We began our day exploring Galway. Since our hotel was just off the town square, we were within walking distance of many of the most popular sites. We started off with a short walk to Eyre Square which encompasses Kennedy Park. The park is named after John F. Kennedy who once visited Galway and gave a speech at Eyre Square. We then traveled down to a pedestrian mall which was lined with shops on both sides of the street. There were a number of street musicians out and the music ranged from Irish traditional to rock and roll. We stopped by the historic St. Nicholas Church - dating back to the 1300s and still in use today - and learned about many of the events that have taken place in the church. One of the most famous visitors to the church was Christopher Columbus who stopped by to pray during a visit to Galway in 1477. Certainly a less welcome visitor was Oliver Cromwell who took over the church during the siege of Galway in 1652 when he and his men used St. Nicholas Church as a stable for their horses. They ransacked the church and damaged or destroyed all but one of the carved figures inside the church. The angel (see below) sits high on a pillar in the church and is the only figure not to have its face smashed off.
We also noticed the church had a statue of St. Therese of Lisieux exactly like the one in St. Therese School in Deephaven. It was such a surprise to see something familiar so far from home! There seems to be quite a devotion to St. Therese here in Ireland.
Next we walked down to the Corrib River and the Spanish Arch. The arch is located where the Corrib River meets the Irish Sea. Galway was an important trade port in the 1500s for Spanish and English ships. A fortress was built in the 16th century to protect the ships from being looted. The Spanish arch was named specifically for the Spanish galleons which would dock near the fortress for protection.
We headed west out of Galway and followed the winding roads between the Irish Sea and the Connemara Mountains. The country was very rugged in places - the ground covered with rocks. In a few miles it would give way to beautiful sea views and sandy beaches.
The winding, curving road took us up and over the mountains toward the small village of Roundstone. By this time we were all ready for a break - the drive was somewhat nerve wracking with all the turns and curves. I decided during the drive that when I get home, I'm going to write a book. It will be titled "Lorry (truck) to the Left, Ruins to the Right: A Driving Guide to Ireland". Chapters will be as follows:
Chapter One - ALWAYS STAY LEFT; hug the white line on the side of the road for all you're worth.
Chapter Two - Curves in the road - plan on a large truck always being in the oncoming lane as you round the curve. The size of the truck will be directly proportional to the tightness of the curve.
Chapter Three - NEVER drive the posted speed limit. Trust us - the 100 km per hour is much, much too fast for anyone to successfully drive . . . and live to tell about it.
Chapter Four - Any and all bridges you come across will be one to one and a half lanes wide. Most bridges come upon you just as you come out of that tight curve and narrowly miss the oncoming truck (see Chapter Two).
Chapter Five - Plan on all roads - be they major highways or country roads - to without fail go directly through the busiest streets of any and every town in the county. You will be trying to juggle round-abouts, various cars, trucks, pedestrians, and occasionally tractors and tour buses. Just remember to stay left . . .
As I mentioned, we were glad to arrive in Roundstone and take a bit of a break. The town was a charming seaport and hugged the coast of the Irish Sea.
We continued northeast and met up with Molly and Tom at Westport. It was great to see them!
We are looking forward to spending a few days together in Westport. Tom has been here before and loves the town, so I know we will enjoy our stay. We ended the evening sharing some Guiness and listening to an Irish duo at our hotel play a selection of American tunes - go figure!
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