While I’m sleepless in Chicago, dawn arrives in Ireland. I can almost hear the birdsong:
© Joyce McGreevy

Audio Postcards from Galway

Travel articles emphasize the visual: the view from the room, the lay of the land, the unique color palette of a place.

Ireland is visually dazzling, but to appreciate its cultural heritage, you also need to listen.
© Joyce McGreevy

Longing to Listen In

My favorite example of the visual is a webcam overlooking a pedestrianized street in Galway, Ireland. The view is so intimate that, as a former resident, I’ve recognized friends among the passersby.

One night, knowing it was daytime in Ireland, I logged on. An unapologetic voyeur, homesick for my other country, I wondered what folks would think if they knew they were being watched over by some sentimental Chicagoan in rumpled pajamas.

A view of Quay Street, Galway, looking south.
© Conall Stafford

Nearby Mainguard Street, looking north.
© Talleri Adkins McRae

But webcams are mute. I longed to hear the everyday sounds of Shop Street:

Children zigzagging around amblers, leaving whoops and laughter in their wake:

Table talk in Galway gets a big assist from its organic, innovative cuisine.
© Joyce McGreevy

The indistinct murmurs of delight at Galway’s Kai Café and Restaurant:

Conversation at the Corrib, with O’Brien’s Bridge and the recently restored
medieval Bridge Mill buildings in the background.
© Conall Stafford

A River of Sounds

I recalled the rush and roar of the River Corrib, the eloquent plashing of salmon. And I remembered how the water whispered whenever a Galway swan would glide regally by.

Among Galway’s majestic mute swans, you may see—or more precisely, hear—one
or two Icelandic whooper swans.
© Conall Stafford

I wanted to hear again Yeats’ magnificent, locally inspired poem, “The Wild Swans at Coole.” Here it is, read by actor Maelíosa Stafford of Galway’s world-renowned Druid Theatre.

Founded in 1975, Druid Theatre helped make Galway one of the premier cultural centers in Ireland, and arguably, Europe.
© Talleri Adkins McRae

Places Have Voices

This got me thinking about ways we come to know places through our sense of hearing.

Oh, I see: Places have voices, and a country’s cultural heritage includes a symphony of its everyday sounds.

Some sounds are a given. Every day, as Aer Lingus  flights make landfall over Ireland, first-time visitors invariably exclaim three little words: “It’s so gree-ee-en!”

A Broad Spectrum of Voices

Other sounds may surprise you. Contrary to Lucky Charms stereotype, the Irish don’t all speak identically. An Irish ear would recognize highly differentiated speech reflective of the four provinces–Connacht, Munster, Ulster, Leinster—and often specific to a county, or even a neighborhood.

Hear the differences for yourself on a sound map, here.

Today’s Irish speech may also reflect one’s Brazilian, Filipino, Nigerian, Latvian, or other heritage. Galway’s population reflects more than 33 nationalities. As Irish President and Galway man Michael D. Higgins notes, “One of the great characteristics of Galway is that has been such a welcoming city–welcoming diversity and welcoming openness.”

Greetings from Galway Friends

I invited friends from Ireland to send audio postcards to OIC Moments:

Filmmaker Kamil Krolak sent a bouquet of audio for this article, including from Galway’s St. Patrick’s Day parade:

Ciana also triggered memories of gatherings where nobody stared at cell phones and everybody had stories to share. This tale of an ill-gotten typewriter, goes by faster than a Galway racehorse, but merits repeat listens:

In 2016, Children’s Book Ireland honored The Wordsmith as a finalist for CBI Book of the Year.
© Patricia Forde

The Voice of a Wordsmith

Speaking of stories, here’s Galway author Patricia Forde reading the opening lines of her acclaimed novel, The Wordsmith. Set in the future, it’s a story in which language, like the planet, is under threat, and only love and expression can save them both.

Minor and Major Chords

Yes, the sounds of any community comprise both minor and major chords. Yet Galway’s tapestry of sounds reveals a community keenly aware of, and consciously shaping its changing cultural heritage.

I leave you with a song by The Saw Doctors. It’s courtesy of Ollie Jennings, manager of this world-touring, locally-formed rock band. The title,  “N17,”  refers to a road that leads home to Galway.

The road much traveled, and rightfully so.

“Yes, I wish I was on that N17
(Stone walls and the grasses green)
Traveling with just my thoughts and dreams.”
© The Saw Doctors; photo © Joyce McGreevy

On June 11, Kamil Krolak will film the world’s biggest performance of the iconic song “Galway Girl.” Join the global audience here.

Read about Druid Theatre’s world tour, here.

Meet Ciana Campbell, Patricia Forde, The Saw Doctors, Brendan Smith, and Maeliosa Stafford.

Revel in the Galway Arts Festival, July 11-24, here.

“The Wild Swans at Coole,” by William Butler Yeats, is in the public domain.

Oh, and that Galway webcam? Have a look, here.