pop (2000e) 183 000; area 5939 km²/2293 sq mi. County in Connacht province, W Ireland; largest Gaelic-speaking population in Ireland; farming, tourism, crafts; capital, Galway, pop (2000e) 52 000; port at head of Galway Bay; airfield, university (1849); technical college.
Galway (official Irish name: Gaillimh) is the main city in the province of Connacht in Ireland and capital of County Galway. In Irish, Galway is also called Cathair na Gaillimhe ("City of Galway"). The city also bears the nickname The City of the Tribes, because fourteen "Tribes" (merchant families) led the city in its Hiberno-Norman period.
The population of the city was 71,983 at the most recent census in April 2006, making it the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, after Dublin and Cork, not using county boundaries to measure population as they are not a true measure of a greater urban area. Galway city is the only one in Ireland where the greater urban area lies within its city boundary and therefore appears to be larger than other cities where the greater urban area lies in two or more local authority areas. A bye-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 merchant families (12 of Norman origin and 2 of Irish origin). Galway remained mostly loyal to the English crown during the Gaelic resurgence as a matter of survival, yet by 1642 the city allied itself with the Catholic Confederation of Kilkenny during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The great families of Galway were ruined, the city declined, and it did not fully recover until the great economic boom of the late twentieth century.
Climate
Climate Table| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average daily maximum temperature (°C) | 7 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 12.6 | |
| Average daily minimum temperature (°C) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | |
| Mean total rainfall (mm) | 120 | 80 | 100 | 60 | 80 | 70 | 60 | 100 | 100 | 130 | 120 | 120 | 1140 | |
| Source: Yahoo! Weather | ||||||||||||||
Politics
City Council
Services such as rubbish collection, recycling, traffic control, parks and housing are controlled by a fifteen member city council elected to five year terms by proportional representation, the next such election is due in June 2009.
Galway Chamber
Galway City, Capital of the West of Ireland, is now the fourth largest City (County Borough area) in the Republic of Ireland after Dublin, Cork and Limerick. Galway City has a strong local economy with complementary business sectors, including manufacturing industry, tourism, retail and distribution, education, healthcare and services that include financial, construction, cultural, and professional.
Mayoralty
The City Council is chaired by a mayor who elected to a one year term by their fellow councillors.
Deputies
Galway City is part of the Galway West constituency of Dáil Éireann. Senator Margaret Cox (Fianna Fáil) also maintains her political base in Galway city. In the General Election of 2002, Galway West was considered a 'swing constituency' due to the battle between Fianna Fáil's Senator Margaret Cox and the Progressive Democrats' Noel Grealish.
Culture
Irish Language and Culture
Galway city is unique among Irish cities because of the strength of its Irish language, music, song and dancing traditions - it is often referred to as the 'Bilingual Capital of Ireland'. The city is well known for its ‘Irishness’, and mainly due to the fact that it has on its doorstep the Galway Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking area). The language is visible on the city streets, with bilingual signage on display on shops and road signs, and can be heard by locals around the city. Irish theatre, TV production and Irish music are an integral part of Galway city life, with both An Taibhdhearc, the National Irish Language Theatre, and TG4 headquarters in Galway. Not far from the cathedral stands the original quadrangle building of National University of Ireland, Galway which was erected in 1849 (during An Gorta Mór, the Great Famine) as one of the three queen's colleges along with Queen's University Belfast and University College Cork.
Events
Annual events include the Celtic start of Spring festival Fleadh Imboilg (start of February), the Cúirt International Festival of Literature (April), the Galway Early Music Festival (May), the Galway Sessions traditional Irish music festival, the Salthill Air Show (June), the Galway Film Fleadh (July), the Project06 (July), which runs along the Galway Arts Festival (July), Galway Races horse racing festival (start of August), Galway Gay Pride Festival (end of August), Galway International Oyster Festival (September),the Galway Jazz Festival (October), the Baboró Galway International Arts Festival for Children (October) and the Tulca visual arts festival (November).
Theatre
The city has a permanent Irish language theatre, Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe, which has produced some of Ireland's most celebrated actors.
Education
Two higher education institutions are located in the city, the National University of Ireland, Galway and the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology.
Other
The Claddagh Ring is associated with the Claddagh, a fishing village located just outside the old walls of the Galway city.
Infrastructure
Airport
Aer Arann provide five flights daily from Galway Airport to Dublin, and two flights daily to London (Luton, England), as well as flights to Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds Bradford International Airport, Cardiff and Lorient. Also convenient to the city is Shannon International Airport (about 90 minutes drive from Galway) and Ireland West Airport Knock (also about 90 minutes drive).
Railway
The Midland Great Western Railway (MGW) reached Galway in 1851, giving the city a direct main line to its Broadstone terminus in Dublin.
As the 19th century progressed the rail network in Connacht was expanded, making Galway an important railhead.
Iarnród Éireann, the Republic of Ireland's national rail operator, runs six return passenger services each day between Dublin, Galway and intermediate stations.
The distance by rail between Galway and Dublin is 208 km.
Road
Three national primary roads serve the city: the N17 from the North (Tuam, Sligo, Donegal), the N6 from the East (Athlone, Dublin), and the N18 from the South (Shannon Town, Limerick and Cork).
Galway is considered the gateway to Connemara and the Gaeltacht.
Galway Harbour
Galway is the most central port on the West Coast of Ireland in the sheltered eastern corner of Galway Bay. Galway also has an Association Football (Soccer) team, Galway United in the League of Ireland; These clubs include:
Galway Rowing Club Coláiste Iognáid ('The Jes') Rowing Club St. Joseph's College ('The Bish') Rowing Club NUIG Rowing Club Tribesmen Rowing ClubNearby Salthill has a swimming club Galway swimming club, founded in 1930 it is Irelands leading swimming club in recent years with hundreds of members and an excellent reputation. Moycullen, a nearby village, is home to Galways top Basketball club -They compete in the National League Division One.
Media
Galway can receive all the national radio stations and television stations, as well as cable and satellite services. The main regional newspaper in the city and county is the Connacht Tribune which prints three titles every week - the Sentinel (city paper) on Tuesday, the Connacht Tribune (county paper) on Thursday and the Galway City Tribune (city paper) on Friday. The Connacht Tribune recently completed the purchase of Galway Bay FM and is now the sole owner of the radio station. The city also has two freesheet newspapers, the Galway Independent, which prints on a Tuesday night in County Meath for circulation on Wednesday, and the Galway Advertiser , which prints on a Wednesday night in Dublin for Thursday circulation. In addition to these, Galway Bay FM broadcasts from the city to the whole county of Galway. Another radio station is Flirt FM, which is a student radio station for the National University of Ireland, Galway and Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology . The cable channel City Channel, which was originally based in Dublin, has recently launched a version of the channel for Galway.
Sister Cities
Galway has five sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):
Seattle, Washington, US St. Louis, Missouri, US Chicago, Illinois, US Cambridge, Massachusetts, US Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US
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