Spiddal, (Irish: An Spideal), is a village on the shore of Galway Bay in County Galway in Ireland. The town is 19 km (12 miles) west of Galway city on the R336 road. Spiddal is located on the edge of the Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking district), west of the city of Galway, and is a tourist centre with a sandy beach and shore fishing. Thousands of tourists visit the area every year, most of them being from France or Germany.
It is served by Bus Éireann route 424 from Galway City.
Every summer groups of teenagers come to Spiddal for 13 week Irish language (Gaelic) courses. Signposts are in the Irish language exclusively, as elsewhere in the Gaeltacht, but unlike the rest of Ireland where bilingual Irish-English signs are the norm. English is slowly creeping into the town, however Irish remains the community language and plently of Irish is still to be heard in public daily. Since the town is so close to Galway city it has inherited many people from the city and this has led to a reduction in the use of the Irish language. Another reason for the reduction is the fact that the local people themselves have stopped speaking the language. The TG4 soap Ros na Rún is set in Spiddal. Well-known people to come from Spiddal include Seán Ó Neachtain MEP, Gráinne Seoige and Síle Seoige.The town has 2 shops (one with a petrol station), and 4 restaurants (including a Supermac's franchise outlet). There are also a
number of pubs in the town. On most weekend nights and
sometimes during the week in summer time there is live
traditional Irish music in the pubs. Hughes' pub in the centre
of the village hosts traditional music sessions where famous
musicians sometimes play. The pub An Crúiscín Lán was another music venue but it was recently transformed into a hotel by John Foyer.
The Boluisce, named after a local lake, is another popular pub-restaurant for seafood. Once a year, Spiddal welcomes 25 American students spending a semester abroad at the nearby Park Lodge Hotel. The students, from the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University in Collegeville Township, Minnesota, spend the autumn months studying Gaelic literature and culture.