Encyclopedia > Galway

Article Content

Galway

Cannons at Eyre Square, Galway. The cannons were presented to the Connaught Rangers at the end of the Crimean War (1854-1856) in recognition of their military achievements.

Galway is the regional capital of County Galway in Ireland. It is located on the west coast of Ireland on the north-eastern corner of Galway Bay (53.28°N 9.06°W). The Corrib river runs through the city.

The city is also known as The City of the Tribes, because fourteen tribes were said to have led the city to prominence early in its history.

The famous Claddagh ring comes from the Claddagh, a fishing village located just outside the old walls of the city.

Table of contents

1 Population

2 Access

2.1 Road
2.2 Rail
2.3 Air

3 Cultural Events

4 History

5 External links

Population

The population of the city now stands at over 65,000, and the population of County Galway (excluding the city) is about 143,000 Source: Census 2002 [1] (http://www.cso.ie/census/about.htm))

Access

Road

Three national primary roads service the city: N17 to the North (Tuam, Sligo, Donegal), N6 to the East (Athlone, Dublin), and N18 to the South (Shannon, Limerick and Cork). National primary roads are usually well maintained roads, but are not motorway grade. The speed limit is 60 miles/hour, except in towns where the limit is normally 30 mph (Ireland, despite being a metric country defines speed limits in miles/hour). It is expected that motorways will link Galway to the other major cities sometime between 2010 and 2020.

Travel time to Dublin is about 4 hours. Travel time to Shannon Airport : 90 minutes. Travel time to Limerick: 2 hours.

Rail

There are five return rail services to/from Dublin each day. The service also stops at Athenry, Ballinasloe, Athlone, Tullamore, Kildare. Travel time is about 3 hours. The rail service is run by Irish Rail [2] (http://www.irishrail.ie/).

Air

There are five flights daily from Galway Airport to Dublin, and two flights daily to London (Luton, England). Also convenient to the city is Shannon International Airport (about 90 minutes drive from Galway) and Knock Airport[?] (also about 90 minutes drive).