This house is located in Salthill, a gorgeous seaside village with sandy beaches and a long promenade. The beach is within Galway Bay, and enjoys safe and tranquil waters which are a delight to swim in. The promenade is a hub for strolling, with all Galwegians promenading along at some stage during their week, day or night, as it is as lively and bright in the evening as it is during the day.

The house is about a three minute walk from the sea, so we sometimes go down in our swim suits, with robes on, but there are also changing rooms on the beach. The beach is a delight for all ages. There is the iconic Blackrock diving board, with several levels available to dive into deep water, while there are also lots of rock pools in which to explore the minute creatures which live there. People swim throughout the day and throughout the year.

Salthill is a village, with its own distinct personality. The village has an appealing range of cafes and restaurants, including coffee shops with sea views, pubs and wine bars, gourmet restaurants, two hotels, and ice-creams and hot chocolates on the promenade. Leisureland is an entertainment complex which has a huge indoor pool with water slides, and an outdoor funfair, while there is also an aquarium in Salthill. Music can be found in the pubs. There is also a wide range of shops, from food to pharmacy to florist. The principal stadium of the GAA (the Gaelic Athletic Association – the organisation of the national sports of Ireland, hurling and Gaelic football) for County Galway is in Salthill, very close to the house, namely Pearse Stadium, where a match might be attended on some Sundays. There is also the Championship standard 18-hole Parkland Galway Golf Club located just 5 minutes from our house.

Salthill has gradually become linked to Galway City through centuries of development. It is possible to stroll from Salthill into the city, but there are also many buses available on the route. Galway is the most delightful city in Ireland, so small that it only feels like a small town, but immensely proud of its city status. There are two universities in the city, and the most celebrated arts and film festivals in the country, so culture seeps through the pores of the city. It is a place of great fun and freedom, with an incredible night life, with endless songs in endless pubs, arthouse cinema, theatres and galleries and a museum. A huge diversity of cultural interests can be satisfied in Galway. It also boasts of incredible food, particularly local seafood, to be eaten casually in pubs or in the sophistication of Michelin starred restaurants.

The Irish language has a special place in Galway, with a Gaeltacht area, Connemara, where people speak Irish as their first language, just a few kilometres away from Salthill. Very beautiful driving trips begin at the gate of the Salthill house, as you explore the coastal route out to Connemara; as you drive inland through County Galway (films such as “the Quiet Man”, “The Field” and “The Banshees of Inishireen” show off the area well); as you drive south to the beauties of County Clare and the Cliffs of Moher, or as you explore further away within the small island that is Ireland. Day trips to the three Aran Islands, Gaeltacht islands just off the coast of Galway, are available by boat or plane, for an opportunity to hear Irish being spoken and spend a day cycling or riding in a pony and trap.