Sail fountain
Galway hookers.
Gareth James — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Sharon Hahn Darlin — CC BY 2.0 · N Chadwick — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Professor Chaosheng Zhang — CC BY 4.0 · Marathon — CC BY-SA 2.0 · N Chadwick — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Jo Turner — CC BY-SA 2.0 · louise price — CC BY-SA 2.0
The main green square in the heart of Galway, which began as an open green in front of a medieval town gate where markets were held. It was first enclosed in 1631 and is also officially known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Park. It is ringed by historic buildings, hotels and shopping centres, beside the railway and bus station, and William Street and Shop Street lead off it towards the Latin Quarter, which makes it the natural starting point for any walk around the city. The square has a fountain with rust-coloured sails in the shape of the traditional Galway hooker sailing boats, a seventeenth-century stone doorway moved here from an old merchant's house, and lawns where people sit out on sunny days. It's free and always open, and gets busy during the summer festivals and the Christmas market, when the square fills with stalls and lights.
Galway hookers.
From the 1600s.
To the Latin Quarter.
Central Galway, beside the railway station
Galway Latin QuarterGalway's historic heart, a web of cobbled, pedestrian streets running from the S7 minutes walk4.6
Galway CathedralA massive stone cathedral with a green dome that rises above Galway's skyline. B7 minutes walk4.7
Spanish ArchA historic stone arch where the River Corrib meets Galway Bay, part of what rema8 minutes walk4.3In the heart of Galway beside the railway and bus station, where the shopping streets to the Latin Quarter begin.