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Galway – the city of rain and self-aggrandisement?

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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 40,061 ✭✭✭✭Harry Palmr


    Only Galway could manage to spend 11 million euro of the nations money on a flipping cinema. They live the L'Oreal credo - Because they're worth it.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 10,070 ✭✭✭✭ Maryam Refined Magnolia


    It's overrated and talked up by the residents for sure but it's a nice spot.

    I did that thing of moving there for a year and then suddenly realising I'd accidentally been there for four :pac:

    Good points: very nice pace and cost of living. Incredibly safe, you'd need to go looking for the type and degree of antisocial behaviour that barely raises an eyebrow in Cork/Dublin. Good food scene, especially compared to ten years or so ago. Salthill. Ease of access to Connemara, the Burren, Cliffs of Moher. Plenty of nice little independent shops and cafes.

    Bad points: my good sweet holy fcuking Jesus Christ on a bike lads, the traffic. The sideways rain. The lack of late bars. Raceweek.

    Overrated points: the pubs. They're just pubs! The only major difference between them and pubs in other cities is the other ones aren't full of patrons doggedly, constantly asserting that these are great pubs as if that assertion in itself repeated often enough is what makes a pub great. The Arts Festival and the arts scene in general. The Spanish Arch.


  • Registered Users Posts: 672 ✭✭✭Ashleigh1986


    I've from the city , have lived here all my life .
    I cringe when I hear galway bay fm going on about the prom .
    Do these people go beyond oranmore ???
    Salthill is like its living in the 70s .
    The regional hospital looks like a Russian hospital of the same era .
    As for eyre square... We were promised a world class plaza when it was been built.
    It's only when you have travelled beyond loughrea that you realise galway is a town on the west coast of Ireland .
    The people who have marketed like its one if the worlds great cities???
    Give me a break .


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,237 ✭✭✭mcmoustache


    Boom_Bap wrote: »
    What time did you do the 10km in though?

    I too want to know this. I don't think I can move past this and on to the subject of the thread until I do.


  • Registered Users Posts: 926 ✭✭✭Utter Consternation


    I've from the city , have lived here all my life .
    I cringe when I hear galway bay fm going on about the prom .
    Do these people go beyond oranmore ???
    Salthill is like its living in the 70s .
    The regional hospital looks like a Russian hospital of the same era .
    As for eyre square... We were promised a world class plaza when it was been built.
    It's only when you have travelled beyond loughrea that you realise galway is a town on the west coast of Ireland .
    The people who have marketed like its one if the worlds great cities???
    Give me a break .

    People do tend to get overly misty eyed about it. It's a good spot for a few pints and it's a handy starting point to get to West Clare or Connemare, but that's it.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,277 ✭✭✭Your Face


    I like Galway City.

    People need to smarten up if they believe every touristy piece in the newspapers.

    If you are a sad miserable person before you arrived, you'll probably still be one when you leave.

    Too many people project their own beliefs on Galway City.


  • Registered Users, Subscribers Posts: 47,247 ✭✭✭✭Zaph


    gifted wrote: »
    Von Bismarck .......pure galway surname....

    The mythical 15th tribe.

    Galway is a nice place to visit, but I couldn't live there. To be fair to Aongus, he has a point. I remember a thread some years ago where a lot of posters from Galway were horrified at the prospect of KFC or some other fast food place opening. It's not that Galwegians are averse to a spot of fast food, they did after all inflict the horror that is Supermacs on the nation. Oh no, the issue here was that the new place was a chain. :eek: If it was some local place selling artisanal falafel operated by a co-operative of crusties that would have been fine, but they didn't want their fine city sullied by the same stuff you find everywhere else. My wife did her post-grad in Galway and lived there for a year, and that thread pretty much summed up everything she told me about the people there, that they have a slightly superior attitude and think of themselves, and the city, as being elevated above the general mundaneness of Dublin or Cork. Now don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with having pride in where you're from, but it does seem to manifest in strange and hilarious ways down west.

    That said, we've been down there for quite a few weekends over the years and always have a good time, but I always come away with the feeling that it's really just a big town, rather than a proper city.

    Oh, and McDonaghs is massively overrated.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,505 ✭✭✭✭Mad_maxx


    I'm stuck in Galway city myself

    Ireland's smuggest place.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,794 ✭✭✭Aongus Von Bismarck


    Berserker wrote: »
    Cork people are great. I'd happily move to Cork. Wild horses wouldn't drag me to Galway or Mayo. Both places are overpriced and over-hyped. Stayed in a hotel in Westport for a wedding a few years ago and the cheeky gits were charging €7 for a cheese sandwich. Can't fathom what attracts people to Galway.

    Sorry for the delay in responding; I was at work and don't have the luxury of faffing about on the Internet waiting for 'going home time'.

    I made quite a bit of money in late 2017 selling bitcoins as part of a group who had only paid a fraction of what we sold them for. I'm extremely well paid anyway, so decided I'd use the money to purchase a holiday home in Ireland. I had no hesitation in choosing Cork over Galway. The city has better transport links; the people are friendlier (even though I try to keep overly long conversations to a minimum as the accent does tend to irritate after a while), and the scenery is less desolate than Connemara or the Burren. There's also some decent golf courses in the area.


    If I had had bought in Galway then I'd have had to deal with more rain, the locals going on about how remarkable it is to live in their parochial backwater of a city, and worst of all, the possibility of my brother calling out to my place on a Monday evening with a 'huge bag of cans and the makings of a few'. :(

    As for my 10k time - it was 40:06. Thanks for asking.


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,055 ✭✭✭JohnnyFlash


    Hark! The final judgement has been passed.

    Lovely feed whenever I stop in.

    What can I say, Bertram? Having a refined palate is yet another one of my talents. Seems the common consensus is that the place is bang average and vastly overrated.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 19,587 ✭✭✭✭Muahahaha


    I like Galway, its a good spot for a weekend away, provided you avoid the madness of peak summer. Could never live there though or anywhere on the west coast, while it is a lovely part of the country I couldnt handle 220+ days of rain a year. Must be a pain in the arse having rain two out of every three days, its a good bit milder on the east coast


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,228 ✭✭✭cgcsb


    Galway would be a perfect little getaway if it were possible to cycle around it without being MURDERED by the car drivers or asphyxiated by their fumes, that situation is far from perfect in Dublin and Cork also but Galway is a complete write off if you come with bike. It's mostly culchies driving around and parking up on the path and on the double yellows on their 200m commute.


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,228 ✭✭✭cgcsb


    Muahahaha wrote: »
    I like Galway, its a good spot for a weekend away, provided you avoid the madness of peak summer. Could never live there though or anywhere on the west coast, while it is a lovely part of the country I couldnt handle 220+ days of rain a year. Must be a pain in the arse having rain two out of every three days, its a good bit milder on the east coast

    So far this year I've had to get the wet gear on 4 times while cycling to work in Dublin. If I had to do it all the time, it'd be a real downer.


  • Registered Users Posts: 15,631 ✭✭✭✭whisky_galore


    I've never been in Galway, even for a couple of hours, when it hasn't chucked rain.
    The Spanish arch is possibly the most underwhelming Irish tourist "attraction".
    The traffic, right pain in the tits if you hit it at the wrong time. I don't know how Galway commuters keep their sanity.

    How as ever, I really like the little cafes and such. Found them reasonably priced with tip top staff.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 828 ✭✭✭tototoe


    The most over rated place in Ireland. One nightt on the piss is more than enough, because there is feic all to do there in general. I'd rather eat my own arm than go to the Galway races. Was in the city once arou d that time, and I hope I never have to be there again during the races. Arts festival more or less the same, just a different level of smugness for that one.

    As a city for culture and arts and all that nobsense it seems to sell itself on what has Galway ever delivered in that space...the saw doctors and supermacs?


  • Registered Users Posts: 14,243 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    Zaph wrote: »
    The mythical 15th tribe.

    Galway is a nice place to visit, but I couldn't live there. To be fair to Aongus, he has a point. I remember a thread some years ago where a lot of posters from Galway were horrified at the prospect of KFC or some other fast food place opening. It's not that Galwegians are averse to a spot of fast food, they did after all inflict the horror that is Supermacs on the nation. Oh no, the issue here was that the new place was a chain. :eek: If it was some local place selling artisanal falafel operated by a co-operative of crusties that would have been fine, but they didn't want their fine city sullied by the same stuff you find everywhere else. My wife did her post-grad in Galway and lived there for a year, and that thread pretty much summed up everything she told me about the people there, that they have a slightly superior attitude and think of themselves, and the city, as being elevated above the general mundaneness of Dublin or Cork. Now don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with having pride in where you're from, but it does seem to manifest in strange and hilarious ways down west.

    That said, we've been down there for quite a few weekends over the years and always have a good time, but I always come away with the feeling that it's really just a big town, rather than a proper city.

    Oh, and McDonaghs is massively overrated.

    Maybe you were very unlucky in terms of who you met while you were here, but I don't think your characterisation of Galwegians is totally accurate.

    I've certainly never heard anyone complaining about KFC. I heard people complaining when we didn't have one, no doubt about that. Maybe there were people giving out on Boards, but I've never heard any of that.

    Do we have an inflated opinion of ourselves? I don't know, it's hard for me to answer that one. I don't think anyone in their right mind would place Galway on a pedestal above Dublin or Cork. I think we know where we lie in the pecking order: it's a fair sized large town, with the traffic problems of a megapolis.

    People talk a lot about how Galway people love talking about how Galway is the absolute best. Does this actually happen? It's a nice place and I like living here: the pace of life is relaxed, people are generally laid back, the town is compact but has a lot going on it for its size, a lot of it is picturesque and we've got the seaside. Those are all good points, but it doesn't make it the ultimate in terms of Irish towns/cities.

    Some of the stuff others have mentioned here are absolutely correct: The traffic is out of this world bad, the weather is frequently diabolical - it rains and rains sideways all year long, property and rent prices are astronomical.


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,315 ✭✭✭fergiesfolly


    Born and raised in the city and for the life of me, I cannot think of one local that I know that has this grandiose vision of the place.
    I think myself its those who move here or stay after university that have some artsy fartsy view of it.
    It's a grand town, there's a bit of craic and a bit of nonsense. Same as most places.

    By the way, if any of ye are up in the stands in Ballybrit this week, have a look just to the right of the track. That large facility is a world class manufacturer of medical devices. It directly employs over 4000 people and indirectly many more. There's several of those in the general area and they're what keeps the city's heart beating. Not the Arts festival, not Raceweek and certainly not a few shleveens on a stag night below in Quay Street.
    Ye're welcome to come to Galway, but don't think ye're all that important to us or your opinion of us counts for anything.
    Or that ye'll be missed when ye decide that Sligo/Limerick or wherever are the new hotspot.
    We were happy out before, we'll be happy out after.


  • Registered Users Posts: 11,913 ✭✭✭✭ben.schlomo


    I was reading the Irish papers this morning after my 10k run, and saw that the annual Galway Racing festival is about to begin. This means a week of lazy colour pieces about the ‘craic’, and the sight of helicopters landing and taking off being compared to the Vietnam War. We will also be bombarded with photographs of overweight men with red faces, dressed in cheap suits and sunglasses, clutching plastic pint glasses and gurning at the camera.

    Now I’m a Galwegian by birth myself, and retain an affection for the place. However is there any other city that has such a collectivised sense of self-importance about itself? It’s a small, parochial backwater with a 3rd rate university, a handful of mediocre pubs in the ‘Latin Quarter’, and several pretty decent restaurants in fairness. Yet you’d think you were heading to Berlin circa 1925 by the way some of the locals go on about the place. Some of them seem to think they are living in some rich melting pot of ideas where they are always on the edge of some new cultural movement. Meanwhile most of them are like Syd Barrett in 1972 without the prior success.

    I don’t think anything sums up this hubris about the place better than an article I read about the place in the Independent earlier this year. Some guy called Gugai McNamara was going on about the vibe on Galway’s ‘West End’, and how he doesn’t cross the river after 6PM as there’s so much to do. The ‘West End’ is made up of about 6 pubs, and one of those dreadful stores selling used records and comic books. It’s to culture what Supermacs is to fine dining.

    Does anywhere else in Ireland (or indeed Europe) have locals with such an inflated sense of importance about where they are from? I think the incessant rain and damp is doing something to their brains to be honest.
    6 pubs in the West End? Incessant rain? You're from Galway is it?


  • Registered Users Posts: 11,913 ✭✭✭✭ben.schlomo


    Muahahaha wrote: »
    I like Galway, its a good spot for a weekend away, provided you avoid the madness of peak summer. Could never live there though or anywhere on the west coast, while it is a lovely part of the country I couldnt handle 220+ days of rain a year. Must be a pain in the arse having rain two out of every three days, its a good bit milder on the east coast
    Ireland's greatest myth. As someone who cycles to work daily I've used public transport less than 10 times in the last 4 months for my commute.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,942 ✭✭✭topper75


    ...
    The Spanish arch is possibly the most underwhelming Irish tourist "attraction".
    ....

    Won the vote a record 18 times.
    Sadly not consecutive though; Limerick interrupted the run in 2011 and 2012 with their 'Treaty stone'.


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  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 4,850 ✭✭✭Stop moaning ffs


    Mcdonaghs. Saw doctors.

    Both have been slandered in this very thread.

    Humanity has been fvcking crossed. Crossed I tell you!


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,492 ✭✭✭ArnoldJRimmer


    Lived in Galway for six years back in the day and never once heard anyone claim it was some cultural mecca or an amazing city compared to others in Europe. Yes, there is the odd wannabe poet or street performer who have an inflated opinion of themselves, but they were generally harmless.

    I really do miss the atmosphere around the place in the summertime, but not necessarily the races as its impossible to get near a bar for a pint. Which leads me on to the fact that while I love a lot of the pubs around the city, there really is fcuk all else to do there apart from the nightlife. So while I'm older (not necessarily wiser), not sure if I could live there now


  • Registered Users Posts: 15,631 ✭✭✭✭whisky_galore


    topper75 wrote: »
    Won the vote a record 18 times.
    Sadly not consecutive though; Limerick interrupted the run in 2011 and 2012 with their 'Treaty stone'.

    People must be easily pleased.

    It's hardly the Taj Mahal.


  • Registered Users Posts: 14,243 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    Ireland's greatest myth. As someone who cycles to work daily I've used public transport less than 10 times in the last 4 months for my commute.

    Now, I think we're on the same page here in the main, in thinking that most people here are talking waffle about how Galway perceives itself but...

    You don't think Galway gets a lot of rain? Really? It rained on and off all last week. It rained yesterday. It's about to start raining again right now, as I type this.

    I think the city is guilty as charged when it comes to the weather.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 8,474 ✭✭✭Obvious Desperate Breakfasts


    Born and raised in the city and for the life of me, I cannot think of one local that I know that has this grandiose vision of the place.
    I think myself its those who move here or stay after university that have some artsy fartsy view of it.
    It's a grand town, there's a bit of craic and a bit of nonsense. Same as most places.

    By the way, if any of ye are up in the stands in Ballybrit this week, have a look just to the right of the track. That large facility is a world class manufacturer of medical devices. It directly employs over 4000 people and indirectly many more. There's several of those in the general area and they're what keeps the city's heart beating. Not the Arts festival, not Raceweek and certainly not a few shleveens on a stag night below in Quay Street.
    Ye're welcome to come to Galway, but don't think ye're all that important to us or your opinion of us counts for anything.
    Or that ye'll be missed when ye decide that Sligo/Limerick or wherever are the new hotspot.
    We were happy out before, we'll be happy out after.

    I think this is a good point. A large part of my circle is from Galway city and its environs and they aren’t really that vocal about how great it is, even the ones who like the place.

    But the second half of your post comes across very defensive.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 4,850 ✭✭✭Stop moaning ffs


    The traffic is an odd one. It’s not like you couldn’t pedestrianise the whole city , making it inaccessible. It’s what, a ten minute walk to anywhere one side to the other? One place that would thrive if it was pedestrianised for sure


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 877 ✭✭✭jk23


    I am from Galway, the only group of people I have heard say they love Galway or have a romantic view of it are students from other counties! Great sport city although the traffic is the worst in Ireland and that takes some doing.. ...


  • Registered Users Posts: 11,913 ✭✭✭✭ben.schlomo


    Arghus wrote: »
    Ireland's greatest myth. As someone who cycles to work daily I've used public transport less than 10 times in the last 4 months for my commute.

    Now, I think we're on the same page here in the main, in thinking that most people here are talking waffle about how Galway perceives itself but...

    You don't think Galway gets a lot of rain? Really? It rained on and off all last week. It rained yesterday. It's about to start raining again right now, as I type this.

    I think the city is guilty as charged when it comes to the weather.
    There's a huge difference between a small shower of rain and a spell of 'incessant rain' or this supposed 2/3 days full of rain nonsense. Like I said I'm a cyclist, rain/wind if heavy/strong enough will make me use a bus, I haven't had need for it much at all over spring summer this year.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 10,070 ✭✭✭✭ Maryam Refined Magnolia


    The traffic is an odd one. It’s not like you couldn’t pedestrianise the whole city , making it inaccessible. It’s what, a ten minute walk to anywhere one side to the other? One place that would thrive if it was pedestrianised for sure

    A lot of the problem is the amount of people living in the "catchment area" of rural county Galway and Clare commuting in. I used to travel in with my parents who were in that situation, traffic would start backing up at Clarenbridge which is a few miles even from Oranmore. And unless you start work at 11.30 finish at 5 and are ok with spending 20 quid a day on transport there's no other option but to drive.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 3,315 ✭✭✭fergiesfolly


    I think this is a good point. A large part of my circle is from Galway city and its environs and they aren’t really that vocal about how great it is, even the ones who like the place.

    But the second half of your post comes across very defensive.

    You're probably right, but you get sick of the gob****es sometimes.
    Gaillimh Abu!


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