Galway meets Gibraltar

Galway meets Gibraltar - The Legend behind one of Lynch's Castle's carvings is strange, but possibly true.

Galway and Gibraltar have quite a lot in common, not the least of which is the connection to the Barbary Ape. 

A friend of mine David Niland who owns the Galway Business School in Salthill, recently took this photo of one such ape and her baby and I was immediately struck by the similarity of the pose of his ape and the one on Lynch's castle on Shop Street, Galway. The real ape is grooming, feeding and tending to her baby. The stone ape appears to be doing a similar task, though to listen to the stories, the stone model is actually holding a human baby. 

Legend has it that Lynch's Castle went on fire some time in the 16th century (a not uncommon occurrence back then) and everyone fled the building, leaving the Lynch baby behind. The family pet, a Barbary ape, rescued the baby and climbed down the outside with the baby in hand. Whether true or not, it is quite likely that there were monkeys in Galway long before the high jinx of Rag week. Traders (the Galway Tribes were mostly traders) had much interaction with England, France, Spain, Portugal and Italy all throughout the 14th through the 17th centuries, when Galway was a pretty major player in traffic of goods and other commodities (including slaves....and apparently apes!). 

Eitherway, seeing David's photos today breathed life and animation into the one of Galway's most intriguing and mysterious carvings. To hear more about Galway's wonderfully colourful past and the characters that made it the 'City of the Tribes', come along on one of my 'Walking Tours of Galway', tell your friends and hey, please LIKE my Facebook Page too, 'Walking Tours of Galway'. 
Thanks; Brian Nolan. Galway Walks
(ps the reference to Gibraltar and Galway is taken from James Joyce's Ulysses...bet that will set your juices flowing!)

Lynch's Castle, Galway

Lynch's Castle in Galway is probably the most iconic image of the city's rich Medieval and Norman past.

Judging on the photo, (perhaps by Warner) it is from the close of the 19th century, maybe c. 1890, four decades before the Munster Bank opened up their branch there around 1930, which in time became Allied Irish Bank, which it still is today at the intersection of Shop Street and Abbeygate Street in Galway City.

Other than the chimney, and the shops downstairs, nothing much has changed. A truly beautiful building, covered in carved stonework, coats of arms, memorials, gargoyles, and even a turtle being eaten by an otter. All this embellishment on what was originally a fortified 'tower house' aptly epitomises the fabulous wealth of the Anglo-Norman and Norman-Irish Trading 'Tribes of Galway' between the 15th and 17th centuries.

The beautiful scroll-work over the window above the main doorway is clearly visible here, though covered now in timber shuttering, since it was damaged during the cleaning of the castle's stonework last year. Hopefully we will soon be able to see the restored window.

On another note, I would love to be able to view the castle's garden, which I believe contains a Lynch burial vault. (no money in that bank vault, just the bones of the noble Lynch families). It would be cool to have a video of the castle, front, back and inside, with historical perspective and views from the roof etc, showing on a screen in the bank.

Personally, I love the 'shawlies' on the path in this photo. they are wearing a traditional shawl, perhaps a paisley or other design, so popular in Galway and in the Claddagh in the 19th century, and indeed right up to the 1960's, was not an uncommon sight here on the streets of Galway. I wonder what the name over the door is? Was it a bar, or a grocery perhaps?

For more of these stories come join me on one of my Galway Walks.
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