County Galway - Towns

The village, if one could call it that, meanders around scenic Annaghdown Bay and finishs near the old passenger steamer quay, now used by pleasure and angling craft. A boat marina and childrens' swimming area are also provided beside the pier. Nearby, there is a marble memorial to the tragic drowning of twenty villagers on boat trip to Galway in 1828, recalled in the famous Anthony Raftery poem, Anah Cuain. Annaghdown is an ideal base to try your hand at trout or salmon angling or pike and porch angling in the lower section of Lough Corrib. It is also renowned for its varied collection of eccesiastical ruins. No less a person than St. Brendan, the Navigator, is said to have founded a convent for his sister here. He died at Annaghdown in 577 and was buried in Clonfert. The more important sites among the ruins include a 12th century abbey and a cathedral with, perhaps, the finest transitional - type window, c. 1190, in the land. Nearby, an impressive 15/16th century tower house still stands overlooking the bay.

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Thirty miles out to sea from Galway lie the three Aran Islands, home of the sturdy fisherfolk immortalised by the playwright J.M. Synge in Riders to the Sea and The Aran Islands.

The three islands- Inishmore (7635 acres), Inishman (2252 acres) and Inisheer (1400)- are rugged and barren. Through unremitting toil the islanders have made soil from sand and seaweed to provide sustenance for their livestock.

The everyday language of the islanders is Irish, and their songs and stories enshrine much of Ireland's folklore and culture. Kilronan, on Inishmore, is the main town of the islands and the terminus of the boat service from the mainland.

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This charming village on the N18, with a wide market square and cross, still retains much of its rural charm despite the passing traffic. The O'Heynes, or Hynes, Lords of Aidhne, had their stronghold here in ancient times and, with the help of other Irish clans, inflicted a terrible defeat on the Normans in 1225, a feat still recalled in that rousing song, The West's Awake. However, in 1236, Richard de Burgo, after successfully conquering County Galway, granted Ardrahan to Maurice Fitzgerald who built a stone castle, the ruins of which lie just north of the village. The boundary of this early Norman settlement continues across the N18 where the gable of a medieval church still stands in the churchyard. The lower section of a round tower, one of just four in County Galway, lies imbedded in the surrounding wall, suggesting an even earlier monastic settlement in Ardrahan.

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North-west 12 miles (19 km) from Loughrea is Athenry. The Dominican priory founded here in 1241 was an important house of the Order, in 1644 it had a brief revival as a university, but the buildings were soon to be destroyed by the Cromwellians. Interesting features are the rows of lancet windows in the nave and choir, the tomb recesses, the mural tablet in Latin, French and English (1682), and the large tomb of Lady M. Bermingham (1799) which occupies the centre of the chancel; the north transept has a beautiful arcade with trefoil-headed niches. Other points of interest at Athenry are the castle (1238), the market cross and part of the old town walls.

Between Athenry and Galway city is the pleasant town of Oranmore, at the head of a creek that forms part of Galway Bay. The castle was built by the Earl of Clanricarde. The Galway Bay Sailing Club is situated here at Renville with boats for hire and tuition given.

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