The Viking Boats in Galway

The Viking Boats in Galway August 17, 2017

We went on a little walking tour through busy Galway, and one of our first stops along the River Corrib, which flows through the city, was to see the Viking boats, docked in town for a while. Fortunately for us, the annual Claddagh Traditional Boat Festival was taking place from May 24 to 28, and today is the 25th! We got to see the two recreated, sleek Viking longships which were moored in the harbor! The Viking age lasted from the 8th to 11th centuries A.D. The boats that made Galway famous are called the Galway Hookers, featured on the city’s coat of arms. Locally they were known as pucans and gleotogs (hooker in English). Note the broad, black hulls, heavy masts, and usually bright rust-colored sails. A local group is still building the hookers to keep the sailing tradition alive.

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Galway is a pretty town with two rivers, and a walking tour on this day, and maybe a walk across some of the footbridges is fun.
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Back at our hotel in Salthill, people were so hot they were jumping off towers into the ocean (it was the one day in their summer it hit 90F).vike20


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