Galway for me is a city of memories and ghosts.  Throughout my childhood we would stop there for a few hours on our way to family holidays in Connemara, a short blast of the city before being swallowed by the countryside.  It’s rare for me to return to Galway, but I spent a day there recently.  I felt like an archaeologist, digging below the surface, looking for the bones of the city I remembered from nearly 50 years ago.  It proved to be surprisingly easy.  Though the city has spread wildly in the intervening years and much of its surface has changed – so many new restaurants, coffee shops, and bars – it wasn’t difficult to uncover the city of my childhood and some of the places I remember.  Taafe’s Bar, a favorite watering hole for one of my uncles, is still there, as is Fallers, the jeweler where my father bought his claddagh ring. Eyre Square, Galway’s centerpiece, has been re-modeled and is a lot less charming than it used to be.  I was shocked to discover that the statue of Pádraic Ó Conaire, the Irish writer (and my great uncle), had been moved from the square to Galway City Museum following an incident of vandalism many years ago.

Galway is a slightly scruffy, charming, and romantic place, with a young vibe it didn’t have years ago.  It’s not a place to detain a visitor for much more than a day, though it’s a great base from which to explore the wild countryside and coastline further west.  If you’re there and feeling hungry, don’t miss Ard Bia on the quayside.