Co. Galway

Visit the Spiddal Crafts Centre on the way into town. There are a variety of shops and craftsman depending on the time of year, some or all may be open.

Visit the Church and Graveyard by the quay on your left as you enter the town from the Galway direction.
Walk out on the quay and view the fishing boats and Galway Bay.

Visit Hugh's Bar, preferably in the evening for live music sessions although a Saturday or Sunday afternoon can be quite lively.

Quick Tips:

If you're brave and fit, hop the wall at Spiddal House and walk up the road/trail to view the house and grounds.
Walking along the quay you'll see a number of boats, from sailing to old tar and canvas currachs. If you get there at the right time, you can watch them cleaning and unloading the boats.

The grounds behind the graveyard are covered with old gravestones, it is interesting to try and read the weathered lettering and dates.

Best Way To Get Around:

On foot is the best way to get around town. The town is quite small, but parking is scarce. Find some parking and hoof it everywhere else.

Easy to find. Right across from the church as you enter the town. The building was painted yellow when I last visited. I believe there is a Spar market across the street on the other side.

It is a casual atmosphere with lots of locals. Go for the traditional music, craic (conversation) and beer. A busy gathering place on the weekends and evenings for live music. The bar is also famous as a recording location and hangout of Mike Scott and The Waterboys during the Fisherman's Blues and Room to Roam album years.

When we visited a woman's football match was in progress on the television. The locals crowded around with much alcoholic enthusiasm. It was quite noisy, but entertaining. My wife had a adventure when visiting the ladies room. Evidently the gender specific assignment was irrelevant to the gentleman (loosely applied term) who barged in. Either the men's room was full, the sign was misread (usually a tourist error) or he was too drunk or distracted to care. Profuse apologies ensued and no harm was done other than the shock.

The church with small stone chapel in the graveyard is located bay side as you enter the town. Look for the road just past the church out to the quay parking lot. From there, you can access the church and quay.

As you stand in the middle of the graveyard, you can look out to a stone chapel or crypt and see Galway Bay in the background. It's perfect for picture taking of the bay and the old gravestones. At the back side of the graveyard is a small entrance to an area that may have had a roof at one time. Several stones line the floor. A small doorway to the right leads to a small area with more headstones and a view across a stone wall towards several crosses through the trees. Very picturesque. Make sure you take a close look at all the stones; some are quite old and the writing is barely legible.

The churchyard appears to be open all hours,, but we didn't go inside. It is a functioning church so be respectful.
Walking along the nearby quay, you can see a variety of old boats and currachs. Again, great photo opportunities abound.

Old country house and grounds up the road from Hugh's Bar. Site of the recording of The Waterboys Fisherman's Blues and Room to Roam album. Nice walk up the path after you hop over the wall to the left of the gate. Nice stone bridge over a stream. Look at some of the stone work on the pillars on the left side of the house.

A group of small shops by independent artists on the road into Spiddal. A great variety of crafts with a beautiful view of Galway Bay.

www.spiddalcraftvillage.com

We left Galway and took a leisurly drive along Galway Bay to the west. The day was overcast with light rain showers. Prior to arriving in Spiddal is the Spiddal Crafts Centre. It’s a group of shops with crafts by independent artists in a variety of media, from pottery to leather. We spent about an hour browsing the shops that were open on a Sunday. We purchased some very nice pottery from one of the shops.

Continuing on the road we soon arrived in Spiddal. We had a goal of finding Hugh’s Bar and Spiddal House. Both locations are well known to fans of the music group The Waterboys. We were quickly distracted by the church and quay to the left as you enter town. We drove alongside the graveyard and into a public parking area quayside. From there we walked along several dock areas with old wooden boats and currachs (tar and canvas covered boats). From there we walked into the church graveyard and read and photographed many old gravestones and crosses. The graveyard is very wild and picturesque.

We walked across the street to the small market and asked where Spiddal House was. One person had never heard of it, the other said it was just up the side street along side the market, but that it was gated and we couldn’t get in. We purchased a couple ice cream cones and left to drive up the road to the gate.

As we exited the market, I had to laugh because the building across the way from the market was clearly labeled Hugh’s Bar. One site down, and Spiddal House to go.

We drove up the road a very short way and saw a large stonewall and iron gate. No label or sign though. Assuming that this must be it, I got out of the car and took a couple of pictures of the gate and gatehouse. I noticed that the wall was falling down by the gatehouse and would be easy to hop over. My wife was game, so over we went and walked up the half mile or so road to the house. It’s very overgrown with beautiful old trees and a lovely stone bridge over a stream.

The house is in very poor condition, but it’s easy to imagine that is was quite impressive in its time. It’s covered with red ivy. We ran into a couple of other people there who claimed to know the owner and told us that the back door was wide open and to feel free to look around inside. Some remodeling had taken place in the recent past and things were quite torn up inside. We walked around carefully and were very impressed with the tile work in the entryway.

The left exterior of the house has some fine stone pillars with carved tops, each is different on each side.

We walked back down the road and agreed that hopping over the wall was well worth it.
We paid a visit to Hugh’s Bar for a pint and the restroom. There was a woman’s football match on, and the place was quite crowded and loud. Much cheering and the crowd were several pints ahead of us. I wish we could have visited when we could have heard some music; it seemed like a very pleasant bar and group.

This town would be well worth considering as an alternative location to staying in Galway. There are many B&B’s in the vicinity and it’s not far from the Aran Island ferry in Rossaveal. If you go, take the Queen of Aran to the Islands.