11. ...and See the Sun go Down in Galway Bay

03 August 2025

Carolyn and Laraine have opted to sleep in and to do their own thing today, so Marianne and I decide to make an early start. Again, we have to scrounge around for information about the port, length of tender ride, and distance between the port and the city centre from the cruise staff. And by that, I do not mean the type of staff that are paid to provide information for their passengers. So far, we have received most of our information from the breakfast coffee and pastry girls in the Feeding Frenzy or one of the gift shop attendants. Who would have thought?

Anyway, back to Galway. We are delighted to see an Aran Island ferry beside the ship this morning and we quickly settle ourselves for our transfer to the port. What would have been a thirty-minute ride on the ship's lifeboat takes a mere ten minutes on the ferry. The ride is smooth and before long we are following the well-positioned signs into the city centre. It is a weird day, neither hot nor cold and I do find myself putting on my cardigan and taking it off as the sun peeps out from behind the heavy cloud cover.

Despite the early hour and although most shops are still closed, the old town is filling with tourists, including those from our ship. We decide to explore the old town first and find ourselves inside the gaily-decorated narrow pedestrian streets, where Sharon Shannon and Mundy took part in the largest ever street performance of Steve Earle's hit song, Galway Girl.

It is relaxing here at the moment, and to be honest, I know that there will be huge crowds down here later, although perhaps not the 15,000 that gathered for the Galway Girl street performance. I hope not anyway. The colourful shops and strings of international flags flapping above us provides a welcoming atmosphere. The Irish souvenir shops are open and filled to the brim with all sorts of Irish goods, most of which are made in Ireland, and are of excellent quality. Coming down to the end of the shopping street, we head towards the water and the Spanish Arch.

The Spanish Arch was built as an extension to the city walls around 1584 to protect and defend the quays as Galway was a major trading port. The wall is about 6 metres tall and includes openings through which stones or boiling liquids could be dropped on attackers. The walls sustained major damage from a tsunami, which followed the Lisbon earthquake in 1755. Today, one of arches forms an entrance to 'the long walk' or promenade along the river.

Returning to Eyre Square, we notice that tourist numbers have swelled and we buy a ticket for the HOHO bus, which is expected any minute. Once aboard, I am surprised that not too many people are travelling today, and soon we are moving in the direction we have just come from. We ride through Claddah, which was once a fishing village made up of indigenous people who lived, worked, and rarely married outside their village. Culturally and linguistically, they were different to the other people of Galway and existed here until the 1930s, when their village was demolished and replaced with council housing. Although it was the end of the Claddah village and people, the one cultural legacy is the Claddah ring, which is still an important cultural thread to this community.

Across from the Claddah village, we can see the ship lying beyond the bay, and it looks closer than it really is. Along the waterfront a little further is the Blackrock Diving Tower, which was first built in 1885 as a springboard and replaced as a diving tower in 1942. Although it is popular with tourists today and children and adults alike climb the ladder to the top, the thought of plunging into the freezing Atlantic waters is not something I yearn to do. We ride through Salthill then follow a loop around the golf course. It is here that we come across a huge obstacle. Obviously, the road is not equipped for two-way traffic and parking on each side, and on this busy Sunday, it takes a long time for the bus to negotiate its way though the traffic especially when another bus approaches and with no room for either bus to pull over, it was a hairy and very skilful task for the drivers. Peeling off a short time later, our bus takes us past the hospital, the university, and the Cathedral of Our lady Assumed into Heaven and St Nicholas or Galway Cathedral as it is otherwise known. Despite its dark grey stone exterior, this is one of Europe's youngest cathedrals in that it had been built between 1958 and 1965. It is probably one of the last stone cathedrals in the world to be built in a traditional style for which it has been criticised over the years. However, if I could put my two-bob's worth into the fray, and although I have not had the opportunity to see the interior of this church, I have seen many results of 1960s-style churches in other parts of Ireland and none of them could possibly be called beautiful. Anyway, enough of that.

We complete our tour in Eyre Square just where we started it one hour earlier, and with the exception of slipping into Dunnes briefly, we set off towards the ship with the intention of stopping for coffee on the way.

We do find a coffee shop and I approach the counter to order. I am about third in the line and although there is staff serving at the counter, the line is not moving. I wait. I wait a little longer, and a little longer. Frustrated, I turn and we head for the door, deciding on the way back to the port to get Irish coffee onboard. Perhaps there was another reason why we were held up at the coffee shop so long that we left. Perhaps it was for the best.

Despite the Aran Island ferry being at the port when we arrive, they are not taking passengers at the moment, and we are directed towards the ship's lifeboat. I notice the temperature has dropped and the wind has lifted. Sitting in the craft, we are below sea level, and as we move away from the pier, it becomes apparent that the weather is changing. The sea is choppy and sea spray and even water is splashing into the boat. It takes thirty minutes to return to the ship in water that is certainly not as flat as this morning, and under gathering clouds. The little boat rises and plops, rises and plops all the way back to the ship, and after that length of time, I am glad when we are tied up to the ship and we can disembark from the little shuddering lifeboat. We later find out that our transfer is not so bad. When we are safely back on the ship sipping Irish Coffee, the weather breaks and crossings later in the day become very rough.

Quote Lyrics: Galway Bay Arthur Colohan