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ATHENRY |
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ATHENRY , thirteen miles east of Galway city, is renowned for the
song The Fields of Athenry , a poignant indictment of the horrors of the
Famine that has mutated into a drunken closing-time song and a football
terrace chant. However, the town's history has little to do with the
Famine and more to do with its position as a strategic crossing point on
the Clareen river (reflected in its Gaelic name Baile Áth an Rí , which
means "town of the ford of the king"). It was for this reason that the
town became so heavily fortified and a base for Anglo-Norman control -
so much a feature of east Galway and so conspicuously absent further
west. Large portions of its Norman town walls have survived, along with
a tower gate, five flanking towers and the bold thirteenth-century
castle with its stout three-storey keep (daily 9.30am-6.30pm; £2/¬2.54),
all of which are impressively intact. The narrow streets retain their
medieval layout, while the modern town is still contained within the
original walls. The centre of town is marked by a rare fifteenth-century
market cross (indicating permission for a market to be held at that
spot), while on the green in front of the castle, close to the river,
stands the bird sculpture commemorating the local poet Pádraig Fiacc ,
which was erected by his son. Athenry has a vibrant community spirit
expressed most vividly through its support for the local hurling team,
which became champions of Ireland in 2000; locals tell tall tales of
arch-Unionist and northern Protestant folk-hero, Lord Carson, playing
the game here while on holiday.
The town has a good heritage centre (May-Sept daily 9.30am-6.30pm;
£2/¬2.54), housed in an eighteenth-century church, which itself was
built amongst the ruins of the thirteenth-century St Mary's Church.
Eating options are limited, but good bar food can be found in the
excellent Keane's pub which assuages the conscience of guilty drinkers
with a sign over the door claiming that "work is the curse of the
drinking classes". For B&B try the friendly, comfortable home of Mrs
MacDonagh , Ballygurrane South (tel 091/844579, mcdhaus@eircom.net ;
£33-40/¬41.90-50.79).
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