This was my last day in Galway. Tomorrow, I’m off to Dublin for my final week of vacation. So, today I wanted to get to the last few places I’d been putting off.
My first stop was across the street at the Galway City Museum. It being a Saturday morning, it was pretty crowded, and I only managed a couple of pictures that actually turned out.
![](http://www.rickneal.ca/travelblog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Padraic-O-Conaire-1024x764.jpg)
There were a number of the early sketches for the statue on display, and they looked nothing like the finished statue. Pádraic was on a pedestal, in an impressively serious pose, but apparently they finally settled on something that depicted more of what people remembered of him around Galway – sitting awkwardly on a stone wall, his bow tie very loosely knotted, his hat on back to front, looking adorably goofy.
I love this statue, and I love the evolution that brought it to the final result. I don’t know what was up with the vandalism and decapitation, though.
There was a replica of a Galway Hooker1 that had been built for the museum, and hung from the ceiling fully rigged. There was a lot of stuff about the early days of Galway, and about the 1916 Uprising, and the War for Independence. There was also a fair bit of science stuff about the sea.
![](http://www.rickneal.ca/travelblog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Heads-579x1024.jpg)
After the museum, I walked along the river down to the Galway Cathedral.
![](http://www.rickneal.ca/travelblog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Galway-Cathedral-1.jpg)
I walked back to St. Nicholas Collegiate Church, at that point. St. Nicholas is the oldest still-standing building in Galway. I didn’t get a picture of the outside, because it was surrounded by the street market that was going on with the Galway Early Music Festival2.
![](http://www.rickneal.ca/travelblog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Fiddle-and-Harp-1024x834.jpg)
![](http://www.rickneal.ca/travelblog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/St-Nicholas-1024x768.jpg)
![](http://www.rickneal.ca/travelblog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/St.-Nicholas-Window-773x1024.jpg)
![](http://www.rickneal.ca/travelblog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/St.-Nicholas-Paintings-2-1024x752.jpg)
So, looking around the street market, I found out that there was a concert this afternoon at the Chapel of the Poor Clares – one of the Early Music Festival’s presentations of medieval ballads and madrigals. I made my way down to Nun’s Island, where the Poor Clares have their abbey, and managed to get a ticket, though it was pretty packed. A wonderful concert, by Simone Sorini Syrenarum.
Now, I’m back at the flat, finishing up this post and getting ready to leave tomorrow morning. I’m glad I took the time here in Galway to relax, and I think I’m going to miss the city. But I’m really looking forward to Dublin, too.