Galway
Galway (/ˈɡɔːlweɪ/ GAWL-way; Irish: Gaillimh, pronounced [ˈɡal̠ʲɪvʲ]) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the fifth most populous city on the island of Ireland and the fourth most populous in the Republic of Ireland, with a population at the 2022 census of 85,910.[2]
This article is about the city in Ireland. For other uses, see Galway (disambiguation).
Located near an earlier settlement, Galway grew around a fortification built by the King of Connacht in 1124. A municipal charter in 1484 allowed citizens of the by then walled city to form a council and mayoralty. Controlled largely by a group of merchant families, the Tribes of Galway, the city grew into a trading port. Following a period of decline, as of the 21st century, Galway is a tourist destination known for festivals and events including the Galway International Arts Festival.[3]
In 2018, Galway was named the European Region of Gastronomy.[4] The city was the European Capital of Culture for 2020, alongside Rijeka, Croatia.
Name[edit]
The city's name comes from the Irish name Gaillimh, which formed the western boundary of the earliest settlement, Dún Gaillimhe "Fort Gaillimh".[5] (Mythical and alternative derivations of the name are given in History of Galway). Historically, the name was anglicised as Galliv or Gallive,[6] closer to the Irish pronunciation. The city's name in Latin is Galvia. Residents of the city are referred to as Galwegians.
The city also bears the nickname "City of the Tribes" (Irish: Cathair na dTreabh) because of the fourteen merchant families called the "tribes of Galway"[7] who led the city in its Hiberno-Norman period.
Demographics[edit]
The 2022 census indicated that Galway city had a population of 85,910, an increase of over 10,000 from the 2011 census figures.
As of 2009, approximately 80% of the population of Galway were Irish. Following an influx of immigrants to Galway during the 2000s, approximately 20% of the population is non-Irish.[30] Slightly more than half of this group (11.3%) are white Europeans, coming from Poland and other Central European and Baltic States, such as Latvia and Lithuania. Smaller numbers of Asian and African immigrants come from East Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. In the 2006 census, 15.4% of the population were aged 0–14, 76.1% were aged 15–64, and 8.5% were aged over 65. 51.9% of the population were female and 48.1% were male.[31]
As of the 2016 census, the population of the city and suburbs were 70.8% white Irish, 14.68% other white, 3.08% black/black Irish, 3.07% Asian/Asian Irish, 2.2% other, with 4% not stating an ethnicity.[32] By the 2022 census, 64.3% of respondents identified as white Irish, 12.98% other white, 2.8% black/black Irish, 4.7% Asian/Asian Irish, 2.7% other, with 10.3% not stating an ethnicity.[33]
In 2016, there were 16,844 families in Galway City. As of the 2022 census, 17,245 families were reported, an increase of over 2% from 2016. The average number of children per family in the city was 1.10, lower than the national average of 1.34.[34]
Industry[edit]
Galway Textile Printers, located on Sandy Road, was the first major industry to come to Galway and quickly became one of the biggest employers in the west of Ireland. Some of those who worked there were specialists who were brought in to help set the factory up, but most employees were local. The Mills eventually went out of business in the early 1980s and its former site now hosts various small business establishments.[97][98] Celtrak is an IT and Electronic Engineering company, founded in 2000.
