Afternoon Walking Tour of Galway City's West End

5.00

Excellent(2)

Galway

Duration: 2 hours

Languages: English

Guru: Éire Eile ~ Touring Ireland Differently

PRO

Verified quality

Registered on 20 July 2025

We’re Cillín and Emily — two Galway locals with a serious grá for history, culture, and stories worth telling. We created Éire Eile to shine a light on the Galway we know — not the curated version dressed up for tourists, but the vibrant, rebellious, and unexpectedly brilliant city we grew up in. Our tours are built on lived experience, local insight, and a frankly ridiculous amount of research — all shared in our own relaxed, curious, and slightly cheeky style. Expect to do a bit of walking, a bit of standing around, and the occasional well-timed nod.

Free reservation and cancellation

Pay-what-you-want tour, no set price, reservation and cancellation are free

Tour description

Galway’s story is often told through its Anglo-Norman walls and merchant past. But across the Corrib lay another Galway — Gaelic, resilient, and proud.

At Éire Eile, we bring forward the Gaelic legacy of the city — a story too often hidden beneath its colonial past.

This afternoon walking tour leads you through the storied heart of Galway’s West End — tracing the city’s Celtic roots, colonial clashes, and cultural resilience through sites like the Claddagh, Fr Griffin Road, Galway Cathedral, the Crane Bar, and Nun’s Island.

You’ll hear tales of ancient migrations, elected kings, Norman invaders, secret shebeens, martyred priests, banned languages, and rebel musicians — all woven through the living streets and riverside ruins of the city’s most soulful quarter.

Walk with us — and hear Galway’s story of survival, struggle and enduring spirit.

Highlights

What will we see on this tour?

Meeting point:

Claddagh Quay, Galway, Ireland

📍 Meeting Point: Outside the Claddagh Church, Claddagh Quay, Galway, H91 CD36 🌂 Look out for: Our guide holding a green umbrella

Outside visit

St Mary's Catholic Church

Begin at the Claddagh, one of Galway’s oldest Gaelic settlements. Here you’ll learn about its origins, traditions, language, and unique customs — standing across the river from the old Norman walls that once excluded them.

Outside visit

Thomas Nicholas Burke Statue

Burke became a national figure for defending Irish Catholicism against English critics in 1872, and for giving voice to the poor and oppressed under British rule. He was the voice of Catholic resistance in the 19th century. Half a century later, Father Michael Griffin would become its martyr — murdered by Crown forces during the War of Independence in 1920. Together, Burke and Griffin show how Galway’s priests embodied faith, defiance, and the struggle for Ireland’s identity across generations.

Outside visit

The Crane Bar

Explore how music and storytelling carried Irish identity through centuries of hardship. Sessions of fiddles, pipes, and bodhráns were never just entertainment — they were acts of defiance. When the Irish language was beaten out of children in schools, it survived in ballads that told of rebellions the history books ignored, and in tunes that carried messages of resistance across generations. Here, through music, the Irish spirit endured when every other voice was silenced.

How much does this tour cost?

Free tours do not have a set price, instead, each person gives the guru at the end the amount they consider appropriate (amounts usually range from €15 to $50 depending on satisfaction with the tour).