Most
of the following day was spent pottering around Galway, revisiting many of the
same places I’d seen with JG when we were there. One of my favourites is St
Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, which Christopher Colombus visited before he made
his trip out to the New World. Oliver Cromwell is also said to have visited it,
but somewhat less benevolently used it as a stable during his forces’ occupation
of the city. The menswear store “Geraghtys” is just across the road (and yes
they gave me another freebie!).
I was surprised to learn that in times gone by
Galway was an English-speaking town, in an area surrounded by Gaelic Irish. As
far back as the 1520s, their language wasn’t the only thing the citizens of
Galway were taking from England – a 1528 by-law encouraged citizens to wear “cloaks
or gowns … after the English fashion”. However at that time in history this
town on the harsh western side of the country was well-connected to the rest of
the world, and by the late 1500s Galway’s main trading partner appeared to be
Iberia, causing the Dublin administration to complain that Galway citizens were
“in heart wholly Spanish”.