Eyre Square
Eyre Square features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Galway. Give it roughly ~25 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type square
- Suggested visit ~25 min
- Galway Galway guide
About Eyre Square
The green heart of Galway, a city-centre park laid out on the old medieval green, with a stone fountain of rust-red sails recalling the Galway hooker, the banners of the Tribes, and a doorway of 1627.
Eyre Square, in Irish An Fhaiche Mhór, 'the big green', is the central public park of Galway, officially renamed John F. Kennedy Memorial Park after the president spoke here in 1963. It began as a medieval open green before a town gate, where markets were held, and takes its name from Mayor Edward Eyre, who gave the land to the city in the early 1700s. It was redeveloped and reopened in 2006.
In the park stand the Browne Doorway, the carved 1627 entrance of a townhouse of the Browne family, one of the fourteen Tribes of Galway, moved here in 1905; a row of banners for all fourteen Tribes; and the Quincentennial Fountain, a sculpture of rust-coloured steel sails raised in 1984 to mark five hundred years since the city's charter, its billowing form recalling the red-brown sails of a Galway hooker, the traditional boat of the bay.
Did you know? Eyre Square was officially renamed the John F. Kennedy Memorial Park after the president spoke here in June 1963; locals still call it Eyre Square.
How long is a visit to Eyre Square?
Set aside roughly ~25 min for Eyre Square. That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is Eyre Square worth your time?
Eyre Square is among the 13 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Galway, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Galway
Sources and further reading
Where to check the facts about Eyre Square and read more:
Day 1 of the Galway in 2 days itinerary →
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Hear the story of Eyre Square
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