Eyre Square Center

Eyre Square Center Review

The largest open space in central Galway and the heart of the city, on the east side of the River Corrib, Eyre Square incorporates a sculpture garden and children's play area on its east side, while its west side is bound by a heavily traveled road. A controversial renovation saw the removal of several well-loved landmarks, including most of the trees in the square (they were diseased). They were replaced by 95 new trees that will take time to mature. In the center is Kennedy Park, a patch of lawn named in honor of John F. Kennedy, who spoke here when he visited the city in June 1963. At the north end of the park, a 20-foot-high steel sculpture standing in the pool of a fountain represents the brown sails seen on Galway hookers, the area's traditional sailing boats. Now the entrance to Kennedy Park, the Browne Doorway was taken in 1905 from the Browne family's town house on Upper Abbeygate Street; it has the 17th-century coats of arms of both the Browne and Lynch families (two of Galway's 14 founding families), called a "marriage stone" because when the families were joined in marriage their coats of arms were, too. Keep an eye out for similar if less elaborate Browne doorways as you walk around the old part of town.