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GalwayOnFoot.ieGalway
Galway city, County Galway

Things to do in Galway

The medieval streets, the Spanish Arch, St Nicholas' church, the cathedral, the Claddagh, Salthill, and a festival almost every month.

Plan of Galway city centre with the main sights labelled

The sights as pins on the model; tap one for its page and directions.

Ten things to see

  1. Eyre Square
    01

    Eyre Square

    Eyre Square · 62 m north of Eyre Square

    The square at the heart of the city, with Kennedy Park inside it and the banners of the fourteen Tribes flying over it. The Browne doorway at its north end was the door of the Browne family's townhouse on Abbeygate Street.

  2. Galway City Museum
    02

    The Spanish Arch and the City Museum

    Spanish Parade · 589 m south-west of Eyre Square

    The 1519 arch at the end of the old wall, beside the museum that holds the city's heritage collections, the civic sword and mace, and the original statue of the poet Pádraic Ó Conaire.

  3. 03

    Lynch's Castle

    Abbeygate Street Upper · 250 m south-west of Eyre Square

    A medieval townhouse on Shop Street built by the Lynch family in the sixteenth century, now a bank branch, and the finest reminder of the Tribes in the middle of town.

  4. Church of Saint Nicholas
    04

    St Nicholas' Collegiate Church

    Lombard Street · 367 m south-west of Eyre Square

    Founded in 1320 and enlarged over the next two centuries, the largest medieval church in Ireland still in everyday use. Columbus is said to have prayed here in 1477. Orthodox congregations share it today.

  5. Galway Cathedral
    05

    Galway Cathedral

    Gaol Road · 556 m west of Eyre Square

    The Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St Nicholas, consecrated in 1965 on the site of the old gaol, limestone under a green dome. Recitals of classical music run here every July and August.

  6. 06

    The Hall of the Red Earl

    Druid Lane · 485 m south-west of Eyre Square

    The oldest piece of the medieval town, built by the de Burgos in the thirteenth century, where taxes were collected, justice dispensed and banquets held. It is seen through a glass wall off Flood Street.

  7. 07

    The Claddagh

    Quay Street · 461 m south-west of Eyre Square

    The fishing village on the west bank where the Corrib meets the sea, Irish-speaking for centuries and ruled by its own elected King, whose boat alone carried a white sail. The thatched houses are gone; the ring named after it is everywhere.

  8. 08

    The Lynch Window

    Market Street · 356 m south-west of Eyre Square

    The plaque on Market Street where, the legend says, Mayor Lynch hanged his own son in 1493.

  9. 09

    The Salmon Weir Bridge and the Corrib

    Droichead an Dóchais · 478 m west of Eyre Square

    The river that made the city, crossed by four bridges from the Quincentennial down to Wolfe Tone, with the weir where salmon gather in season and the canals of the 1850s branching off it.

  10. Ollscoil na Gaillimhe - University of Galway
    10

    The University quadrangle

    University Road · 2.8 km north-west of Eyre Square

    The 1849 quadrangle of the Queen's College, now the University of Galway, which keeps the UNESCO archive of spoken Celtic languages and the James Mitchell Geology Museum.

Things to do

The festivals

July brings the Film Fleadh and the Arts Festival, August the Races at Ballybrit, September the Oyster Festival; Cúirt for literature, Baboró for children, the Early Music Festival, Tulca for visual art in November and a Christmas market fill the rest of the year.

Traditional music

De Dannan came from here, and Frankie Gavin, Máirtín O'Connor and Alec Finn made their names in the city. Sessions run in the pubs and on the street; Comhaltas branches teach children and Dusty Banjos takes adult beginners.

Theatre in two languages

An Taibhdhearc, the national Irish-language theatre, has been on Middle Street since 1928. Druid, founded by Garry Hynes, Mick Lally and Marie Mullen, is based in the city, alongside the Town Hall Theatre, the Black Box and Nuns Island.

Hurling, football, rugby and soccer

Pearse Stadium in Salthill is home to Galway GAA, the county that won the All-Ireland hurling title in 2017. Connacht Rugby, Pro12 champions in 2016, play at the Sportsgrounds; Galway United play League of Ireland football at Eamonn Deacy Park.

The prom at Salthill

The seaside end of the city, with the promenade along Galway Bay, the swimming pools at Leisureland and the air show in June. The Volvo Ocean Race stopped here in 2009 and finished here in 2012.

Rowing on the Corrib

Tribesmen, Galway Rowing Club, the Jes, the Bish and the university all row on the river above the weir.

Castles, abbeys and old churches nearby

  1. 15 m
  2. 55 m
  3. 221 m
  4. Seán Duggan
    Monuments
    249 m
  5. 250 m
  6. 275 m
  7. 356 m
  8. 460 m
  9. 461 m
  10. 466 m
Ringforts and sites9Holy wells3Castles10Beaches10Abbeys1Viewpoints2

Parks, beaches, lakes and views

  1. 17 m
  2. 62 m
  3. City Walls
    Attractions
    156 m
  4. 358 m
  5. 363 m
  6. 405 m
  7. 478 m
  8. 570 m
  9. 769 m
  10. 777 m

Sport and leisure

  1. DNA
    Nightclubs
    103 m
  2. 133 m
  3. 255 m
  4. Electric
    Nightclubs
    262 m
  5. 340 m
  6. 357 m
  7. 371 m
  8. 376 m
  9. 381 m
  10. Druid
    Theatre
    478 m

Photographs: Eoin Gardiner, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons; Shane.Halloran at English Wikipedia, public domain via Wikimedia Commons; Gerd Eichmann, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons; Mohd Fazlin Mohd Effendy Ooi, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons; Martie Swart, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

The descriptions summarise Wikipedia, "Galway" (CC BY-SA 4.0, read 2026-09-19); positions and the lists are OpenStreetMap. Opening times and admission are not on record here; check before a visit.