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The 14 'Tribes of Galway' banners / flag-posts at Eyre Square.
The Hall of the Red Earl is an old archaeology city site from from the De Burgo period. It was rediscovered in recent years and is a very popular visitor attraction on our city Tours.
St Nicholas' Cathedral interior
Happy US traveller from Texas and guide at new Galway Cathedral.
These Canon guns once located in the main Square were used by the Connaught Rangers in the 1854 - 1856 Crimean War.

Galway Historic city Tour - 2.5hr Family & Friends Private groups

By Western Tours and Tales
Free cancellation available
Price is €250 per traveller* *Get a lower price by selecting multiple travellers
See tickets
Features
  • Free cancellation available
  • 2h 35m
  • Mobile voucher
  • Instant confirmation
Overview

For the 2024 season, we're offering this family and friends inclusive group Walking tour of Galway. As one of Ireland's oldest cities, Galway is rich in history and stories. The history, heritage and culture of this West of Ireland city is the theme of this walking tour - from Galway's Anglo-Norman past to the present-day progressive city.

The tour is led by a local Tourism expert. You will enjoy a fun element with an enjoyable mix of history, culture and legend. Western Tours like to make our guests feel like a friend is welcoming them !

Highlights of this walk will include visits to top city landmarks and you get to explore the Galway Cathedral, Courthouse Square, medieval Lynch's Castle, the 700yr-old St. Nicholas' Church, the Latin Quarter, the famous King's Head pub and Galway's Spanish Arch.

Other attractions along the route include the Hall of the Red Earl archaeology site and Galway City Museum. We allow guests 'free time' to understand local culture and take photos.

Activity location

  • Eyre Square
    • American House Eyre Square
    • H91 PHK1, Galway, Ireland

Meeting/Redemption Point

  • The Hardiman
    • Eyre Square
    • H91 NFD2, Galway, County Galway, Ireland

Check availability

Historic Galway - 2.5hr walk
  • Activity duration is 2 hours and 35 minutes2h 35m2h 35m
  • English

Tour Guiding
Duration: 2 hours: The duration of this Group walking is 2hrs 20 minutes approximately.
Central Square to Old town
Walking Tour

Language options: English
Starting time: 13:00
Price details
€250.00 x 1 Traveller€250.00
Total
Price is €250.00
Until Sun, 29 Sept

What's included, what's not

  • What's includedWhat's includedWe respect cultural diversity and welcome inclusion of people from all nationalities and backgrounds
  • What's includedWhat's includedA comprehensive tour and entertaining stories of Galway's history.
  • What's includedWhat's includedPrivate City tour with Professional guide
  • What's includedWhat's includedDiscount ticket to visit St Nicholas Collegiate Church (for 10am Tours only!)
  • What's includedWhat's includedWith agreement of group, this Walking tour can be adapted to individual wishes.
  • What's excludedWhat's excludedAlcoholic Drinks
  • What's excludedWhat's excludedCoffee and/or Tea
  • What's excludedWhat's excludedExtra Service charge

Know before you book

  • Service animals allowed
  • Public transport options are available nearby
  • Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
  • All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
  • Transport options are wheelchair accessible
  • Suitable for all physical fitness levels
  • Wheelchair accessible
  • This experience requires good weather. If it’s cancelled by the Supplier due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
  • Most travellers can participate and tour is child and animal-friendly
  • NOTE: Check out our Private City tour, 400766P1 where a shortened version of this group tour can be offered to guests with mobility issues.
  • In accordance with EU regulations about consumer rights, activities services are not subject to the right of withdrawal. Supplier cancellation policy will apply.

Activity itinerary

Eyre Square
  • 17m
Our accredited Guide will meet you at the FRONT entrance to the Hardiman Hotel in Eyre Square. We provide a Tour ineniary here. Our tour starts at the main Square, where the Guide will give you a brief overview of Galway's rich history. We'll outline the city's unlikely rise from a Gaelic settlement on Ireland's west coast to a wealthy and prosperous Walled city! We'll tell you about the 14 Tribal merchant families of Galway, various Points of Interest, iconic buildings and Historical aspects around the Square. The old Browne Doorway, the Tribes of Galway Banners, the John F Kennedy memorial and the Quin-centenary Fountain all feature.
Williamsgate Street
  • 6m
We now emerge onto Williams-gate St. and encounter some landmark buildings including the elegant Browne Thomas building. We also pass by Jewellers shops who specialise in Galway's Claddagh ring. if time allows we stop at the Oscar Wilde statue, an Estonia gift to Ireland in 2004 !
Franciscan Church
  • 5m
We now divert down Eglinton Street and pass by the Franciscan Friary church on the left. This iconic old church has lots of history and includes a little grave-yard at the rear which was a prominent place of burial in mid-17th and early 18th centuries.
Eyre Square Centre
  • 7m
We now enter the Eyre Square Centre to view the impressive Medieval City Walls from the 13th century.
Galway Cathedral
  • 8m
Up ahead, from the newly-constructed pedestrian bridge over the River Corrib, our group will pause to view Europe's newest stone cathedral, the Galway Cathedral and the Franciscan Chapel.
Lynch's Castle
  • 10m
The tour returns via Galway's famous River Walk to the main city artery. We arrive at a two-street crossroads and the iconic Lynch's Castle building. This 4-story rectangular mansion is the oldest in the city and the finest surviving Town-Castle in Ireland. It was once the ancestral home of the powerful Lynch clan up until the mid-17th century. We explain the history of the building, its crests and roundels.
Market Street
  • 10m
The tour continues by turning right into Church Lane, once called 'Dead Man's Lane' where funerals passed on way into old graveyard. We talk about St. Nicholas church-yard and continue on through Market St.
Galway Courthouse
  • 5m
We continue towards Courthouse Square, which used to have two iconic Courthouses - one for the county and one for the city. One remains today and the Town Hall Theatre is opposite.
Bowling Green (Pass by)
Our tour route passes close to Bowling Green. Here was the family home of Ms Nora Barnacle who was a prominent Galwegian in years gone by. She famously dated Irish Writer, James Joyce on 16th June 1904, thereafter known as Bloomsday! The Nora Barnacle House is believed to be Ireland’s Smallest Museum.
Saint Nicholas' Collegiate Church
  • 9m
  • Admission ticket included
We next arrive at the imposing Church of St Nicholas Colligate Church, a 700year old structure. Your Guide explains the history of this largest Medieval church in continuous use in Ireland. It was originally built as a Catholic Church but, today, functions as a Protestant Church. In 1477, Christopher Columbus is said to have worshipped here prior to his epic voyage of discovery! There's also much to see within this ancient building and we offer discounts tickets to join their guided tours which operate Mon-Fri. 11am and 2pm and Wednesdays 12pm and 3pm. Extra Note: If you are lucky enough to visit on a Saturday, you can sample all the wonders of the Saturday Market (8am-4pm) just outside the church area!
Galway's Latin Quarter
  • 10m
We arrive in High Street, a section of Galway's Latin Quarter and encounter the iconic King's Head Pub. Legend has it that this pub site was gifted by Oliver Cromwell as payment to executioner of King Charles I. Also on this street we pass by the famous Naughton House, once owned by 'Humanity' Dick Martyn, an Irish MP in British Parliament.
The Lynch Memorial
  • 10m
At this very popular Tourist attraction, we hear the storey of the 15th century Lynch Memorial window and Mayor James Lynch FitzStephen. The storey involves his privileged son, Walter, a love rivalry, a violent confrontation and the son paying the ultimate price issued by a stern, justice-of-the-peace father! The window commemorates this enduring legend and was erected in 1854.
Quay Street
  • 5m
Quay Street has been at the centre of Galway life since the city was founded almost 600 years ago. Today its a busy focal-point thoroughfare with several pubs, restaurants, cafes and lots of music. Also located here is a medieval castle, the Claddagh Ring Museum and even a building that housed Galway's first nightclub !
Wolfe Tone Bridge (Pass by)
From our Wolfe Tone Bridge vantage point, we can see the Claddagh Village across the River Corrib. This old Gaelic settlement was located outside the walled city of Galway. It was regarded as a fishing village with about 3000 people living here. The fishermen fished Galway Bay aboard the old Galway Hooker boats while the women-folk later sold the fish on the Spanish Parade area. Of course, the Claddagh area gave its name to the famous Claddagh Ring!
The Spanish Arch
  • 8m
This open-space area, known as the Spanish Parade formally contained the old Galway port. Up until about 1660, there was a brisk foreign trade between Galway, France , Spain and Portugal. Old Galley ships frequented here with goods including wines and spices for local merchant families. Adjacent to here the medieval Spanish Arch is located on the banks of the River Corrib.
Hall of the Red Earl
  • 7m
This old Medieval site was once the castle residence of powerful Norman, Richard de Burgo. It was an important building up until the late 16th century. Its ruins had been lost for centuries till archaeologists discovered it in the late '90's.
Naughton's Pub (Tigh Neachtain)
  • 5m
Tig Neachtain is today one of Galway's finest pubs. In former years it was the town-house of Richard Martin, a local Galway celebrity in his day! In his early years as a duellist, he earned the nickname 'Hairtrigger Dick'. In later years, he was elected for Galway to the British Parliament and introduced animal rights laws, which earned him the name 'Humanity Dick'. These laws led to the setting up of the SPCA. Martin was also landlord of a substantial area of Connemara. Note: If group members are interested we can return to this fine pub in the heart of the medieval quarter and taste some drinks (at own expense).
Kirwan's Lane
  • 3m
If Quay Street is too busy or alternatively if time allows our group will divert onto Kirwans Lane off Quay Street. This little detour will allow us to walk down this secluded medieval laneway. The laneway is named after one of Galway's Gaelic tribal families. This sublime streetscape offer us a view to past times when Galway city was regarded as 'the finest in the Kingdom'. Also located here is the site of the former Richard 'Humanity Dick' Martin Theatre.
An Taibhdhearc
  • 7m
The final stages of our City tour take us up Middle Street, where we pass by An Taibhdhearc. This is Ireland's only Irish-language theatre. It was established as a large-scale cultural project in the early 1920, when Ireland became a Free State. Micheal MacLiamor, the first director / manager worked there from 1928.
St Augustine's Catholic Parish (Pass by)
The guide will explain that the Augustinian Order arrived in Galway in 1500 and setup an Abbey in the Forthill area of the city. Oliver Cromwell's English army banished them for a period but they returned in 1760 and established this building.
Druid Theatre (Pass by)
University graduates founded the now-famous Druid Theatre Company in 1975 in this city of culture. Druid has always maintained a vital relationship with writers, Tom Murphy and Martin McDonagh. Many well-known Irish actors and directors have worked with the company down through the years.
Gothic and Tudor Revival-style former cathedral - Abbeygate Street Lower
  • 10m
Our final stop will be the old Galway Cathedral Building at the Middle Street / Abbeygate Street junction. This old building was in use for many centuries until it was deemed inadequate by Galway bishop, Dr Michael Browne.

Location

Activity location

  • LOB_ACTIVITIESLOB_ACTIVITIESEyre Square
    • American House Eyre Square
    • H91 PHK1, Galway, Ireland

Meeting/Redemption Point

  • PEOPLEPEOPLEThe Hardiman
    • Eyre Square
    • H91 NFD2, Galway, County Galway, Ireland

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