Last summer, I moved to Salthill in Galway, on the Western coast of Ireland, and am blessed to live a minute away from the Atlantic Ocean. It has been quite the change, having lived all my life in landlocked areas in Kilkenny City and Rathmines in Dublin. (Allegedly, according to Joyce, there is a beach in Dublin but I have yet to personally verify this rumour.) Singing “Star of the Sea” in the heart of Kilkenny City does not have quite the same power as when the sea is literally metres away.
Beside Salthill is the old fishing village called the Claddagh. Although mostly absorbed into the bland banality of suburbia now, it was once a thriving fishing village. In the Dominican Church, St. Mary’s on the Hill, in the Claddagh, there is a statue to Our Lady of Galway as the residents of the Claddagh held a strong devotion to Our Lady, praying she would ensure that their fishermen would safely return from the daily catch.
