Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Galway
Roundstone
Depart from Dublin Heuston Station
Distance by Train:
129 miles (208 km)
Average Train Time:
2 hours, 40 minutes
City Dialing Code:
91
Tourist Information Center:
Aras Failte, Foster Street, across from City Hall
Tel:
(091) 537700;
Fax:
(091) 537733
E-mail:
irelandwestinfo@failteireland.ie
Hours:
0900-1745 Monday-Saturday
Notes:
Emerging from the railway station, you'll see Eyre Square with the Kennedy
Park in its center. Turn left onto the main street. The traditional green “i” signs will
lead you to the tourist office. Fronting the square is the Great Southern Hotel. (Turn
right and right again at Victoria Place to find the tourist office.)
Like some other Irish cities, Galway was established initially by foreigners. Since
medieval times, it has been a significant port dominated by an oligarchy of 14 Nor-
man and Welsh merchant families. As a thriving trade with Spain developed, the
Spanish Arch
was erected in 1594; it was created to protect the Spanish ships as
they unloaded their cargo. It still remains below the Claddagh Bridge and has an
adjacent museum. The avenue leading from the arch, known as the “Long Walk,”
is where Spanish merchants supposedly strolled into Galway City. The area is still
resplendent with Spanish architecture.
Galway has become Ireland's fastest-growing city. A university town since the
14th century, Galway still has a huge student population and is a cultural center for
writers and scholars. In October, March, and July, Galway (as in Dublin and Cork)
hosts an
international film festival
to showcase new cinema.
Guided tours via double-decker buses depart
Eyre Square
every 30 minutes in
the summer. Eyre Square, given to the city by Edward Eyre in 1710, is the heart of
Galway City activity and the site where the John F. Kennedy Memorial Park is loc-
ated. Fronting the square is the
Great Southern Hotel,
a hostelry combining the
charm of both old and new and an ideal place to halt for a libation or a luncheon.
The shopping center west of the square is also where the last section of the old
wall has been preserved, along with the Penrice and Shoemaker Towers.
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