Ireland - Galway
Original Post: September 30, 2018
For our first weekend abroad, we decided to make our way to the complete opposite coast of Ireland - Galway!
Orientation had ended on Thursday, and we didn’t want to just sit around in Maynooth for the weekend. Many of the Irish students leave to go home on the weekends to play on their sports teams or to work - so after finding out that Maynooth was soon to become a ghost town for the next three days, we agreed very last minute to go on our first real adventure.
We booked a ticket on Bus Eireann to take us the three and a half hours to Galway on Thursday and back to Maynooth on Sunday - for around $20 total. Once we arrived in Galway at 9PM, it was a short walk to our hostel. We stayed in ‘Sleep Zone,’ a hostel right around the corner from Eyre Square, where the main restaurants, pubs and attractions are in the city. The hostel had a kitchen where breakfast and coffee were free in the mornings; a lounge area and a locked room to store any bags. It also had a chalkboard that listed the staff’s top picks of things to do and see while in Galway including:
For a rainy day: Charlie Byrnes Bookstore, Galway City Museum, Hop On / Hop Off Bus
Traditional music / bars & Staff favorites: King’s Head, Quays Bar, O’Connell’s Bar
Where to eat: McDonagh’s, McCambridge’s, High Cafe
What to see & do: Galway’s Farmer’s Market, Claddagh Village, Galway Cathedral
We went into town and checked out an 800 year old historic, medieval pub called The King’s Head, where we sat and listened to a band play a mix of traditional Irish music and more recent songs. Quay’s Bar was next, with an open multi-level pub - a live band on the highest level and tables with seating on the lowest.
While we were sitting and chatting at the tables, a couple of Irish guys came up to us and immediately recognized that we were from America. It turned out that one of them had just finished a semester abroad in Ohio, and his best friend was from Dayton! It’s a small world.
Friday and Saturday, we went on a bus tour of Ireland’s west coast through Galway Tour Company. Our first stop was Dunguaire Castle, in the fishing village of Kinvara. Our short 15 minute stop there allowed us to walk through the castle, into a gift shop and back onto the bus.
Our next stop was in the village of Kilfenora, where we walked through St. Fachnan’s Cathedral. Right outside of the Cathedral’s walls was a cemetery with the famous Celtic crosses - also known as Irish High Crosses. The inside of the Cathedral had many open rooms that we explored, with charming architecture and grand doorways. We had a brief stop for lunch in the town of Doolin before heading to the Cliffs of Moher.
The view was unimaginable. Once we hiked up to the top of the cliffs - practically blinded by the forceful wind throwing our hair over our faces - we were struck by amazement.
From where we were standing, we could see what felt like the entire Atlantic Ocean. The Aran Islands were right in front of us, and right below us was the water crashing up on the cliffs.
We eventually returned to our hostel in Galway, where we spent the night, before heading out again the next morning for the second day of our bus tour.
Saturday morning, we got on our bus to see the countryside of Ireland for the day. Our first stop was in the Inagh Valley, where we saw breathtaking views of a lake, mountains and what looked like never ending rolling hills. Driving through the mountains, it wasn’t out of the ordinary to see sheep strolling into the road - minding their own business and trotting alongside or in front of our bus.
The tour continued to Kylemore Abbey, a monastery founded for nuns who fled Belgium in World War 1. We stopped there for lunch and sightseeing, wandering around and inside of the Abbey. There was a lake directly in front, where people spent time fishing on a small boat. The outside was peacefully prestigious, with a grand entrance way and balcony over the front door. Inside, there was elegant furniture and ornate fireplaces. Down a short path was a church with stained glass windows, candles inside to light, and divine statues. We took a 5-minute trolley to the Kylemore Abbey garden, which offered extraordinary landscaping designs.
Along the route, we drove through incredible rolling hill scenery with mountains as far as the eye could see.
We ended our bus tour by driving into the town famously known as being the set of the classic movie “The Quiet Man,” and then to the Ross Errily Friary - a 14th century monastery. We returned to Galway with a big appetite from traveling all day, and went to McDonagh’s restaurant for dinner. Famous for their fish & chips, we all tried - and loved - them.
Sunday morning, we had to be out of our hostel by 10AM, so we packed up our things (we each brought only one backpack, so it wasn’t too challenging) and walked to the Galway Farmer’s Market in Eyre Square. It was very quaint, with booths offering jewelry, trinkets and artwork. The smell of the food trucks at the Farmer’s Market was wafting through the air and made us all hungry.
We wanted a sit-down restaurant for brunch, and found a spot called McCambridge’s - an upstairs restaurant with all-day brunch served on Sundays. After wandering the streets of Galway one last time, we headed to the bus station to make our way home.
Our first weekend trip was definitely a success!