Facts on Ireland and the Irish Galway
Galway is one of the twenty-six counties in the Republic of Ireland.
It is in the province of Connacht.
It has an area of approximately 2,374 sq miles.
It has a population of approximately 232,000.
It is the second largest county in Ireland.
The Irish name for Galway is Gaillimh meaning a stony place or stony river.
The county town of Galway is Galway City.
Galway has the largest Irish speaking district, Connemara, in Ireland.
The Connemara Bus is a 1949 Bedford bus that takes tourists from Galway City on a tour of Connemara.
It is the oldest operating bus in Ireland.
Claddagh, from which the Claddagh ring gets its name, is located outside Galway City.
The design on a Claddagh ring is not Irish.
It is North African.
A Galway Hooker is a traditional boat used in Galway.
The cannons at Galway City Hall were presented to the Connaught Rangers at the end of the Crimean War.
Benbaun, in the Twelve Pins, is the highest point in Galway, at 2,392 feet.
The Aran Islands are located at the mouth of Galway Bay.
Galway’s trading links with Spain from the late 14th century are commemorated in the city’s Spanish Arch and Spanish Parade.
Galway was once ruled by fourteen families of Anglo-Norman descent known as Tribes.
A Tribe described a merchant family and was derogatory.
Galway is therefore known as the City of the Tribes.
The novelist Walter Macken was from Galway.
James Joyce’s wife, Nora Barnacle lived in Galway as a young girl.
Lough Corrib, which divides Galway in half, is the second largest lake in Ireland.
Logh Corrib is drained by the River Corrib.
The River Corrib is the shortest river in Europe.
It is 4 miles long.
Ireland's first canal was constructed in Galway.
It linked Lough Corrib to the sea.
On 15 June, 1919 British aviators John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown landed in Clifden, Co. Galway after making the first non-stop transatlantic flight.
They had flown from Newfoundland and took 15 hours and 57 minutes to make the journey.
Galway is bordered by five counties.
These are Clare, Mayo, Offaly, Roscommon, and Tipperary.
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