Sea Breeze Lodge B&B ****
Overlooking beautiful Galway Bay !
9 Cashelmara, Salthill, Galway, Ireland.
Tel: 00 353 91 529581
Galway (Irish: Gaillimh) is the fastest growing and the fourth largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the only city in the province of Connacht in Ireland. The city is located on the west coast of Ireland. In Irish, Galway is also called Cathair na Gaillimhe: City of Galway.
The city takes its name from the Gaillimh river (River Corrib) that formed the western boundary of the earliest settlement, which was called Dun Bhun na Gaillimhe, or the fort at the bottom of the Gaillimh. The word Gaillimh means stony as in stony river. (the mythical and alternative derivations are given in History of Galway.) The city also bears the nickname City of the Tribes / Cathair na dTreabh, because fourteen Tribes (merchant families) led the city in its Hiberno-Norman period. The term Tribes was originally a derogatory phrase from Cromwellian times. The merchants would have seen themselves as English nobility, and hence were loyal to the King. Their uncertain reaction to the siege of Galway by Cromwellian forces earned them this label, which they subsequently adopted in defiance.
The population of Galway city, given in the 2009 census, is 78,414.
Dun Bhun na Gaillimhe (Fort at the Mouth (bottom) of the Gaillimh) was constructed in 1124, by the King of Connacht, Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair (1088-1156). A small settlement eventually grew up around this fort. During the Norman invasion of Connacht in the 1230s, Galway fort was captured by Richard Mor de Burgh, who had led this invasion. As the de Burghs eventually became gaelicised, the merchants of the town - the Tribes of Galway - pushed for greater control over the walled city. This led to them gaining complete control over the city and the granting of mayoral status by the English crown in December 1484. Galway endured difficult relations with its Irish neighbours. A notice over the west gate of the city, completed in 1562 by Mayor Thomas Oge Martyn, stated From the Ferocious O'Flahertys may God protect us. A by-law forbade the native Irish (as opposed to Galway s Hiberno-Norman citizens) unrestricted access into Galway, saying neither O nor Mac shall strutte nor swagger through the streets of Galway without permission. During the Middle Ages, Galway was ruled by an oligarchy of fourteen[1] merchant families (12 of Norman origin and 2 of Irish origin). These were the tribes of Galway. The city thrived on international trade. In the Middle Ages, it was the principal Irish port for trade with Spain and France. Christopher Columbus is known to have visited Galway, possibly stopping off on a voyage to Iceland or the Faroe Islands. He noted in the margin of one of his books that he had found evidence of land beyond the Atlantic Ocean in or near Galway in 1477. The most famous reminder of those days is ceann an balla (the head of the wall), now known as the Spanish Arch, constructed during the mayoralty of Wylliam Martin (1519-20). During the 16th and 17th centuries Galway remained loyal to the English crown for the most part, even during the Gaelic resurgence, perhaps for reasons of survival, yet by 1642 the city allied itself with the Catholic Confederation of Kilkenny during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. During the resulting Cromwellian conquest of Ireland Cromwellian forces captured the city after a nine month siege. At the end of the 17th century the city supported the Jacobites in the Williamite war in Ireland (it supported King James II of England against William of Orange) and was captured by the Williamites after a very short siege not long after the Battle of Aughrim in 1691. The great families of Galway were ruined, the city declined, and despite enjoying short-term economic revivals in the 18th and 19th centuries, it did not fully recover until the great economic boom of the late twentieth century.
Galway Ireland.
Galway, Ireland.
History of Galway:
Galway, Ireland.
Demographics
The population of Galway City and its environs is 72,729 (based on the 2006 census carried out by the CSO), of which 72,414 live in the city limits and 315 live in the city's environs in County Galway. If the current growth rate continues, the population of the city will hit 100,000 by 2020.
Galway City (that is, the population inside the city limits) is the third largest in the Republic of Ireland, or fifth on the island of Ireland. However, the population of the wider urban area, is fourth largest in the Republic of Ireland (sixth on the island) after Dublin, (Belfast,) Cork, Limerick (and Derry). Shop Street, the city's main thoroughfare.
The population of Galway are largely white Irish, descended from native Gaelic peoples and Norman settlers. In recent years Galway has attracted a sizeable immigrant community, largely from Poland and other Central European and Baltic States such as Latvia and Lithuania, as well as a smaller number of African immigrants.
At the time of the 2002 Census, 16.3% of the population were aged 0 to 14; 75.5% were aged 15 to 64, and 8.2% were aged 65 and above. Also, 52.9% of the population were female and 47.1% were male. The part of the city with the highest population density was the Claddagh (5,756 people per km2), and the area with the lowest density was Ballybrit (823 people per km2)
Back to: