Eyre Square.

25 min walk from the Periwinkle B&B (Bed & Breakfast accommodation, Galway City.

This park was officially presented to the city in 1710 by Mayor Edward Eyre, from whom it took its name.It used to be a park with railings all around it with an entrance gate on each of its four sides.Outside the North side of the park was the hub of the city and it was here that the Market took place on Saturdays.

In 1965, the square was officially renamed "Kennedy Memorial Park" in honour of US President John F. Kennedy, who visited here shortly before his assassination in 1963 and it was here that he addressed the people of Galway and received the freedom of the city. We have erected a plaque in his honour adjacent to the fountain.

 The Fountain was erected in 1984 to commemorate Galway’s quincentenary; this distinctive rust coloured sculpture represents the sails of the Galway Hooker – Galway’s traditional sailing boat. It symbolises the importance of the sea and maritime trade in the development of the city and its hinterland.

The Browne Doorway has stood in Eyre Square for three quarters of a century. It was removed from an old mansion in Lr Abbeygate Street and bears the arms of the Browne and Lynch families, dated 1627. It is now the entrance to the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial Park, better known as Eyre Square.

The strong Iron Cannons, which have stood in Eyre Square for as long as anybody can remember, were presented to the Connaught Rangers at the end of the Crimean War (1854- 1866). The Rangers, (who subsequently became known throughout the world for their mutiny in India during the 1920s in support of the Irish War of Independence), were involved in the battles of the Alma Valley in 1854. During the course of the campaign they captured and destroyed the Crimean town of Burlyuk. For this and other military achievements they were presented with the cannon at the end of the war.

 Eyre Square Shopping Centre

The main entrance to the shopping centre is on the southwest corner of the Park, there is another entrance on Williamsgate Street and the car park is accessed on Merchants Road.

A major section of Galway’s medieval town wall runs through the ground floor of the Eyre Square Shopping Centre. The Normans who settled on the banks of the River Corrib in the 13th Century built the wall to enclose their city. They built it to protect themselves from the native Irish. In recent times this part of the wall had lain unnoticed until it was incorporated into the new shopping development. Today the walls bask in a newfound glory.