May 22, 2018    Galway, Ireland



Today, we drove to Galway to have a look around.  Galway has a population of 60,000 people.  It's a university town and boasts the youngest population in Ireland.  We visited Galway Cathedral, Claddagh Jewellers (their spelling, not mine), poked our heads in some shops, and rested in a park.  It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm, and many people were out and about.

The Cathedral of Galway was dedicated on 15 August 1965, and as such is the youngest of Europe's great stone cathedrals. it is dedicated to Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and Saint Nicholas.

The bishop at the time, was met with resistance over the traditional style of the building.  Some thought it should have been a modern design.

I'm glad it was built in this timeless style.  It transports ones thoughts to heaven.

The last paragraph nearly made me cry!  So beautiful.

One of the side chapels.

Chapel dedicated to St. Joseph.

Galway Cathedral

This street was covered with Christmas lights.  I bet it looks great at night.

Galway has the kind of street you would expect in an old Irish town.

I found my store!

The traditional home of the Claddagh ring.  I bought my ring here.  

The story of the Claddagh ring:

Passed down through the generations, this romantic story centers on a man named Richard Joyce and the ring he created. Legend has it that shortly before he was due to be married, a fisherman Richard Joyce was captured at sea by pirates and sold into slavery in Algeria. He became the property of a rich Moorish goldsmith, who sensing his potential began to train him in his craft. In time Richard Joyce became a fully proficient master craftsman and with thoughts of the girl he had left behind close to his heart, he fashioned the first Claddagh Ring. The heart symbolizing love, the pair of hands representing friendship and the crown for loyalty and fidelity. In 1689 after an agreement with King William III to release all his subjects held in slavery, Richard Joyce found himself once more a free man. His master, who had by now grown very fond of him offered his only daughter in marriage and half his wealth, if he would remain in Algiers, but Joyce declined and returned home to Galway. There he found that his sweetheart had waited for his return, and presenting her with the Claddagh Ring they were married.

The barber shop where Collin got his second haircut of the trip.

So fuzzy!

This bookstore had the best sign in the middle of the room!  

The park was busy with people enjoying the sunshine on a Tuesday afternoon,