The Galway girl remains something special. She stands out for her independence and her style. The Galway girl doesn’t follow fashion – she sets it. Any street in the city will deliver evidence of how the young women put together a look that is attractive and distinctive and right across the county, from Athenry to Kinvara, and from Portumna to Tuam to Clifden, they know that appearance gives out a signal about personality, so they add little touches, little quirky twists to the high street look, and they achieve something original and pleasing. The Galway girl has never been, nor is ever going to be a slave to fashion or listen to what other people tell her to do. The Galway girl has a mind of her own and a look of her own.

Think of Maureen O’Hara, giving back to John Wayne just as good as she gets, and better, in the iconic film The Quiet Man, much of which was shot in Co Galway. That red-haired, white-skinned style is another look that you find among the women of the west. You’ll see Galway girls with thrilling flame-coloured tresses and a fine sprinkle of freckles across a white skin that would make any Hollywood star envious.

If you haven’t yet been convinced, then all you have to do is travel to that county on the far shores of Europe and see for yourself what the girls of Galway are really like. Passionate and proud, beautiful and daring, independent and light-hearted, they might just steal your heart away.