A gallop around Galway

 

Friday 17 May

Today we gave Clio a well-deserved rest and caught the bus into Galway city (a status granted by Richard III). 

We're a bit mystified by the buses - we've paid 3 different fares when it's supposed to be a flat rate, but being polite we didn't argue and suspect you pay more from 8pm having been forced to after waiting for a bus that never came and being assured by a man in the queue that the "coloured fellas" driving the taxis from the nearby rank would take us round the long way. Helpful announcements of the next stop are made in English and Gaelic (everything over here is in dual languages despite the fact that only about 6% of the population speak Gaelic having been taught it in school. Our walking tour guide said he spoke it but then couldn't translate a simple transcription on a statue when asked.) 

They're double deckers with central doors for alighting but it seems to be on the whim of the driver as to whether they'll open them or not. And although there's an inbound bus stop 2 minutes away opposite the entrance to Brookside Close, there's no matching one outbound so when returning from the city we have to get off earlier and then walk for the best part of 10 minutes. Hey ho.

We had a bit of a wander down the aptly-named Shop Street and I made the obligatory purchase of knitted accessories which I'll tuck away safely til winter when I get home and then accidentally come across them next February. We then met up with our walking tour party outside the Skeffington Arms in Eyre Square.

Our tour guide was Connor, a skinny and very animated actor with a passion for geology, which he thankfully spared us as it would have been wildly inappropriate on an urban tour. He gave us a number of useful tips alongside a whistlestop tour of the city's history. Following Viking occupation, Ireland was invaded by Normans in 1169 and Galway was captured by the Normans from the O'Connor tribe in 1234. Fourteen tribes/families eventually ruled the city and its trade, with a golden era around 1484 - their names are immortalised in banners around Eyre Square; Athy, Blake, Bodkin, Browne, D'Arcy, Deane, Fant, fFrench, Joyce, Kirwan, Lynch, Martyn, Morris and Skeritt. They made sure that Galway got city status and traded with wine as payment - fair play.

The families' influence was finally ended by the English Civil War when in 1652 Cromwell's forces took revenge from the Irish Catholic support of Charles I; starting with the Drogheda Massacre, the Roundhead forces sacked the city and replaced the ruling famiies with their own people. Further conflicts occurred with the Jacobite rebellions later that century and beyond, and Galway was unlucky enough to be crowned European City of Culture - in 2020.

Following our tour we had a light lunch at Freddy's, a casual Italian with some witty marketing

(of course - we also went by a pub called O' something or other near Lynch's window - supposedly the origin of the term "lynching" for an impromptu hanging - which proudly advertised its Irish Lasagne) and enjoyed some brilliant ice cream (Irish brown bread and Sea Salt Vanilla - absolutely gorgeous and a worthy substitute for gelato!). We wandered down to catch the 401 bus from the Spanish Arch to Salthill and had a bracing walk along the promenade, admiring the white sand that soon turns to large shingle And we enjoyed watching the brave souls (eventually, after much exhortation) jumping off the Black Rock diving board into the sea (the general expression on coming up being "Holy f***!")

Back into the city on the bus - there's not a huge amount to see in Salthill to be honest - it's over the bridge from Galway and is actually on the Claddagh side, now linked by said bridge but previously a separate village with thatched cottages now sadly all gone. We went to the museum near the Spanish Arch and took a look at the very detailed and very worthy history of the Irish conflict from centuries back through to the Easter Rising of 1916 and the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty - something that remained controversial and led to the Troubles with its unresolved issue of Catholic human and political rights in the north.

We then paid a visit to Tigh Nora (well it was early, but nearly Friday night), a bar with over 200 gins. Named after Nora Barnacle, the wife of James Joyce, the house gin was delightful and refreshing with its notes of rose petal, peach and grapefruit. So good, and Neil enjoyed another smooth pint of the black stuff.

After a bit more wandering, we ended up at Sheridan's Wine Bar for some delicious if pricey wine with a mixed cheese and meat board - why are there NEVER enough crackers? We then swung by M&S for some next day provisions and wine, then waited an inordinate amount of time for a bus back to Brookside. The TV yielded nothing more entertaining than The Chase, so we watched that, drank some wine and retired early, with over 18000 steps on the clock. Poor old legs.