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The Hall is the earliest medieval structure to be seen within the walls of the city. It was built by the de Burgo family in the 13th century and was the main municipal building, acting as town hall, court house and tax collection office. Only a fragment remains, protected behind glass, and it won't take a minute to see. The modern building adjoining is the base of Galway Civic Trust, and their guided walks through the city start here, see below.
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Three floors of galleries have seven long-term exhibitions on Galway's archaeology, history and links to the sea. Two halls have rotating exhibitions.
Called a museum but mostly a marketing exercise. The Claddagh Ring is a style of mani in fede finger ring: two hands join to clasp a heart. It's been a design for wedding or engagement rings since medieval times but became a Galway tradition from 1700, when the jewellers worked near an Claddagh, the city shore. It became popular from the late 20th century, and legends were embellished around it as ingeniously as its designs. This museum hews to the "Joyce" legend, after the man captured by Algerian corsairs and learning the design in captivity; he returned to Galway where of course his sweetheart had remained true... aah, bless. The heart is often surmounted by a crown, or isn't, depending on your allegiances in that matter.
A collegiate church doesn't have a resident priest, but members of a seminary (here, a College of Vicars) take turns. St Nicholas is the largest medieval church still in everyday use in Ireland. It was founded in 1320 and enlarged over the following two centuries. It's dedicated to St Nicholas of Myra (circa 300 AD), the patron saint of seafarers who later became Santa Claus. There are large tombs of the Lynch family, and a plaque at the Lynch memorial window claims to be the spot where 15th-century mayor James hanged his own son Walter: for killing a Spanish visitor, so goes the tale, but what was that really all about? In 2002 St Nick's conducted the first blessing of a same-sex partnership in an Irish church, but the Bishop prohibited any such unbiblical goings-on in future. The church is Anglican Protestant (which it obviously wasn't when Christopher Columbus attended mass here), but has occasionally been used by RC, Romanian, Russian Orthodox and Mar Thoma Syrian congregations. When in Rome, as they say....
Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and Saint Nicholas
Roman Catholic cathedral built 1958-1965 on the site of an old prison; it's an imposing limestone building in a mixture of retro-classical styles, which some detest. The dome, pillars and round arches are Renaissance, while a Romanesque portico dominates the main façade. The organ was re-conditioned in 2007, and recitals show off the acoustics. Regular mass, with one Sunday mass in Irish.