The cruise ship L’Austral leaving Galway Bay on a very sunny Sunday afternoon on May 15th. The Burren is in the background. At the end of the video, you can see the ship passing one of the martello towers at Finavarra, by the Flaggy Shore in Co. Clare. Those towers were built to repel French ships (albeit ships carrying Napoleon’s troops who might invade Ireland). Nowadays, ships from France, and indeed anywhere else are more than welcome. There is a proposal to build a marina big enough to allow cruise ships to dock directly in the harbour. Today, ships have to ferry their passengers to shore via smaller boats. Unfortunately, it seems every other coastal city in Ireland has a similar plan, and I doubt if there are enough cruise ships to go around to make all of the proposed ports cost-effective.Anyway, the passengers on the L’Austral picked a great weekend to visit Galway – calm sea in the bay, and non-stop sunshine.
A view of the cruise ship L’Austral, viewed from south Park near the Claddagh in Galway last Sunday morning.
The cruise ship L’Austral visited Galway over the weekend.