Galway city with chauffeur/guide

Susan and Cam outside their B&B in Kinvara before we headed for Galway City this morning. They had a lovely meal in the Pier Head in Kinvara last night. Susan had the scallops and Cam had the Rack of Lamb....delicious. They said that they did without the dessert. Would you believe that?

Pictured outside the Meyrick Hotel in Galway where they are staying tonight and tomorrow night. This hotel is one of the oldest and most famous hotels in Galway and was known as the Railway Hotel as it was located at the end of the line between Dublin and Galway. They look like they just won something at the Olympics with the American Flag hoisted beside them.

Here the ladies are seated just outside one of the few remaining sections of the old city wall and this gateway is known as the Spanish Arch. The boats from Spain would pull up on the riverbank just to the left of this wall here. The area just through the Arch here was known as the Spanish Parade which was inside the city wall. Once again the ladies had to wait while their papers were checked before they were allowed in. The jobs i get to do.

Now here you can see the river and the riverbank to the right hand side where the boats would tie up. The arch is just to the right of the grassed area and just out of picture. The river itself acted as a defensive barrier on the western side of the city.

Pictured outside the new City Museum. This museum is a must to visit if you get to Galway.

Saturday is market day in Galway and this photo shows some of the stalls with St Nicholas's church in the background. This is the oldest building in Galway city and it was here that Christopher Colombus and his crew went to mass before they set sail on their epic voyage to the New World.

This is Lynch's window. It was from this window that a magistrate by the name of Lynch, hung his own son. He was found guilty of killing a Spaniard who had an affair with his fiancee and he was sentenced to death by hanging by his father. The young man was so popular that nobody would hang him so his father hung him himself. They say that that is where the term "Lynching" came from.

The city of Galway is called the "City of the Tribes". These were fourteen powerful and wealthy merchant families of mainly Norman descent. Here in the city centre at Eyre square you can see the fourteen family flags and names displayed on the flagpoles. The old doorway in the centre of the photo was the main entrance door to the house of the Browne family, one of the Tribes. The girls hotel is pictured in the background.

Galway is my own personal favourite among our great Irish towns. Come and let me show it to you....and a lot more.

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