June 9 - Galway

We rose early to catch the bus to Galway. The driver said the usual route over Corkscrew Hill was closed, so we'd be taking a longer route through the Burren and near the sea. This was fine with us. The Burren is a very rocky area with limestone covered hills and surprisinglyvaried plant life (arctic plants growing near tropical plants).

The roads in Ireland are narrow and winding, edged with stone fences. I was a little concerned the first few times we met a car on those narrow roads; it really got interesting when we met another bus. The Bus Eireann buses are quite used to this, however, and they manage to squeeze past each other, usually with one bus pulling way to the side of the road 'til tree branches brush against it. We were slowed down a bit by a German tour bus. Our bus pulled over as far as it possibly could, and waited for them to pass. They scraped by – literally – noisily scraping a lens cap on their own bus against something on their far side. The tour bus stopped, after the crunch, and people got off and held the bushes back so the driver had a little more room. (Later when we shared this adventure with a friendly shop clerk we were talking to, he said , “Ah, the tour bus must have been feeling particularly German that day.”)

After that incident we continued on our way, past more quaint cottages, a few ruins, views of the ocean and eventually Galway Bay. We disembarked at the bus station in Galway and set out to explore the city. Galway is fascinating – young and ancient, friendly and mysterious, exciting and cozy all at once. In between the driveable streets are little narrow streets for walking. Shops and bakeries and cafes and a few bookie-shops (and even one casino) line the streets.

Our main goal was to see St. Nicholas church, where Columbus worshipped when he sought guidance from the Irish people regarding ocean travel. The church was interesting, full of monuments and plaques and stones in the floor engraved with the names of those buried under them. One very large monument on the wall commemorates a woman named Jane Eyre, buried there in the mid 1700s. She gave a donation to the city to be used to care for the poor after her death. (For a moment I confused Jane Eyre with Charlotte Bronte, and I told Mark this monument was too early for the familiar Jane Eyre. M reminded me that the familiar Jane Eyre was a fictional character, not an author.)

Outside the church on Saturdays there is a street fair, with booths selling jewelry, hats, carvings, cheese, incense, toys, produce, and plants. The sidewalk was crowded and festive. Soon we stopped for lunch in a cafe/pub where I had another chutney and cheese sandwich.

Next we visited the Galway Cathedral, a rather grand structure built in the 50s and 60s. The stained glass windows were lovely; one of them showed the Holy Family at home, Joseph working at his carpentry, Jesus bringing him a cup of tea, and Mary knitting. There are also numerous paintings, one of them of a risen Jesus, with a small painting of JFK positioned nearby so he appears to be looking towards Jesus. Apparently JFK is almost a saint in the minds of many Irish people.

We stopped in a small bakery for cake and tea, and then we went searching for the Spanish Arch – the only remnant of a medieval wall that surrounded Galway. At that time, Galway was a Norman city, with a wall to keep out “the Os and the Macs”.

We shopped a bit, wandering through a grocery store (most products are expensive compared to American prices, some hard-to-find-in-the-US-items like Branston pickle are quite a bit cheaper) and a shopping mall. Realizing that our dinner would be later than usual by the time we got back to Doolin, we stopped for sandwiches, tea, and toffee cake at a coffee cafe that seemed to be a citywide (perhaps a nation wide) chain. We noticed their menu offered a “soup of the moment”. One side of the cafe was open to the neighboring pub. There was a group of men in the pub who were all wearing mustaches, some of them obviously fake. We wondered if perhaps they were members of a bachelor party, especially as something like a bachelorette party seemed to be shopping the street outside (a bunch of women together, all wearing bunny ears).

Back on the bus for the ride back to Doolin. The regular route this time, as Corkscrew Hill was open. And it certainly deserves its name! The road makes four tight switchback-type turns. Along the way we saw a high cross, and some turf drying in the sun.

Back in Doolin, we had a late dinner at O'Connor's. They were quite busy, and the food was not as great as it had been previously. I think the secret to great pub food is to not visit at their busiest hours if you are ordering a main dish.

After visiting Galway, I learned that the Burke family figures prominently in Galway history. One book said a Burke started the city of Galway, another account said Galway was a celtic fort, captured by the Burkes (spelled deBourgh at the time), eventually becoming a Norman city with the wall built to keep out the Irish people. It fascinates me to think that my father's family helped build this wall for protection against the Irish (including my husband's family), while my mother's Scandinavian ancestors were passing by periodically, stealing sheep and burning a few cottages -- and now half a world away my children are descended from all three groups.