Galway City Bed and Breakfast Accommodation

Town and Country Homes are pleased to offer a selection of quality approved Bed and Breakfast accommodation in Galway City and Salthill, indeed in all of County Galway. Our B&B's are all approved and value for money accommodation providers. After a day exploring Galway City and Salthill, our B&B hosts can assure you of a warm welcome and a relaxing stay. Whether you wish to stay in a town or in the country, we have a Bed and Breakfast to suit you in Galway City and Salthill.

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Galway City, County Galway

Galway (Irish: Gaillimh) is the only city in the province of Connacht in Ireland. The city is located on the west coast of Ireland. In Irish, Galway is also called Cathair na Gaillimhe: "City of Galway".

The city takes its name from the Gaillimh river (River Corrib) that formed the western boundary of the earliest settlement, which was called Dún Bhun na Gaillimhe, or the fort at the bottom of the Gaillimh. The word Gaillimh means "stony" as in "stony river". The city also bears the nickname City of the Tribes / Cathair na dTreabh, because fourteen “Tribes” (merchant families) led the city in its Hiberno-Norman period. The term Tribes was originally a derogatory phrase from Cromwellian times. The merchants would have seen themselves as English nobility, and hence were loyal to the King. Their uncertain reaction to the siege of Galway by Cromwellian forces earned them this label, which they subsequently adopted in defiance. It is one of the constituent cities of the Cork-Limerick-Galway corridor with a population of 1 million people. The population of Galway city, as at the 2006 census, is 72,414. Galway is Ireland’s fastest growing city. What better way to relax after a day enjoying the sights and sounds of Galway than at a Town and Country Homes bed and breakfast.

Shop Street, Galway City

History

Dún Bhun na Gaillimhe (“Fort at the Mouth (bottom) of the Gaillimh”) was constructed in 1124, by the King of Connacht, Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair (1088-1156). A small settlement eventually grew up around this fort. During the Norman invasion of Connacht in the 1230s, Galway fort was captured by Richard Mor de Burgh, who had led this invasion. As the de Burghs eventually became gaelicised, the merchants of the town - the Tribes of Galway - pushed for greater control over the walled city. This led to them gaining complete control over the city and the granting of mayoral status by the English crown in December 1484. Galway endured difficult relations with its Irish neighbours. A notice over the west gate of the city, completed in 1562 by Mayor Thomas Oge Martyn fitz William, stated “From the Ferocious O'Flahertys may God protect us”.

During the Middle Ages, Galway was ruled by an oligarchy of fourteen merchant families (12 of Norman origin and 2 of Irish origin). These were the “tribes” of Galway. The city thrived on international trade. In the Middle Ages, it was the principal Irish port for trade with Spain and France. Christopher Columbus is known to have visited Galway, possibly stopping off on a voyage to Iceland or the Faroe Islands. He noted in the margin of one of his books that he had found evidence of land beyond the Atlantic Ocean in or near Galway in 1477. During the 16th and 17th centuries Galway remained loyal to the English crown for the most part, even during the Gaelic resurgence, perhaps for reasons of survival, yet by 1642 the city allied itself with the Catholic Confederation of Kilkenny during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. During the resulting Cromwellian conquest of Ireland Cromwellian forces captured the city after a nine month siege. At the end of the 17th century the city supported the Jacobites in the Williamite war in Ireland (it supported King James II of England against William of Orange) and was captured by the Williamites after a very short siege not long after the Battle of Aughrim in 1691. The great families of Galway were ruined, the city declined, and it did not fully recover until the great economic boom of the late twentieth century.

Culture and Heritage

Galway is nicknamed Ireland's Cultural Heart (Croí Cultúrtha na hÉireann) and is renowned for its vibrant lifestyle and numerous festivals, celebrations and events. In 2004, there were three dance organisations, ten festival companies, two film organisations, two Irish language organisations, 23 musical organisations, twelve theatre companies, two visual arts groups and four writers' groups based in the city. Furthermore, there were 51 venues for events; most of which were specialised for a certain field (e.g. concert venues or visual arts galleries), though ten were described as being 'multiple event' venues. Major squares in the city include Eyre Square, in the centre of the city; and Spanish Parade, next to the Spanish Arch.

Galway city has a reputation amongst 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 all other cities in the Republic of Ireland, the vast bulk of the city's inhabitants converse mostly in English. The city is well known for its ‘Irishness’, mainly due to the fact that it has on its doorstep the Galway Gaeltacht. Irish theatre, television and radio production and Irish music form a component of Galway city life, with both An Taibhdhearc, the National Irish Language Theatre, in Galway city centre, while TG4 and RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta headquarters are in the Connemara Gaeltacht in County Galway. Four electoral divisions, or neighbourhoods (out of twenty-two), are designated as Gaeltachtaí.

Architecture
 
Galway Cathedral, opened in 1965 and is probably the finest medieval town house in Ireland, Lynch's Castle is in Shop Street; it is now a branch of the Allied Irish Bank. The Church of Ireland St. Nicholas' Collegiate Church is the largest remaining medieval church still in use in Ireland. It was founded in 1320 and enlarged in the following two centuries. It is a particularly pleasant building in the heart of the old city. Its Roman Catholic counterpart, the Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St Nicholas, which was consecrated in 1965, is a far larger, more imposing building constructed from limestone. It has an eclectic style, with renaissance dome, pillars and round arches, and a Romanesque portico that dominates the main facade — an unusual feature in modern Irish church building. It was suggested by a church in the city of Salamanca in Spain. Another of the city's more dominant limestone buildings is the Hotel Meyrick which dates from 1845.  Sitting at the southern perimeter of Eyre Square, it is the City's oldest hotel still in operation. Not far from the cathedral stands the original quadrangle building of National University of Ireland, Galway which was erected in 1849 (during An Gorta Mór, the Great Hunger) as one of the three colleges of the Queen's University of Ireland (along with Queen's University Belfast and University College Cork). The university holds the UNESCO archive of spoken material for the Celtic languages.

Music

Galway has a vibrant and varied musical scene. As in most Irish cities traditional music is popular and is kept alive in pubs and by street performers. Well known bands from Galway include The Saw Doctors (from Tuam), The Stunning and many other bands in a wide variety of genres. The city holds an annual music festival which started in 1996. The "Early Music Festival" has been incorporating European Music from the 12th-18th century. It encourages not only music, but dance and costumes. The festival invites both professional and amateurs musicians.The Galway Arts Festival (Féile Ealaíon na Gaillimhe) takes place in July. It was first held in 1978 and since then has grown into one of the biggest arts festivals in Ireland. It attracts international artists as well as providing a platform for local and national performers. The festival features parades, street performances and plays, musical concerts and comedy acts. Highlights of the festival tend to be performances by Macnas and Druid, two local performance groups.

Education

Two higher education institutions are located in the city, the National University of Ireland, Galway and the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology. The Institute of Technology, in addition to having 2 campuses in Galway City (its administrative headquarters on the Dublin Road and its art campus in Cluain Mhuire), also has campuses in Castlebar, Mountbellew and Letterfrack. The offices of the Central Applications Office are also located in the city, this is the clearing house for undergraduate college and university applications in the Republic of Ireland; a related organisation, the Postgraduate Applications Centre processes some taught postgraduate courses. In 2002, there were 27 primary schools and 11 secondary schools in Galway.

Galway Bay

Galway Bay is the most central port on the West Coast of Ireland in the sheltered eastern corner of Galway Bay. The harbour can be used by vessels up to 10,000 metric tons of deadweight (DWT) and the inner dock can accommodate up to 9 vessels at any one time. Pending approval, Galway Harbour may see major changes, should the €1.5 billion development plan go ahead. With Rossaveal and Doolin, it is one of the gateways to the Oileáin Árann. Commuter ferry services have been proposed to the commuter town of Kinvara, on the opposite side of Galway Bay. Town and Country Homes are pleased to offer a selection of quality Bed and Breakfast accommodation in the Galway Bay area.

Airports

Galway Airport (6 kilometres east of the city) has scheduled services connecting Galway to the other major airports in Ireland, to major airports in Britain and also has flights to a small amount of continental European destinations.

Aerfort na Minna (22 kilometres west of the city) operates reqular flights to each of the Aran Islands (Oileáin Árann).

Shannon Airport (90 kilometres) and Ireland West Airport Knock (86 kilometres) are also within easy reach of the city, both of which have frequent flights around Ireland and to Britain, Europe and North America.

Choose from a wide selection of B&B's near Galway City and indeed close to Galway Airport, Shannon Airport and Aerfort na Minna. We have B&B accommodation available near all the major airports of Ireland.

Buses

There are two companies providing bus services throughout the city - Bus Éireann and Galway City Direct. Bus Éireann operate eight City bus services throughout the city proper, seventeen Local/Rural/Commuter services throughout the county and twelve Expressway bus services throughout the country from Galway city. Galway City Direct operate four bus routes throughout the city. Many other private bus operators provide links throughout County Galway and nationwide.

Waterways

The River Corrib is by far the most important waterway in Galway and a number of canals and channels were built above and through the city. The purposes of these to divert and control the water from the river, to harness its power and to provide a navigable route to the sea. Of these, there were two major schemes - one between 1848 and 1858 and the other during the 1950s. The canals provided a power source for Galway and were the location of the first industries in the mid-19th century. The Eglinton Canal provided a navigation from the sea (at the Claddagh Basin) to the navigable part of the river (above the Salmon Weir Bridge). Most of the mills are still used today for various purposes; for instance, NUIG still uses a water turbine for electricity generation for their building on Nun's Island. Currently, there are four bridges across the Corrib: the William O'Brien Bridge, the Salmon Weir Bridge, the Wolfe Tone Bridge and the Quincentennial Bridge. There are plans for a fifth bridge as part of the Galway City Outer Bypass project.

Railway

Galway's main railway (and bus) station is Ceannt Station, which opened on 1 August 1851 and which is about to get a major redevelopment, complete with a completely new urban district - Ceannt Station Quarter. The remains of Galway to Clifden Railway line bridge at Galway City over the River CorribThe Midland Great Western Railway (MGW) reached Galway in 1851, giving the city a direct main line to its Broadstone Station terminus in Dublin.

As the 19th century progressed the rail network in Connacht was expanded, making Galway an important railhead. The nearby town of Athenry became a railway junction, giving Galway links to Limerick and the south in 1869 and Sligo and the north in 1894. In 1895 the MGW opened a branch line between Galway and Clifden. The 20th century brought increasing road competition, and this led the Great Southern Railway to close the Clifden branch in 1935. Its former junction is still visible from Ceannt Station's platforms. Galway station was renamed Ceannt in 1966. In the 1970s Córas Iompair Éireann closed the Sligo-Ennis line to passenger services, and it has since closed to freight as well. Iarnród Éireann, the Republic of Ireland's national rail operator, runs six return passenger services each day between Dublin, Galway and intermediate stations. Travel time is just under 3 hours to Dublin Heuston.

The distance by rail between Galway and Dublin is 208 km. Galway is due to get suburban rail by 2008, with regular commuter services to Athenry, and in 2009, a new stop will be included at Oranmore.

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 Town, Limerick and Cork). The M4 motorway connects Dublin to Kinnegad and the M6 motorway connects Kinnegad to Athlone; work on extending the M6 motorway to Galway is underway. By 2015, the Galway-Dublin (by 2010), Galway-Limerick and Galway-Tuam routes will be motorway or high-quality dual-carriageway standard.

In addition, there are plans for a semi-ring road of the city, the Galway City Outer Bypass, which should also be complete by 2015. There is also an Inner City Ring (Cuar Inmheánach) route that encircles the city centre, most of which is pedestrianised.

Galway is considered the gateway to Connemara and the Gaeltacht. The N59 along the western shore of Lough Corrib and the R337 along the northern shore of Galway Bay both lead to this wild and romantic region.

Bus travel to the city from all major towns and airports is serviced by many private operators and the national bus company Bus Éireann. Galway City and Salthill are home to a selection of quality approved bed and breakfasts. Book a B&B in Galway City or Salthill online for best rates and availability.

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