Finding the Music in Galway

Music was the main reason I wanted to explore the towns on the West of Ireland, especially in and around Galway City. Also known for the seafood, I was hoping for some tasty morsels.

Seeing the sights, music, & shopping ceased to carry any import as towards the end of the West coast leg of our journey, the calendar turned to September 11th. News of the the attacks came to us after touring around the idyllic island of Inismor in a pony and trap. The rest of the journey was quite subdued & anxious from there, more on this both here and in my Aran Island journal.

Quick Tips:

This is a popular town, especially on weekends. My advice is to make reservations with the Borde Failte office or directly before arriving, it will save you some money and get you in a more central location.

If you're so inclined, strike out off of the main tourist circuit, ask locals where they go to see good live music.

Best Way To Get Around:

Unless you have a great deal of time to navigate the bus or train, I recommend driving between destinations. When in town I walked almost everywhere, or took a cab when needed.

The Great Southern Hotel is an imposing presence taking up a full side of Galway's Eyre Square.

We ended up here because the city was booked out for the weekend, luckily we got a better deal through the Bord Failte (just a few blocks off of Eyre Square). The rooms were lovely, vaulted ceilings, comfortable beds, huge windows opening out onto the square, t.v., and a fruit bowl waiting for you.

My room looked out onto Eyre Square which was entertaining people watching, but a bit loud at night. Also to note: excellent water pressure in the shower...just be sure the shower curtain is tucked in properly (they had to send someone knocking on my door mid-shower as there was a tiny issue of the bathroom floor leaking onto the front desk, oops!).

On premise they also have a restaurant, O'Flaherty's Pub, a library for guest use, sauna & steam room,etc. This is a high end hotel and both prices & caliber of service reflect this. Full Irish breakfast is included.

Boasting an amazing array of artists (John Paul Jones, Ray Manzarek, Steve Earle, John Prine, Loudan Wainwright III, Arlo Guthrie, Donovan, Townes Van Zandt, to name a few) that have performed, the Róisín Dubh is the spot to find live music in Galway. The night we found our way across the bridge, it was extremely crowded, but in a welcoming way I suppose. The front part of the pub feels homey and warm, and the back room is where the stage is set up.

Proximity to the University is another reason it stays packed night after night. Take a break from the marvellous trad music to be found elsewhere and listen to equally irrestible sounds emanating from this cozy (yet spacious pub).

For a map, click here. Or for more info email them at: info@roisindubh.net

Anyone out there recall an obscure 90's Janeane Garofalo film called "The Matchmaker?" Well, it was based on the real thing, alive and well in County Clare. The Matchmaking Festival is a fabulous annual tradition during September & October in the tiny spa town of Lisdoonvarna. Just a short drive from Galway, you can base yourself in either town to explore the wealth of historic and cultural sites in County Clare.

The 2002 festival starts August 30th and lasts through October 6th. Most of the activities center around the weekends, but there's also music & dancing to be had during the week.

Matchmakers were traditionally the dealers who attended street fairs. Since they knew the farmers with eligible sons and daughters around the country, they invited farmers from all over the country to attend the festival the following September. They were also the ones who collected the dowries when a successful match was made. Just two matchmakers still practice in County Clare: Willie Daly, a horse dealer who runs the riding center outside Ennistymon & James White, owner of the Imperial Hotel in Lisdoonvarna.

Willie Daly is one of very few true matchmakers still at work in Ireland, you can contact him with inquiries of the following nature, 1) Matchmaking in the area. 2) The number of different nationalities who come here for the festival & what their intentions are. 3) Other relevant details in relation to matchmaking. Email him at: williedaly@eircom.net or for general information contact: info@matchmakerireland.com

The Whites Hotel chain has several in Lisdoonvarna, see their site for more information:
Hydro Hotel
Int'l Tel 00 353 (0)65-7074005
Int'l Fax 00 353 (0)65-7074406

King Thomond Hotel
Int'l Tel 00 353 (0)65-7074444
Int'l Fax 00 353 (0)65-7074721

Imperial Hotel
Int'l Tel 00 353 (0)65-7074042
Int'l Fax 00 353 (0)65-7074428

Burren Castle Hotel
Int'l Tel 00 353 (0)65-70 74344
Int'l Fax 00 353 (0)65-70 74152

Galway has long been on my list of places to see in Ireland because of it's well-earned reputation as a cultural mecca. Evidence can be found in its countless festivals, its celebration of Gaelic culture, and sublime devotion to music and the arts.

One of the fastest growing cities in Europe, Galway's population is roughly 50,000. There is also a large university adding to its appeal as a young & thriving community. Just three hours from Dublin and an hour and a half from Shannon airport, it's easily accessible & a great point from which to explore the West.

Galway became a Royal Borough in 1396, but it wasn't until 1484 that King Richard III granted it Mayoral Status. Power was transferred from the then ruling de Burgo family to the fourteen merchant tribes. They controlled the city in the following centuries, thus the name, City of the Tribes.

The evening of September 11th found us in a crowded Pub in Doolin, just a short drive from Galway and the ferry from the Aran Islands. After leaving Inis Mór we simply wanted a place to watch the news and relax some while waiting to get through to family in the US. Doolin is also reputed to have some of the best trad musicians in Ireland.

We arrived later in the afternoon without reservations and much of the town's B&B's were full. On the recommendation of one of the innkeeper's we checked with, we knocked on the door of a rosy-cheeked man in his late sixties. Apparently Daniel's wife was off in Dublin and he'd had one or several nips o' the whiskey, so he was more than genial. They were in the process of getting set to sell the B&B so they no longer advertised, but he gave us lodging nonetheless.

Ravenous and craving the comfort of stangers packed into a cozy pub we made our way down to O'Connor's for some dinner and several pints of Guinness. They had an enormous television set in one room of the pub and we all watched sickly as the crashes were replayed over and over. Daniel showed up an hour or so later and gallantly rescued me from the not-so-subtle advances of the town scallywag (in Daniel's opinion anyway). He introduced us around to his friends and we took seats close to the circle of musicians that had finally started up.

It was a long night back and forth to the phone trying to get through to my companion's family in NYC, going back for more music and pints, and finally collapsing into a comfortable bed. It was a terrible day to be away from my country, but made immeasurably more tolerable by the hospitality and kind sentiments of so many of the Irish.