Experience the magic of old Galway brought to life this Saturday with a day of festivities at the Galway Medieval Experience.
This event from Galway 2020’s Small Towns Big Ideas includes a display of medieval combat, a demonstration of how scribes created stunning manuscripts, an augmented reality show that will really bring the past to life, and of course all the music that comes with any good day in Galway.
The enthusiastic folks from the Irish School of Historical Combat will be putting on a display of medieval field warfare in the courtyard of the city museum from 11am to 4pm.
Wearing medieval dress and modern sparring equipment they will give a unique combat display of fighting techniques and battlefield melees using specialist weapon combinations and talks on their uses.
Inside the museum archaeologist Anne Carey will lead the Be a Medieval Scribe workshop from 10:30am to 11:30am telling the story of the earliest monasteries in Ireland.
She will talk about how the monks lived and created the beautiful manuscripts that led to Ireland being called the Land of Saints and Scholars.
Modern technology will bring the past to life before your eyes with a display of augmented reality at the Hall of the Red Earl from 11am to 4pm where people will get to see what this ancient building looked like in its original state.
The Medieval Experience is being organised by Galway Civic Trust in partnership with the Galway Early Music Festival, an annual celebration of medieval, renaissance and baroque music in the city known for its love of good tunes.
Throughout the day, the streets of the Latin Quarter will be filled with music from shawms, pipes, recorders, harp, lute, and brass.
The music starts in the Hall of the Red Earl, Druid Lane and winds its way through the streets of the Latin Quarter.
Musicians taking part include include The York Waits, Michelle O’Conor (vielle, rebec), Jacopo Bisagni (pipes), Sylvia Crawford (fiddle), Brenda Malloy (harp).
There is more to be seen at the medieval experience including an exhibit on instrument makers, a medieval dance workshop, and a look at a day in the life of someone living in Galway back then.
A full list of all the events taking place on Saturday is available from the Galway Civic Trust website here.
