St Nicholas’ Collegiate church is a Medieval Protestant church right in the centre of Galway. It’s dedicated to St. Nicholas of Myra, the patron saint of seafarers and also children (i.e. good old Father Christmas!). Founded in 1320, Christopher Columbus allegedly visited Galway and worshipped in the church in 1477. It’s the largest medieval parish church in Ireland in continuous use as a place of worship
One notable feature of the exterior of the building is that there are only 3 clocks on the 4 sides of the belfry – there isn’t one on the south side. Local legend has it that the this was because most of the people living on that side of town were Catholics. The Catholics then coined the saying that the Protestants “couldn’t even give them the time of day.”
Inside it’s a fairly typical Gothic church with pointed arches
Ogees
and stained glass in the windows
A couple of fonts
And statues decapitated and mutilated by Cromwell’s troops.
Down by the Dougie 