Last week's article covered the story of the Great Mace of Galway, which was presented to the town by Mayor Edward Eyre. We will continue with another important presentation that this man made to the town: Eyre Square. Eyre Square is the oldest public park in Galway and has a long and chequered history, one which not many parks in Ireland can boast of, or indeed equal.

Many people sit there today, enjoying the wonderful atmosphere of our modern multi-cultural town totally unaware of those who over the centuries have helped shape its history. Over the next few weeks, we will look at the events and people who played such a significant part in the Eyre Square story.

Eyre Square derives its name from the Eyre family who settled in Galway following the Cromwellian siege of the town between 1651 and 1652. This family became infused in Galway political life and also played an important role in the social issues of the day. In 1710, Edward Eyre was elected Mayor of Galway and, during his second term in office, he presented this area to the corporation as the town's first public park.

Edward's father, also named Edward, was a Cromwellian Officer who had acquired a number of properties in Galway in 1670. Among them was the area now known as Eyre Square, which he leased for 99 years at an annual rent of £3. One of the houses he acquired was the former home of Robert Martin Fitz-Jasper, located approximately on the site of the present day Hotel Meyrick (Great Southern Hotel). The open area in front of the newly acquired house became known as the 'Mayor's Garden' for a time.

Following his death in 1683, Edward's son inherited the properties. It was Thomas Simcockes, a member of the corporation, who first proposed to have the open area in front of 'Williams Gate' secured and free of any building development. He also wanted the area to be presented to the town and its people as a place of recreation. On 12 May 1712, Edward Eyre presented the 'Mayor's Garden' in front of his house to the corporation, thus Galway got its first official park. There are a number of memorials to the Eyre family in St Nicholas' Collegiate Church, where some of them were buried.

If we go back a few centuries prior to this period and look at the early Galway maps, there is nothing depicted in this area. Barnaby Gooche's 1583 map of Galway shows the area clear of buildings or indeed a park. Fitzwilliam's map of 1592 is similar, indicating a totally open area. The area is still vacant on John Speed's 1610 map. This map was used in an article three weeks ago, so one can refer to it contents. This is not unusual, as this area had always been reserved free of buildings, perhaps because it was almost unheard of during medieval times to have buildings constructed in front of city walls. There were a number of reasons for this; the main one being that buildings could provide cover for attacking armies and Galway was no stranger to the enemy at the gate.

We really have to wait for the famous pictorial map of 1651 to see the first signs of a park or 'green' as it was known. This map was completed just 41 years after Speed's map and shows the whole area developed, including a huge park area surrounded by trees and a fence. It also depicts much activity in the centre, with men on horseback involved in 'Jousting' or 'Tilting.' Other events included in such tournaments involved archery and swordsmanship, which young men were encouraged to pursue. There is a row of houses on the eastern side of the square, opposite the city walls shown on the map. Forster Street, Prospect Hill and Bohermore are all developed. There is also a circular area at the southern end of Eyre Square, which is believed to be the ruins of a Knights Templar convent. The Knights Templars were suppressed in 1312, which would indicate that this building was there, but not recorded on the earlier maps.