An artsy, Guinness-fuelled conglomeration of old stone cottages and seaside homes painted by the ceaseless Atlantic salt spray, Galway is every inch a city of the Emerald Isle. Between its ancient alleyways, folk bars ring to the squeak of fiddles, and St Paddies Day revellers stagger beside medieval mansions like Lynch's Castle, as well as through the marketplaces of Church Lane. On the promenades and pavements of Salthill, the words of O'Flaherty ring out from nearby windows, seabirds squawk in the icy breeze and students ebb and flow like the waters of the all-seeing River Corrib. The fact that this town one was once a bastion of the tribal Irish kings, and later a hot point of contest between the natives and English loyalists, is indelible in its modern makeup. The old Gaelic tongue is still spoken in the bakeries and brew houses, and history oozes from every crack and crevice of the town, inviting visitors to follow Galway tour guides through the rooms of the City Museum and the old relics of the ruling de Burgh family alike.