The Galway Hooker

The theme for National Heritage Week 2025 (16–24 August) is ‘Exploring Our Foundations’. To celebrate Heritage Week, Museum staff have prepared a special tour that begins with the origins of Galway – from Gaelic fort to Anglo-Norman town – and then focuses on an iconic object that reveals a story that has helped to shape the city’s unique character.

Galway Hookers, with their distinctive black hulls and rust-red sails, are the traditional boat of Galway Bay. They were traditionally used for fishing and for transporting cargo – turf, seaweed, limestone, livestock, and general supplies – and people around the coasts of Galway and North Clare. The ‘fountain’ in Eyre Square represents the sails of a Galway Hooker. Join us to learn more.

This event is free of charge, but advance booking is required. For further details or to make a booking, please email museum@galwaycity.ie or call (091) 532460.

Suitable for adults and young people aged 10+