‘let the Magic In’: The Heart of Galway City

Galway was dubbed a European Capital of Culture in 2020, by the European Commission. Galway’s motto for this cultural program was “Let the Magic In” to explore themes at the heart of Galway: language, landscape, and migration.  

The first thing I noticed when I arrived in Galway City for the first time, was the sound of the seagulls that hangs in the air due to its delightful proximity to the water. Wherever you are in Galway, you’re never far from a river, canal, lake or the Galway Bay. 

Leaving the bus or train stop, traffic naturally flows like a river into the heart of the city. Passing Eyre Square, the cobblestone streets and colorful buildings lead down to Shop Street with colorful flags hanging between the buildings overhead. The color everywhere contrasts the misty, cloudy, and often grey skies.  

I didn’t anticipate how the sounds of traditional Irish music spills into the streets every evening, and a little thing like the sound of a fiddle touches something deeply human and a creative instinct. Galway is known for music, but also the Irish language (as you get out into County Galway especially) and art. Next to the magnificent rushing of the river Corrib through the town, there are large stones with poetry carved into them written local poets. This city is alive with language, from the Irish language to a multitude of other languages from around the world! This begins to explain why Galway is the city of festivals, music, and celebrations. It is home to Galway International Arts Festival and the Galway Folk Festival. With two universities, Atlantic Technical University (ATU) and University of Galway (UG), there is a youthful and creative energy throughout the city that mixes with centuries of culture. There is something dare I say, magical, about the culture of Galway that is in love with music and language.  

The stereotype of Ireland is lush green hills dotted with sheep, but Galway has a landscape all its own. It has canals, the Corrib River, Galway Bay, and the beaches of Salthill.  

The Corrib River flowing through the city acts almost like a compass. If you head North up the river, you will see a green dome peaking above the trees. This is the lovely Galway Cathedral, a Roman Catholic Church, that stands as a “skyline” of the city. There is usually a fisherman or two fishing in the river. The mouth of the river meets Galway Bay in an area of town called the Claddagh, that was the heart of the fishing industry in old Galway. This is where the iconic Long Walk has its colorful homes overlooking the bay. This former fishing village has its own unique type of boat, called the Galway Hooker, with a black hull and maroon sails. Nearby you can see the Spanish Arch and the Latin Quarter. The Latin Quarter is a stunning example of the city’s medieval heritage.  

Galway’s weekend markets are always buzzing with locals and tourists, with one near the Spanish Arch and another market by St. Nicholas’ Collegiate Church just off Shop Street. Claddagh rings and Aran sweaters are Galway souvenir staples that are local to County Galway and are easily found in the Latin Quarter and Shop and Quay streets. During the summertime, the Claddagh area is filled with people reading, picnicking, having conversations, and enjoying the beautiful scenery the city has to offer! The Bay is filled with swans, and at times even seals and dolphins! Nature and community are at the heart of culture in Galway. 

Galway’s long history includes many hardships that have shaped the culture, one being the 19th century famine. You’ll find a famine memorial in the Latin Quarter and if you take the Salthill promenade in the direction of Salthill, you will run into the Celia Griffin Memorial. This space contemplates the Mutton Island lighthouse that the thousands of refugees who fled the Great Famine through the Port of Galway would have seen as they left their homeland.  

There is a warmth and friendliness in Irish culture that you find in Galway; Irish hospitality runs very deep.  Céad Míle Fáilte is an Irish greeting that roughly translates to “A hundred thousand welcomes” and this motto is more than lived out in the hospitality of the Irish people as they welcome newcomers every year.    

From music, poetry, Irish language, Gaelic football, murals and art, colorful buildings, and history, friendship, and hospitality, to the stunning scenery of Galway City, it is unlike any place else that I’ve had the privilege of living!  

I stand with countless other visitors, residents, and former residents of Galway who have found a home here and delight in the magic of the city. Here is a song written by Mikey Kelleher, covered by both Bing Crosby and Johnny Cash that speaks to the enduring effect Galway has on those who have visited, lived, or loved within her town. 

If you ever go across the sea to Ireland, 

Then maybe at the closing of your day 

You will sit and watch the moon rise over Claddagh 

And see the sun go down on Galway Bay 

For the breeze blowin’ o’er the sea from Ireland 

Are perfumed by the heather as they blow 

And the women in the uplands diggin’ praties 

Speak a language that the strangers do not know 

Yet the strangers came and tried to teach us their way 

They scorned us just for bein’ what we are 

But they might as well go chasing after moon beams 

Or light a penny candle from a star 

And if there’s going to be a life hereafter 

And somehow I am sure there’s going to be 

I will ask my God to let me make my heaven 

In that dear land across the Irish sea.