Galway

72,000 people say that Galway is home, this charming city on the west coast of Ireland. In fact, it's the third largest in the country behind Dublin and Cork. The settlement was founded by Anglo-Norman immigrants in the 12th century and officially became a city in 1484. Maybe the original settlers came here because of the reasonable climate. The average daily maximum temperature in the summer is 18°C, or 64°F, and in the winter it only drops to around 1°C, or 34°F. Ok, so it's not exactly a tropical climate but if you consider the latitude it's quite mild.

Many people call Galway the Capital of the West, and it certainly is a cultural centre. There are all sorts of festivals and events here throughout the year, including film, Arts, horse racing and even the Oyster festival. Great if you like Oysters. The University of Ireland is found here as well as an Institute of Technology and a large number of private language schools; people like coming to Galway to study. In fact, there are 13,000 students here during the academic year! You'll see how important the Irish language is here by looking at the street signs - nearly all of them are in Irish and English.

So what do visitors like to do when in Galway? Here are one or two attractions the city has to offer.

Go to St. Nicholas' Church. It was built in 1320 and is still used today. It makes it one of the oldest churches in Ireland. It's dedicated to the patron saint of sailors because Galway is a coastal city. Researchers even say that Christopher Columbus, the man who discovered America, visited the church in 1477. Now visitors come to the main market on Saturdays.

Next you can visit the Spanish Arch. This is part of a fort from the 16th century and this was added to protect merchant ships from thieves and pirates. You can find it where the local river, The Corrib, flows into the sea.

After that why not go to the Lynch Memorial? Legend says that in 1493 the Mayor of Galway hanged his son from the window of their home because he killed a guest in their care. The window is in Market Street, next to St. Nicholas' church. James Lynch FitzStephen was the mayor, and many believe that the synonym of hang, lynch, derives from this man's name.

Finally some more Lynch. Go to Lynch's Castle - the historic home of one of Galway's most powerful families. It's built in the Irish Gothic style and is the only surviving example of the family homes of the traditional fourteen Galway 'tribes', the powerful merchant families.