Ireland 2019: The Main Street of Galway

The main street of Galway starts at the west end of Eyre Square and goes downhill all the way to the water’s edge. Tourists go there to eat, drink, shop and people watch. Local Galwegians go there to eat, drink, shop and watch the tourists. Everyone goes to hear the buskers. There’s only one problem here: there isn’t any main street of Galway. There are five main streets.

This wide area of William Street is a favorite for buskers.

Click on any photo to see a larger version of that photo.

This street that starts at the west end of Eyre Square and ends at the mouth of the Corrib changes its name every block or two. First it is called Williamsgate Street. Then it becomes William Street. Then Shop Street. Then High Street. And finally, when we are getting close to the water, the street becomes Quay Street.

Young Irish musicians  — they were pretty good!

My two granddaughters and their Nana joining Oscar Wilde and his contemporary Eduard Wilde, an Estonian writer. The two were not related and never met.

The original bronze sculpture of the two Wildes was completed by Estonian artist Tiiu Kirsipuu in 1999 and it sits outside the Wilde Irish Pub in Tartu, Estonia. This replica was a gift from the city of Tartu to the city of Galway in 2004.

Treasure Chest store on William Street.

Looking down William Street.

Colorful but strange!

This busker had a nice voice.

The street got very crowded at times.

The back of St Nicholas Collegiate Church (Church of Ireland) on Churchyard and Shop Streets.

This church was built in 1320 and is the largest medieval church still operating in Ireland. There’s a story that Christopher  Columbus attended Mass here when he visited Galway in 1477, fifteen years before he sailed across the Atlantic to the West Indies. We noticed that there was a Traditional Irish Music concert scheduled for later in the evening and we returned after dinner to attend this concert. I’ll have more about the concert and tour of the church in a future posting.

Busker with torch on High Street.

Coming up to Cross Street where Hight Street splits to the left at the Evergreen Health store and Mainguard starts on the right (to the left of the blue Cladddagh Jewelry building).

We must have just missed the Galway Uke Fest.

There’s a fork on High Street after awhile. High Street continues to the left of Katie O’Connor’s guitar case and Mainguard Street starts on the right.

Looking Down Mainguard Street.

Kilkenny shop on High Street.

High Street.

This young man is dancing in the sean-nos (Old style) tradition. Passersby are mesmerized by his stomping and can’t help but gaze at his feet!

Looking down Cross Street from High Street.

Tigh Neachtain is a popular Irish pub and is ranked #26 of 82 nightlife establishments in Galway. This is where Quay Street begins.

Wooden Heart toy store.

Riordan’s Irish Café is ranked by TripAdvisor as # 146 of 374 restaurants in Galway.

Guitar music outside the Kasbah Wine Bar.

Xi’an is famous for their version of a Chinese hamburger.

Fat Freddy’s warning to parents. Fat Freddy’s is known for its pizza and is ranked #87 by Trip Advisor.

Looking at the menu at Martine’s which is ranked #68 on TripAdvisor’s list.

Looking back up Quay Street from Gemelle’s restaurant which is ranked #70 on TripAdvisor’s list.

We settled on McDonagh’s across the street from Martine’s for lunch. They are famous for their fish ‘n chips. I asked for a sandwich and a beer. They gave me the sandwich and told me to go up two doors to the 1520 Bar to get my pint and bring it back. I did. McDonagh’s is ranked # 83 on TripAdvisor’s list of 447 restaurants in Galway.

The last couple of blocks of Main Street (mostly Quay St) is known as The Latin Quarter.

Cobwebs and Cupan Tae are on Quay Lane just off Quay Street.

We finally made it to the Spanish Arch — one of four arches still remaining from the city wall extension that was built in 1584.

Quay Street ends at Father Griffin Road at the mouth of the River Corrib. We turned left and walked along the river walkway called The Long Walk until we reached the Spanish Arch.  It’s less than two kilometers from Eyre Square to the Spanish Arch and if the streets were empty you could probably walk the entire distance in 5 or 6 minutes. But we zigged and zagged and browsed and ate and drank and dawdled and it took us about three hours.

We then walked back to our hotel via the Riverside Walk that for the most part parallels our Main Street. That will be the subject of my next post which will include more photos of the Spanish Arch and the nearby Galway Museum.

Irish Music Bonus — Galway Girl performed by Sharon Shannon and Mundy and hundreds of others.

The Galwegian sheer joy of life is exemplified in this video where 15,000 people crowded into William and Shop Streets and a few side streets on June 11, 2016 to participate in the biggest street performance of Galway Girl.  Locals and visitors alike came to listen to Mundy’s voice and Sharon’s button accordion and one of their favorite songs: Galway Girl by a Texan named Steve Earle. Note that Sharon Shannon never stops smiling in the entire video! The crowd spreads out all over Galway’s Main Street but Mundy and Shannon are standing close to the famous sculpture of Oscar Wilde and Eduard Wilde in front of Lazlo Jewellers.

In previous posts we listened to two songs both called Galway Bay. There’s another song called Galway Girl, too. We will listen to the one written and performed by Ed Sheeran in a future post.