Galway City

Galway grew from a small settlement at the mouth of the Corrib into a walled Anglo-Norman trading town. It became known as the City of the Tribes, after the fourteen merchant families who dominated its affairs for centuries, and its merchants traded with Spanish ships that called at its quays. St Nicholas' Collegiate Church was founded in 1320, and the medieval townhouse of Lynch's Castle still stands on Shop Street.

The Spanish Arch, beside the river, is one of the last surviving sections of the old city walls, named after the Spanish ships that traded there. The nearby Claddagh, a former fishing community, gave its name to the famous Claddagh ring. Galway Cathedral, completed in 1965 on the site of the former city jail, is described by Fáilte Ireland as the youngest of Europe's stone cathedrals. In recent times Galway has been recognised as a UNESCO City of Film and shared the title of European Capital of Culture in 2020.

Galway is a young, creative city with a large student population, and live music, street theatre and storytelling are part of daily life. Connemara's Irish-speaking areas lie just to the west, and Irish is part of the city's cultural life. In July the Galway International Arts Festival fills the streets, followed by the Galway Races in August, and sea swimming at Salthill's Blackrock Diving Tower is a local ritual in all seasons.