mine.
See you at 8pm
There was SOME prep for the storm…
Fortunately, the storm didn’t end up being as bad as expected. Sarah and I would have gotten “I survived Ophelia” t-shirts made, but we probably would have been laughed out of the shop.
Galway, Part II
Notwithstanding passing hurricanes, Sarah and I had a great few weeks in Galway. We managed to successfully fight off the urge to be out in the pubs every night, as hard as that was. But we knew we needed to rest up for the upcoming week in Galway, in preparation for a whirlwind of friends and family that would be visiting to celebrate someone’s 40th birthday.
