Galway
- This article is about the city in Ireland. For other uses of the name, see Galway (disambiguation).
Galway (Irish: Gaillimh) is the capital city of County Galway in Ireland. The city 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.
Galway is known as The City of the Tribes, because fourteen so-called tribes led the city to prominence early in its history. They were the merchant families of Athy, Blake, Bodkin, Browne, Darcy, Deane, Font, French, Joyce, Kirwin, Lynch, Martyn, Morris, Skerrett.
Access
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Cannons at Eyre Square, GalwayThe cannons were presented to the Connaught Rangers at the end of the Crimean War (1854-1856) in recognition of their military achievements.
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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, Limerick and Cork). National primary roads are usually well maintained roads, but are not motorway grade. The speed limit is 60 mph, except in built-up areas where the limit is normally 30 mph (Ireland, despite being a metric country defines speed limits in miles per hour; this is due to change before the end of 2004). 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 six 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
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Air
There are five flights daily from Galway Airport to Dublin, and two flights daily to London (Luton, England), as well as flights to Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester and Lorient. Also convenient to the city is Shannon International Airport (about 90 minutes drive from Galway) and Knock Airport (also about 90 minutes drive).
See also: Transportation in Ireland
Cultural Events
Annual events include the Galway Early Music Festival (May), the Galway Film Fleadh (July), the Galway Arts Festival (July), Galway Races (August), Galway International Oyster Festival (September) and the Baboró Galway International Arts Festival for Children (October)
Education
The city is the location of Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology and National University of Ireland, Galway two higher education institutions. The institute of technology has campuses in counties Galway and Mayo. The offices of the Central Applications Office are also located in the city, this is the clearing house for college and university applications in the republic.
History
Hardiman's History of Galway is considered to be the definitive history of Galway city and county. It was first published in 1820 and is now . It covers the history of the region from the earliest of times until the early 19th century.
The famous Claddagh ring comes from the Claddagh, a fishing village located just outside the old walls of the city.
