This brings me to Galway’s most famous food asset: the oyster. Oysters have been a part of the food culture of the west of Ireland for thousands of years. They are sown into the blood of its citizens. Large midden beds (ancient dumps) demonstrate our love of the oyster.
Every September they are celebrated in the Galway Oyster Festival, which is the oldest continuing oyster festival in the world. The festival marks the new season of the native oyster: a briney, succulent beauty that embodies our rugged terrain. Kelly’s Oysters are world famous and they are not to be missed when visiting Galway; they are best enjoyed with a pint of stout. However, one should not forget the other amazing oyster companies, namely Dooncastle and Flaggy Shore, both of which produce fantastic Pacific oysters. This breed of oyster arrived in the 1960s and has taken well to the waters of Galway Bay. You can find it all year round—as opposed to the native oyster, which is only available from September to April— as Pacific oysters breed during the summer months.