Galway

Galway: history & character

Galway — founded by the Anglo-Normans in the 13th century where the River Corrib meets the Atlantic bay — was for five centuries the most prosperous seaport on Ireland's west coast, nicknamed the "City of the Tribes" after the fourteen merchant families who ran it. Today the capital of Connacht province with 85,000 inhabitants, it is above all a student city (25,000 at the University of Galway) and the bohemian heart of Gaelic-speaking Ireland: the Latin Quarter pedestrian street — Shop Street, Quay Street, High Street — rings constantly with live trad music, and 30% of the residents of the neighbouring Gaeltacht still speak Irish daily. For travellers with a dog, Galway is one of Europe's most welcoming hubs: the 2 km Salthill Promenade along the bay accepts leashed dogs year-round, Silver Strand beach 10 minutes' drive away is off-leash out of season, and Connemara — 2,000 km² of bog, mountain and unfenced lochs — starts 30 minutes to the west. Traditional pubs (Tigh Neachtain, Crane Bar) welcome dogs in their wooden snugs, and Bus Éireann + Iarnród Éireann carry leashed and muzzled dogs free of charge. The only constraint: Ireland requires tapeworm (echinococcus) treatment between 24h and 120h before arrival for dogs coming from a non-island EU country.