Visit Galway Places

Welcome to Visit Galway Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Galway

  

Galway Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Galway

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Galway history

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Built on the site of an earlier settlement, Dún Gaillimhe was completed in 1124, by the King of Connacht and High King of Ireland Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair. During the Middle Ages, Galway was ruled by an oligarchy of 14 merchant families (twelve who claimed to be of Norman origin and two of Irish origin). These were the “Tribes of Galway”. The city thrived on international trade, and in the Middle ages, it was the principal Irish port for trade with Spain and France.

Galway culture & places

Galway is known as Ireland’s Cultural Heart (Croí Cultúrtha na hÉireann) and is known for its vibrant lifestyle and numerous festivals, celebrations and events. Every November, Galway hosts the Tulca Festival of Visual Arts as well as numerous festivals. A 2008 poll ranked Galway as the 42nd best tourist destination in the world, or 14th in Europe and 2nd in Ireland.

The arts

Galway was granted designation as a Unesco “City of Film” Galway is home to the Galway Film Fleadh, Ireland’s foremost film festival, which takes place over six days each July. Walter Macken, Eilís Dillon, Máirtín Ó Direáin, Liam O’Flaherty and Ken Bruen are well-known writers in both English and Irish with a connection to Galway.

Music

Galway Early Music Festival presents European music from the 12th to the 18th century. Galway Cathedral Recitals is an international series of concerts of classical music. A number of notable choirs are based in the city, including Tribal Chamber Choir. Traditional and contemporary music can be heard at numerous locations around the city.

Irish language

Galway City has a reputation among Irish cities for being associated with the Irish language, music, song and dancing traditions. It is sometimes referred to as the ‘Bilingual Capital of Ireland’, although like elsewhere in the Republic of Ireland, inhabitants converse mostly in English. The city is well known for its “Irishness”, mainly because it has the Galway Gaeltacht.

Events and festivals

Galway hosted a session of European Youth Parliament in 2019. Many sporting, music, arts and other events take place in the city. In June 2010, the Super8 Shots film festival was launched in Galway, the first Super 8 mm film festival to occur in Ireland.

Religion

The Roman Catholic diocese of Galway was created in 1831 following the abolition by the Holy See of the Wardenship of the Galway. The current bishop is Most Rev. Martin Drennan, installed 3 July 2005. The patron saint of the city since the 14th century has been St Nicholas of Myra.

Sport

Galway has a diverse sporting heritage, with a history in sports ranging from horse racing, Gaelic games, soccer and rugby to rowing, basketball, motorsport, greyhound racing and others. The Galway Races are known worldwide and are the highlight of the Irish horse racing calendar. Over the years it has grown into an annual festival lasting seven days. Both hurling and football are strong in Galway city. Pearse Stadium in Salthill is the home to Galway GAA, the county’s Gaelic games body. The Galway hurlers compete annually in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship for the Liam MacCarthy Cup. Despite having won the cup only five times in their history, Galway is considered as one of the top teams in the Championship. Galway reached the 2012 All-Ireland final only to draw with Kilkenny to force a replay, the first since 1959, which they eventually lost. In 2017 Galway lifted the Liam MacCarthy Cup for the first time in 29 years beating Waterford by 0-26 to 2-17. The footballers compete annually in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship for the Sam Maguire Cup. The Gaelic footballers have won the cup nine times with the most recent being in 2001. Galway United FC is based in the city and plays in the League of Ireland Premier Division. The team plays its home games at Eamonn Deacy Park. The club was formed in 2013 and first competed in the 2014 season. The previous tenants of Eamonn Deacy Park, also called Galway United, first competed in the League of Ireland since 1977, then known as Galway Rovers. Michael D. Higgins, later elected President of Ireland in 2011, served as a president of the club in a ceremonial capacity. Following struggles with debts, the club became defunct at the end of the 2011 season. The Galway United Supporters Trust (GUST) had been servicing many debts of the company and were able to keep the club afloat for the 2011 season, with it having been effectively abandoned by its directors. GUST withdrew their support for the team and applied to join the 2012 League of Ireland as a community enterprise, rather than as a private company, which the old club had been. This application was not successful, however. Galway F.C. was formed the following year from a merger of GUST with Mervue United and Salthill Devon, two other clubs in the city, who had competed in the First Division since 2009 and 2010 respectively. The professional team for the province, Connacht Rugby, is based in the city. The team play their home matches at the Galway Sportsgrounds which is the current provincial Rugby Stadium. The team participate in the Pro14 League competition, and in season 2015–2016 won their first ever Championship by defeating reigning Champions Glasgow Warriors in the Semi-final and then beating four times champions Leinster Rugby in the Grand Final on 28 May 2016 played at Murrayfield Stadium. The team participated in European Rugby Champions Cup 2016/2017. There are two senior amateur rugby union teams in Galway, Galwegians RFC and Galway Corinthians RFC, who play in the All-Ireland League. There are also two junior clubs, OLBC RFC & NUIG RFC who both participate in the Connacht Junior League. “Barna Knocknacarra Rugby Club” (or Na Bairneachaí), established in 2007, offers “mini rugby” for children at levels U8 to U12. Nearby Salthill has a 25m competitive swimming pool in the Leisureland complex and three competitive swimming clubs (i) Shark Swimming Club, (ii) Laser Swimming Club and (iii) Galway Swimming Club train there. There is also a handball and racketball club while there are several martial arts clubs throughout the city. There is a 25m pool at NUI, Galway as well as one at Renmore’s KingFisher Club. Sailing is common and rowing on the River Corrib is undertaken by seven rowing clubs. These provide related facilities and organise rowing competitions. These clubs include: Gráinne Mhaol Rowing Club, Tribesmen Rowing Club, Galway Rowing Club, Coláiste Iognáid (‘The Jes’) Rowing Club, St. Joseph’s Patrician College (‘The Bish’) Rowing Club, NUIG Boat Club and Cumann Rámhaiochta Choláiste na Coiribe. In 2009 Galway hosted a stopover on the Volvo Ocean Race and the city was finishing point of the round-the-world competition in July 2012. Near the city centre, on College Road, the Sportsground has greyhound races every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. It was refurbished by the Irish Greyhound Board, Bord na gCon, and the facility is shared with the Connacht rugby team.

Galway geography / climate

Climate

Galway has an oceanic climate (Cfb) according to the Köppen climate classification, being one of the world’s mildest cities for latitude. The city receives an average of 1,156 mm (45.51 in) of precipitation annually, which is evenly distributed throughout the year. The highest temperature ever recorded in Galway was 31.7 °C (89.1 °F) in July 1921.

You can visit Galway places with Walkfo Galway to hear history at Galway’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Galway has 46 places to visit in our interactive Galway map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Galway, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Galway places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Galway & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 46 audio facts unique to Galway places in an interactive Galway map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Galway Places Map
46 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

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Galway historic spots	Galway tourist destinations	Galway plaques	Galway geographic features
Walkfo Galway tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Galway

  

Best Galway places to visit

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Galway has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Galway’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Galway’s information audio spots:

Sieges of Galway The city of Galway was built as a naval base and military fort by Tairrdelbach mac Ruaidri Ua Conchobair in 1124. It was refounded as a military outpost and town by Richard Mor de Burgh in 1230. It has been subjected to a number of battles, sacks and sieges.

Ceannt Station Quarter The Ceannt Station Quarter (Irish: Ceathrú Staisiún Cheannt) is a proposed urban quarter for the city of Galway, County Galway. The new district had been proposed to be built around the city’s rail station. The project was “abandoned” in 2012.

St. Nicholas Collegiate Church The Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas is a medieval church building in Galway, Ireland. It was founded in 1320 and dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Myra, the patron saint of seafarers. The monumental work of Irish genealogy, the Leabhar na nGenealach was produced in 1650.

Spanish Arch The Spanish Arch and the Caoċ Arch are two remaining arches on the Ceann an Bhalla (“Front Wall”) in Galway city, Ireland. The Spanish Arches are located in Spanish Arch (Irish: An Póirse) and the Caoċ Arches in Caoĉ, “blind arch”

Monument to Christopher Columbus (Galway) Monument to Christopher Columbus is a monument in Galway, Ireland. It was erected in 1992 to commemorate Christopher Columbus’s visit to the city in 1477. It stands next to the Spanish Arch.

Siege of Galway The siege of Galway took place from August 1651 to 12 May 1652 during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. Galway was the last city held by Irish Catholic forces in Ireland.

Nun’s Island Distillery Nun’s Island Distillery operated in Galway, Ireland, from at least 1815, and possibly as early as the late 1700s. At its peak in the late 1800s, output at the distillery reached 400,000 gallons per annum. The distillery was one of the largest local employers in Connacht.

126 Artist-run Gallery 126 Artist-run Gallery is an artist-run space located in Galway City, Ireland. It was founded in 2005 and “has built an international reputation for ambitious programming”

Galway (barony) The barony is coterminous with the former County of the Town of Galway, a county corporate created by the town’s 1610 charter. Galway (Irish: Gaillimh) is a barony in Ireland, comprising Galway city and surrounding parts of County Galway.

Galway Technical Institute The Galway Technical Institute is a third level educational facility located on Father Griffin Road, Claddagh, Galway, Ireland. It provides a number of courses which are recognised and accredited by the FETAC.

Visit Galway plaques