Galway Race Week Accommodation

Galway Race Week accommodation should be booked as early as possible to obtain the hotel, apartment, house or bed and breakfast of your choice.

Since most racegoers prefer Galway Race Week accommodation that is within walking distance of the centre of Galway (where the real festival action takes place), hotels and guesthouses with convenient access to the following locations usually fill up first: Eyre Square, William Street, Shop Street, High Street, Quay Street, Eglinton Street, St Francis Street, Smith Street, Upper Abbeygate Street, Lower Abbeygate Street, Middle Street, Lower Dominick Street, and the Spanish Arch and Museum area.

'Galway Race Week Accommodation' is a phrase that crops up with increasing regularity in conversations throughout the country as the Galway Races approach. Regular Galway racegoers know from experience that it is important to book their accommodation well in advance of the Ballybrit racing festival, but there are always the newcomers who arrive in Galway at the last minute expecting to check in to their chosen hotel or B&B in the centre of the city at a moment's notice.

"For one group of incorrigible optimists, who have no accommodation booked, the hundreds of 'No Vacancies' signs around Galway have necessitated a frustrating odyssey through Salthill, Barna, Spiddal, Inveran and the distant outcrops of Connemara. "There's three of us sleeping under an upturned currach!" jokes the man with the pint. €39.99 for bed and breakfast. The woman said it was a special offer. Still, I wouldn't miss Galway for anything."
From 'Galway Races - Memories in the Making'

Ballad of Ruby Walsh

Ruby Walsh - Galway Races - Christy Moore

The Ballad of Ruby Walsh

When Christy Moore appeared with Pat Kenny on the Late Late Show, he added extra lyrics about the Irish banking scandal.

"There's Bethlehem and Cheltenham and Lourdes and Limerick Junction,
The trip to Medjagoria or the rub of the Extreme Unction.
Good people climb Croagh Patrick with serenity on their faces,
But Ruby saved me bacon below at the Galway Races.
Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.

They're under starters orders, Ted Walsh is commentating,
Oh Ruby's up on the favourite, she'll take some 'batin'.
Oh Necks are craned and eyes are strained there's fear upon the faces.
There's agony and ecstasy below at the Galway Races.
Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.

It's there you'll see gentility, sheep dressed up like mutton.
There's double barrelled names with more airs than old melodeons
The talk is all of tillage, of silage and conacre,
And there goes Tracy Piggott to the saddling enclosure.
Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.

Sir John Mucksavage-Smythe is there with Smurfits and O'Reillys,
The owners and the trainers, the stable boys and jockeys
With silk around their arses getting up on rich men's horses,
Not to mention wives and daughters and marriages and divorces.
Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.

There's Celtic helicopters and land bank speculators,
There's builders, developers, crocodiles and alligators.
They're flocking around the Galway tent like seagulls in a frenzy
Poor Beverley peels the spuds, poor Bertie skims the gravy.
Hey Ruby hold he back, give her the crack and up she'll go.

The little Micky Fingletons and the Seanie Fitzpatricks,
Oh them is the boys to run the bank, their wages are fantastic.
They're hedging their bets in doubles, trebles and accumulators,
And knowing the blinkers have gone on the financial regulators.
Hey Ruby hold her back give her the crack and up she'll go.

Oh Thursday it's the Ladies' Day and the women all look smashing,
They're lashing on the lipstick, Philip Treacy's all the fashion.
You can see the liposuction, botox and augmentation,
Brazilian crewcuts and colonic irrigation.
Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.

Then everyone's out to Salthill for the craic and for the porter.
There's bookies laying odds on two flies walking up the wall.
There's fiddles and trad, they're disco mad, karaoke and set dances,
And some of us who'd seen better days were looking to take our chances.
Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.

She's galloping down the back straight, Ruby has her in a canter.
Ah look at her lep the jumps, by God, she's like a ballet-dancer.
They're over the last, she hits the front, nothing's going to pass her.
It's 'Winner All Right', 'Up Kildare!', 'Follow Me Up To Carlow',
Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.
Hey Ruby Walsh hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.

There's Bethlehem and Cheltenham and Lourdes and Limerick Junction,
The trip to Medjagoria, the rub of the extremunction.
Good people climb Croagh Patrick with serenity on their faces,
But Ruby Walsh he saved me life below at the Galway Races.
Ruby hold her back, give her the craic and up she'll go.

They're under starters orders, Ted Walsh is commentating,
Ruby's up on the favourite, she'll take some 'batin'.
Necks are craned and eyes are strained, there's fear upon the faces.
There's agony and ecstasy below at the Galway Races.
Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.

It's there you'll see gentility and sheep dressed up like mutton.
There's double barrelled names with more airs than old melodeons.
The talk is all of tillage, of silage and conacre.
I fancy Tracy Piggot in the saddling enclosure.
Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.

Sir John Mucksavage-Smythe is there with Smurfits and O'Reillys,
The owners and the trainers, and the stable boys and jockeys
With silk around their arses getting up on rich men's horses
Not to mention wives and daughters and marriages and divorces.
Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the craic and up she'll go.

There's Celtic helicopters, land bank speculators,
Builders and developers, crocodiles and alligators.
Soldiers of Destiny, they're in a fevered frenzy.
Them boys would eat the Lamb Of God and come back for the gravy.
Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the craic and up she'll go.

Thursday is the Ladies' Day and the women all look smashing,
They're lashing on the lipstick, Philip Tracy's all the fashion.
You can see the liposuction, the botox and augmentation,
Brazilian haircuts, colonic irrigation.
Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the craic and up she'll go.

And everyone's out to Salthill for the craic and for the porter,
There's bookies making odds on two flies walking up the wall.
There's folk and trad and they're disco mad, karaoke and set dances,
While some of us who'd seen better days were looking to take our chances.
Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the craic and up she'll go.

They're galloping down the back straight, he has her in a canter,
Ah look at her lep the jumps, by God, she's like a ballet-dancer.
They're over the last, she hits the front, no other is going to pass her.
'Winner All Right', it's 'Up Kildare!', 'Follow me up to Carlow'.
Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the craic and up she'll go.
Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the craic and up she'll go. "

Visit Christy Moore's Website

Christy Moore - Ruby Walsh - Galway Races

Christy Moore's tribute to Ruby Walsh who 'saved me life' at the Galway Races.

There's Bethlehem and Cheltenham and Lourdes and Limerick Junction,
The trip to Medjagoria, the rub of the Extreme Unction.
Good people climb Croagh Patrick with serenity on their faces,
But Ruby Walsh he saved me life below at the Galway Races.
Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.

They're under starters orders, Ted Walsh is commentating,
Ruby's up on the favourite, she'll take some 'batin'.
Necks are craned and eyes are strained, there's fear upon the faces.
There's agony and ecstasy below at the Galway Races.
Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.

It's there you'll see gentility and sheep dressed up like mutton.
There's double barrelled names with more airs than old melodeons.
The talk is all of tillage, of silage and conacre.
I fancy Tracy Piggot in the saddling enclosure.
Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.

Sir John Mucksavage-Smythe is there with Smurfits and O'Reillys,
The owners and the trainers, and the stable boys and jockeys
With silk around their arses getting up on rich men's horses
Not to mention wives and daughters and marriages and divorces.
Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.

There's Celtic helicopters, land bank speculators,
Builders and developers, crocodiles and alligators.
Soldiers of Destiny, they're in a fevered frenzy.
Them boys would eat the Lamb Of God and come back for the gravy.
Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.

Thursday is the Ladies' Day and the women all look smashing,
They're lashing on the lipstick, Philip Treacy's all the fashion.
You can see the liposuction, the botox and augmentation,
Brazilian haircuts, colonic irrigation.
Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.

And everyone's out to Salthill for the crack and for the porter,
There's bookies making odds on two flies walking up the wall.
There's folk and trad and they're disco mad, karaoke and set dances,
While some of us who'd seen better days were looking to take our chances.
Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.

They're galloping down the back straight, he has her in a canter,
Ah look at her lep the jumps, by God, she's like a ballet-dancer.
They're over the last, she hits the front, no other is going to pass her.
'Winner All Right', it's 'Up Kildare!', 'Follow me up to Carlow'.
Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the craic and up she'll go.
Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.

Galway Races - Ladies Day

Ladies Day at Galway Races

Former Winner

Ladies Day at the Galway Races takes place on Thursday of the Summer Festival (Galway Hurdle Day).

In 2008, the Best Dressed Person competition, sponsored by Anthony Ryan Ltd of Shop Street Galway, had a prize for first place of €4,000 cash, €2,000 Anthony Ryan Ltd vouchers, a diamond necklace valued at €6,000 and a Louise Kennedy crystal vase.

Ladies Day at Galway Races 2009 will be taking place during the economic recession. Galway ladies will, we are sure, respond with their customary flair, imagination and resourcefulness to the credit crunch fashion challenge.

Let's hope that the prizes presented with characteristic generosity by Anthony Ryan Ltd will once again reward the ladies for their unstinting efforts.

Galway Races Tent

The Galway Races Tent

"Never glad confident morning again!"

'The Lost Leader' by Robert Browning

Shed a crocodile tear for the days of the Fianna Fail Tent at the Galway Races when Bertie Ahern was in his pomp and the Celtic Tiger was rampant.

Galway Races. New records year after year. Attendances up. Drink sales up. Betting turnover up. Traffic tailbacks. Car parks full. 'No Vacancies' in hotels or B&Bs. Full capacity grandstands. Helicopter rides for the hoi polloi. The 24/7 party in full strutting, stereophonic swing.

And inside the iconic Galway Races Tent, ruddy-faced builders with 46 inch waists crammed into 34 inch belts. Button-popping paunches in Desperate Dan trousers. Stratospheric bank loans. Concrete brains and feet of clay.

Money-brandishing crowds milling around the champagne and oyster bars. Johnny-come-lately racehorse syndicates thronging the parade ring, back-slapping 'their' trainers and pulling faces at the television cameras.

Paper millionaires, with mobile phones welded to their ears, cavorting like chimpanzees while old-money race-goers tutted their disapproval from afar.

"Why does one never see Aidan O'Brien, John Oxx or Kevin Prendergast at the Galway Races?" asks a tweed-jacketed bystander.

But what of Galway Races 2009?

The Fianna Fail Tent is gone. Cast into the abyss of history by Bertie's successor, Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

Unemployment is at unprecedented levels (326,000 and rising). Hundreds of companies in the private sector are closing down; thousands more are struggling to survive.

120,000 public sector workers protesting against pension levies. Emigration rocketing. Car sales plummeting. Property prices in freefall.

Thousands of shoppers speeding 'unpatriotically' to Newry to take advantage of 'real world' prices.

Racehorse trainers receiving cancellation calls from cash-strapped builders who had instructed them to purchase four-legged status symbols with swishing tails.

"Do you wanna buy a horse?"

The Galway Races Tent?
Yes, I remember it well.

Champion Hurdle Winners

Champion Hurdle Winners
1950-1979

Watch the great Champion Hurdle Winners: in action Monksfield, Night Nurse, Comedy Of Errors, Bula, and Persian War.

Experience once more the historic Cheltenham commentaries of the great Peter O'Sullivan.

Galway Races - RTE

Galway Races

Galway Plate 2007

Relive the excitement of the Galway Summer Festival of 2007. Watch Sir Frederick's Galway Plate success at Galway Races on RTE .