For those of you who don't know O Shakespeares, it's a coffee shop that opened on January 27th 1996 here in Galway and is a really cool place. It even had a wine licence and served wine throughout the day. I say had because it tragically closed a few months back. I now dedicate this page to all who worked in and frequented O' Shakespeares! It was more than just a coffee shop, it was a way of life. While their dinners and baps and everything were all gorgeous, I'll always love the place most for it's drinks. They had lovely coffee there, and arguably the best chocolate in town. Johnmc also claims that the tea kicked Martian Butt. He's also a major fan of what we referred to as 'thingy', their lovely potato cakes, hot with butter of course! The staff in there were the friendliest you'd find anywhere, and the atmosphere was always relaxed.

Many of the presenters from Flirt 105.6FM, the local college radio station were regulars there, as were many musicians and artists from around the city. I first 'discovered' it during rag week in my first week in UCG. We were doing an overnight radio show and had someone doing a couple of hours to give us a break so we headed off to find coffee, with a couple of shopping trolleys in tow for the purpose of general silliness! Some in the group ( I think it was Donal) suggested 'this new place, O Shakespeared', and we decided to give it a try. The rest, as the fella says, is history!
And I can't forget to give a mention to their Tea Garden, which became the Wine Garden when they got the wine licence, where you could sit out under the sun/rain/stars while enjoying your food. They had a cool Romeo and Juliet painting out there along with various other unusual bit's and pieces.
They used sometimes have exhibitions of work from local artists on their walls, until Bernie, the owner, opened up his own art gallery next door. Indeed it's still there, the Logan gallery in St. Anthony's Place in Galway, just off Eglinton St. He has exhibitions there constantly with the odd lunch-time poetry reading and the like thrown in for good measure. Check it out if you're in town.
Oh yeah, can't leave out the cool quotes that used to be on the wall. Stuff like....

Ah yes, I have many fond memories of that place, as I know do many others. Let us never forget a wonderful cafe,

O Shakespeares.


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