And I ask you friend, what's a fella to do, 'cause her hair was black and her eyes were blue

’Well I took a stroll on the old long walk, of a day-I-ay-I-ay

I met a little girl and we stopped to talk of a fine soft day-I-ay’

I had a few days holiday in Ireland last week. After spending a day or two in Dublin and doing what you do in Dublin…go to Temple Bar, drink a pint of Guinness, meet Sir Bob Geldof in the street, act like a bit of a heathen and drink Bud Ice ‘cause you prefer it to Guinness, have a stroll down O’Connell Street and visit THE GPO, wander over the Liffey and up through Grafton Street, not meet Gabe Byrne, listen to live music in any bar you wish to choose and head home slightly worse for wear

The main purpose of the trip however was to visit Galway during their annual Arts Festival and we headed down there on the Sunday. Dublin to Galway by road is now under 2 hours and I thoroughly recommend a visit at any time of year

I had previously visited Galway with my late father and had happy memories of walking along the front out towards Salthill and my dad lying on the grass for one of his famous ‘five minute naps’ which usually lasted about an hour whilst I had to assure passers-by that he was only sleeping and not dead

“And I ask you friend, what’s a fella to do

‘Cause her hair was black and her eyes were blue”

The weather in Galway was much the same as it has been in the West of Scotland all summer but the rain did not dampen the spirits of the participants or the spectators of the spectacular Festival Street Parade. We abandoned our nice cosy table in our nice warm restaurant to stand in the p…ing rain alongside what seemed like most of the inhabitants of Galway. It was well worth it. The sights and sounds and smells of the parade made everyone forget the damp weather conditions. They even had people whose jobs it was to lift up utility cables which hung across the street. This was done with giant poles (that’s long sticks not people from Poland) which allowed the taller Parade characters to pass by unscathed. I think I may apply for that job next year

We tried to grab a late drink in the wonderful Quays Pub but there were more people in there than at an Ayr United home game, and they were all a lot happier than they would have been at an Ayr United home game. . We had to make do with a beer back at the hotel. The use of the hotel swimming pool the next morning was looking less and less likely.

“And I knew right there I’d be takin’ a whirl ‘round the Salthill Prom with ……….”

The next day we took a wander through the city and visited the Cathedral. Now I am not a religious man but when you are inside buildings of this nature it does cause you to pause for a moment and wonder if you should cover your bases just in case.

One or two more drinks may have been imbibed during the course of the day and in the evening we had booked to see a play in Nun’s Island Theatre which is definitely not twinned with The Albert Hall. It probably only holds about 60-80 people and was full which produced an intimate atmosphere. We were sitting in the front row less than six feet from the stage so mobile phones were checked and rechecked to ensure there were no embarrassing moments

The play was called ‘Frank Pig Says Hello’ and was based on the novel ‘The Butcher Boy’ which I have to confess I had never heard of. It was superb and the performance of the main character who was on stage virtually the whole time was breathtaking.

“We were halfway there when the rain came down, of a day-I-ay –I ay

 And she asked me up to her flat downtown”

After the play we were obviously in need of refreshments and beat a path to Monroes where we ordered pizza from next door and listened to the live band. When the opening chords to the wonderful ‘Whisky In The Jar’ came on even I nearly made it to the dance floor. Fortunately more drink arrived and I refrained. More traditional Irish music followed and our hosts for the week , my former brother-in-law and his Irish girlfriend, showed us how it was done. I can now cross Riverdance off my list of shows that I don’t want to see that I have never seen. This footage was captured on our phones and may prove useful at a later date

“So I took her hand and I gave her a twirl and I lost my heart……..”

On our last day in Galway we still managed to fit in a lunchtime Stand-Up Show at The King’s Head before we headed back to Dublin. We took a more picturesque route heading east and passed through Athlone where the impressive River Shannon was looking resplendent

 “ When I woke up I was all alone, with a broken heart and a ticket home…………."

I have been to a few places in the world that I really love like New York, San Francisco, Paris, Sunderland and Rome but I think Galway is up there with the best of them and I hope it’s not too long before I am back there again

If by any chance my hosts read this I would like to thank them again for their hospitality. Great craic, great drink, great food, great company, great entertainment, great drink, great scenery. It was all great!

  " I’ve travelled around, I’ve been all over this world, Boys I aint seen nothin’ like a Galway Girl”