Eyre Square

The first stop in the tour is Eyre Square, also known as Kennedy Park. It is the central place of Galway. The reason for what it is called Eyre Square is that in 1710 it was a piece of land which was donated by the Eyre family in order to build the square. However, in June 1963, J. F. Kennedy visited the town and gave a speech in this square. When he was assassinated in Dallas, the town council of Galway decided to change the name of the main square of the town for Kennedy Park.

Walking through the square you bump into the V Century Fountain. It was built in 1984 in order to commemorate 500 years of the concession of the municipal Letter by the king Richard III. This letter allowed the fourteen tribes to be independent from their feudal lord. The fountain is made of iron with the shape of some sails. It represents the Hookers, which were the traditional boats of Galway.

In Eyre Square you can also find the doorway and the balcony of the house of the Browne family. Actually, the doorway of this house was not in this square because as I have said before this was just a piece of land. Thus, the door was in Abbeygate Street, but the house was in ruins and in 1904 it was decided to preserve this piece of the house and move it to Eyre Square. Under the balcony, you can see there is a stone where two shields are engraved. The shields represented the union of the Brown family, in whose shield a two-headed eagle appears, and the Lynch family, in whose shield three clovers appear, by means of marriage.