Irish Cabin
The humble cot beneath the Mountain side.
We reached Galway Bay shortly after ten o’clock and fifteen minutes later we were circling over the ancient city of Galway. Galway has been called a Dutch city, and its architecture, as we looked down on it, did seem more varied than the usual plain style of Irish buildings.
We created great excitement as we circled over the city at a height of 150 feet. The motor was acting a little erratic occasionally, and I wanted Mike to alight, but he disliked facing the curious crowds.
“There are lots of bogs in County Galway,” he said laughingly. “We will light easy on one of them if the motor stops.”
The river, connecting Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, divides the city into two parts, connected by several bridges. Crowds rushed out on the bridges as they saw us fly overhead. We could hear them cheering and some one fired off a pistol. This frightened Mike and he started toward Lough Corrib, like a wild duck which had been bombarded by a hunter.
I saw a fine old church in Galway, and I easily recognized Queen’s College. It is a noble Gothic building.
This is one of the three “godless” Colleges, established in Ireland by Queen Victoria early in her reign. They are called “godless” by the Irish because they have no specific religious instruction in their curriculum. The other Queen’s Colleges are located at Belfast and Cork.
We were now speeding over Lough Corrib, a large fresh-water lake, where there is excellent fishing. Mike is a keen fisherman and his teeth watered as I told him of Lough Corrib’s reputation amongst the disciples of Isaac Walton.
A few miles from Galway we turned west into the heart of the far-famed Connemara country. As we swept over this part of Ireland we could see why Connemara is so celebrated. It makes a splendid panorama. There are literally hundreds of little lakes, there is grand mountain scenery, there are the heather and peat lands in abundance.