Historic Building sights in Galway City
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Spanish Arch & Medieval Walls
Framing the river east of Wolfe Tone Bridge, the Spanish Arch is thought to be an extension of Galway's medieval walls. The arch appears to have been designed as a passageway through which ships entered the city to unload goods, such as wine and brandy from Spain.
Today it reverberates to the beat of bongo drums, and the lawns and riverside form a gathering place for locals and visitors on any sunny day. Many watch kayakers manoeuvre over the minor rapids of the River Corrib.
Although a 1651 drawing of Galway clearly shows its extensive fortifications, depredation by Cromwell and William of Orange and subsequent centuries of neglect saw the walls almost completely disappea…
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B
Lynch's Castle
Considered the finest town castle in Ireland, the old stone town house Lynch's Castle was built in the 14th century, though much of what you see today dates from around 1600. The Lynch family was the most powerful of the 14 ruling Galway 'tribes', and its members held the position of mayor no fewer than 80 times between 1480 and 1650.
Stonework on the castle's facade includes ghoulish gargoyles and the coats of arms of Henry VII, the Lynches and the Fitzgeralds of Kildare. The castle is now part of AIB Bank and modern-day bankers may wish to shelter behind the thick walls from populist rage.
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C
Nora Barnacle House
James Joyce's future wife Nora Barnacle (1884–1951) lived here until shortly before they met in Dublin in 1904. It's now a privately owned museum displaying the couple's letters and photographs among period furniture. Looking all of its 100 years and not helped by a grim grey paint job, the house didn't have running water until the 1940s; instead the Barnacle family used a communal pump across the street. Joyce met his future mother-in-law here in 1909; for his part, Joyce's father said after learning Nora's surname: 'She'll stick with him'.
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