I had a walking tour scheduled for this morning, I found this is a great way to get to know a new city while also getting in a good workout. I had a little bit of a problem finding parking, so I was a few minutes late, but thankfully my tour guide was very understanding (and so was the rest of the tour- a couple from Florida and their child and a pair of ladies from the UK). We walked around Galway and visited some of the big points of interest in Galway while our tour guide filled us in on the history of the city. The first point of interest was the Browne Doorway in Eyre Square. Our tour guide explained that while Galway was a medieval city, it largely fell to ruins and the Browne Doorway is one of the few remaining structures from the medieval period.

We continued our walk through the park and came upon a statue that is a tribute to the sails on the Hooker ships that are prominent in Galway Bay. Also in the park was a memorial for John F. Kennedy. JFK visited Ireland in 1963 and it was a huge deal because he was the first sitting president to visit Ireland, plus he was Irish, and the only Catholic president, and one of the stops he made was in Galway, so they named him a Freeman of Galway and put a plaque in. After he was assassinated 10 months later they renamed the park Kennedy Park, but apparently the name never stuck and everyone still calls it Eyre Square Park (and it’s still labeled that on all of the signs and on Google). We also heard about the statue of Pádraic Ó Conaire, who was an author that wrote in the Irish language and is one of the only writers to write in the Irish language.

Next we went into the City Centre area and heard about an interesting statue. The statue is an imagined meeting between Oscar Wilde (famed Irish poet and playwright) and Eduard Wilde (a famous Estonian writer) the two never met in real life, but Estonia produced the sculpture to commemorate their joining of the EU and to thank Ireland for their support. It was originally supposed to go to Dublin, but Dublin actually declined the sculpture because they “already had enough Oscar Wilde statues” so Estonia offered it to Galway. They accepted it, although according to our tour guide, aside from his father owning a farmhouse not far from Galway, he had no connection to the city.

Next we saw the (slightly disappointing) Lynch’s Castle. It’s a beautiful building, but it’s now a bank, and apparently has been a bank for a long time, but after seeing so many other stunning castles in Ireland this was a little bit of a disappointment! One interesting story that our tour guide told us is about the sculpture underneath the Lynch Heraldry (see the photos below). That little creature is supposed to be a monkey holding a human baby. The legend goes that the Lynch’s had a pet monkey and one day there was a fire in the house and the monkey climbed up to the nursery and grabbed the baby, when he was climbing out he fell out the window and the monkey died, but the baby survived, so they made the sculpture to honor the monkey.

Next we went to the Latin Quarter where there are a bunch of bars and restaurants and one of the original makers of the Claddagh Ring- Thomas Dillon Jewelers. The Claddagh Ring is named for the nearby area of Galway known as “The Claddagh” or “An Cladach” which translates to “the shore” and used to be a fishing village. Legend has it that this area was most famous for the Claddagh ring, which was created by jeweller, Richard Joyce. The story goes that he was kidnapped by pirates on his way to the West Indies and his master taught him jewelry craft. When he was released, he returned to Galway and set up his trade. The ring is said to be made of the three most important aspects of a relationship- love: symbolized by a heart, friendship: symbolized by the clasped hands, and loyalty: symbolized by the crown. There’s also a specific way to wear the ring depending on your relationship status. If you’re single, you wear the ring on your right hand with the point of the heart facing towards your fingernail, if you’re in a relationship you wear it on your right hand with the crown pointing towards your fingernail, if you’re engaged you wear it on your left hand with the heart pointing towards your fingernail, and if you’re married you wear it on your left hand with the crown pointing towards your fingernail. I bought two Claddagh Rings while I was in Galway, one was the original Claddagh design, and I, of course, bought it at Thomas Dillon. The second I bought has a green heart shaped gem and it was cheap at a gift shop, I just thought it was pretty 🙂

Next we went to the Spanish Arch which is one of the most famous spots in the city to take photos, and then we walked around the river walk. Our tour guide gave us some recommendations of other places to go and then our tour was over. I decided to go back to Thomas Dillon to get my Claddagh and then I walked around a bit more and did a little more shopping, and then I headed back to my AirBnB for a little relaxing. I was thinking about going back out, but I decided to watch the new season of Love is Blind on Netflix instead (don’t judge me). All in all a good day, excited to do some more exploring tomorrow!