County Galway
County Galway is on the west coast of Ireland, historically in the province of Connacht. It has great scenery in the Connemara peninsula, along the shores of Galway Bay and out in the Aran Islands.| Tap on a place to explore it |
Photo: Meep, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Essential Destinations
Top destinations include Galway and Tuam.
Galway
Photo: Massimo Telò, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Galway is the county town of County Galway on the west coast of Ireland. It's Ireland's fourth largest city, with a population in 2024 of 85,000, but its historic centre on the east bank of the River Corrib is compact.
Tuam
Photo: AFBorchert, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Tuam is a town in County Galway, whose religious heritage is the main reason to visit. Tuam means tumulus or burial mound and there was a Bronze Age settlement here, but it was from the 6th century that the town grew as an ecclesiastical centre under St Jarlath.
Athenry
Photo: Imehling, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Athenry is a market town in County Galway with medieval town walls, castle and abbey. In Irish it's Baile Átha an Rí, town of the ford of the king. Those kings were the Ó Mainnín dynasty, ousted in the 12th century by supporters of the O'Connor kings, who in turn were ousted in the 13th century by the Anglo-Norman de Bermingham overlords.
Destinations to Discover
Explore places such as Aran Islands and Spiddal.
Aran Islands
Photo: Massimo Telò, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The Aran Islands are three islands in County Galway in the west of Ireland. They have stark treeless scenery of barren limestone which makes the green of their fields and heathland shine all the brighter.
Spiddal
Photo: O’Dea, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Spiddal is a village on the north coast of Galway Bay in Connemara, County Galway. With a population of 254 in 2022, it's not so much the largest, more like the least tiny, of the little settlements that straggle along R336, all described on this page.
Clifden
Photo: Bert Kaufmann, Public domain.
Clifden is a small town on the northwest coast of County Galway in the west of Ireland. It grew up as a harbour and market town, then after the Famine became a coast resort with its present Victorian architecture.
Portumna
Portumna is a village in County Galway at the north end of Lough Derg. With a population of 1700 in 2022, it's best known for its fine castle and gardens.
Oughterard
Photo: Trish Steel, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Oughterard is a small town in County Galway, on the shores of Lough Corrib 26 km northwest of Galway city. It's on the edge of the Connemara hills and has accommodation and other visitor amenities; it's a commuter town for the city and its own population in 2022 was 1800.
Inishbofin Island
Photo: Man77, Public domain.
Inishbofin Island is an island 8 km off the coast of Connemara in County Galway. It's some 5.5 km long by 3 km wide and has a population of 184. It's low-lying and treeless, with heathland sprayed by the sea.
Carraroe
Photo: Carraroe1, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Carraroe is a tiny village which is nevertheless the largest settlement on the Carraroe / Cheathrú Rua Peninsula of Connemara in County Galway. Just across the channel east is the harbour of Rossaveel, while across the channel west are a chain of islands that have become connected by causeway, linking Lettermore, Lettermullan and Furnish.
Omey Island
Photo: Markbriggs, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Omey is a tidal Island in Connemara off the coast of County Galway in the west of Ireland. It has a few summer cottages but no permanent residents. From the mainland it's inconspicuous and almost hidden: you could drive along the coast road and not even spot it in the panorama.
Letterfrack
Photo: Chalky Lives, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Letterfrack is a village on the coast of Connemara in County Galway, with a population of about 200. In Irish Leitir means a rock-strewn hillside and fraic means speckled, referring to the bright quartzite rocks.
Leenane
Photo: El Comandante, Public domain.
Leenane or Leenaun is a village on the south shore of Killary fjord in County Galway, with a population of about 200. That fjord is the county boundary: the north shore and the little settlements of Aaleagh and Clog lie in County Mayo, but it's convenient to describe them here.
County Galway
- Type: county of Ireland with 276,000 residents
- Description: county in Ireland
- Also known as: “Co Galway”, “Co. Gallway”, “Co. Galway”, “Contae na Gaillimhe”, “County Gallway”, “County Galway, Ireland”, “Gallway”, “Gallway Co.”, “Gallway County”, “Galway”, “Galway Co.”, and “Galway County”
- Neighbors: County Clare, County Mayo, County Offaly, and County Roscommon
- Location: Connacht, West Ireland, Ireland, Britain and Ireland, Europe
- View on OpenStreetMap
This page is based on GeoNames, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikivoyage.
We’d love your help improving our open data sources. Thank you for contributing.
Satellite Map
Discover County Galway from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
In Other Languages
From Arabic to Wu Chinese—“County Galway” goes by many names.
- Arabic: “غالواي”
- Arabic: “مقاطعة غالواي”
- Arabic: “مقاطعه جلوي”
- Armenian: “Գոլուեյ”
- Asturian: “Condáu de Galway”
- Asturian: “Contae na Gaillimhe”
- Balinese: “County Galway”
- Basque: “Galway konderria”
- Basque: “Galwayko konderri”
- Basque: “Galwayko konderria”
- Belarusian: “Contae na Gaillimhe”
- Belarusian: “Голуэй (графства)”
- Belarusian: “Голуэй”
- Belarusian: “графства Голуэй”
- Bengali: “কাউন্টি গলওয়ে”
- Breton: “Contae na Gaillimhe”
- Breton: “Kontelezh Gaillimh”
- Bulgarian: “Contae na Gaillimhe”
- Bulgarian: “Голуей”
- Catalan: “comtat de Galway”
- Catalan: “Comtat de Galway”
- Catalan: “Contae na Gaillimhe”
- Cebuano: “County Galway”
- Chinese: “Galway Kūn”
- Chinese: “戈尔韦郡”
- Chinese: “戈爾韋郡”
- Chinese: “高威郡”
- Chinese: “高維郡”
- Chinese: “高维郡”
- Czech: “County Galway”
- Czech: “Galway”
- Czech: “Hrabství Galway”
- Danish: “County Galway”
- Danish: “Galway county”
- Dutch: “County Galway”
- Esperanto: “Contae na Gaillimhe”
- Esperanto: “County Galway”
- Esperanto: “Graflando Galway”
- Estonian: “Galway krahvkond”
- Finnish: “Galwayn kreivikunta”
- French: “comté de Galway”
- French: “Comté de Galway”
- French: “Contae na Gaillimhe”
- French: “County Galway”
- Galician: “Condado de Galway”
- Georgian: “გოლუეის საგრაფო”
- German: “County Galway”
- Greek: “Γκόλγουεϊ”
- Greek: “κομητεία Γκόλγουεϊ”
- Gujarati: “કાઉન્ટી ગેલવે”
- Hebrew: “מחוז גולוויי”
- Hindi: “काउंटी गॉलवे”
- Hungarian: “Gaillimh megye”
- Hungarian: “Galway megye”
- Icelandic: “County Galway”
- Indonesian: “County Galway”
- Interlingue: “Comtia Galway”
- Irish: “Co. na Gaillimhe”
- Irish: “Contae na Gaillimhe”
- Irish: “Gaillimh”
- Italian: “contea di Galway”
- Italian: “Contea di Galway”
- Italian: “County Galway”
- Japanese: “カウンティ・ゴルウェイ”
- Japanese: “ゴールウェー県”
- Japanese: “ゴールウェイ県”
- Kannada: “ಕೌಂಟಿ ಗಾಲ್ವೇ”
- Korean: “골웨이주”
- Kurdish: “County Galway”
- Latin: “Comitatus Gallivensis”
- Latin: “Contae na Gaillimhe”
- Latvian: “Golvejas grāfiste”
- Lithuanian: “Golvėjaus grafystė”
- Macedonian: “Голвеј”
- Malay: “County Galway”
- Malay: “Kaunti Galway”
- Manx: “Coontae Ghalliu”
- Manx: “Coontae ny Galliu”
- Marathi: “काउंटी गॅलवे”
- Min Nan Chinese: “Galway Kūn”
- Northern Frisian: “Galway (Graafskap)”
- Northern Frisian: “Galway”
- Norwegian Bokmål: “County Galway”
- Norwegian Bokmål: “County of Galway”
- Norwegian Bokmål: “Galway”
- Norwegian Nynorsk: “Contae na Gaillimhe”
- Norwegian Nynorsk: “County Galway”
- Norwegian: “Galway”
- Occitan (post 1500): “Comtat de Galway”
- Old English (ca. 450-1100): “Galwægscīr”
- Ossetian: “Голуэй (графад)”
- Ossetian: “Голуэй”
- Persian: “شهرستان گالوی”
- Polish: “Galway”
- Portuguese: “Condado de Galway”
- Romanian: “Comitatul Galway”
- Romanian: “Galway”
- Romanian: “Judeţul Galway”
- Romanian: “Județul Galway”
- Russian: “Голуэй”
- Russian: “Графство Голуэй”
- Scots: “Coontie Galway”
- Scots: “Coonty Galway”
- Scottish Gaelic: “Contae na Gaillimhe”
- Scottish Gaelic: “Contae na Gailmhinn”
- Serbian: “Golvej”
- Serbian: “Голвеј”
- Serbo-Croatian: “County Galway”
- Serbo-Croatian: “Galway”
- Serbo-Croatian: “Golvej”
- Sinhala: “ගල්වේ ප්රාන්තය”
- Slovak: “Galway”
- Slovenian: “County Galway”
- Slovenian: “Grofija Galway”
- Slovenian: “Okrožje Galway”
- Spanish: “Condado de Galway”
- Spanish: “Contae na Gaillimhe”
- Spanish: “County Galway”
- Swahili: “Wilaya ya Galway”
- Swedish: “County Galway”
- Swedish: “Galway”
- Tajik: “Vilojati Goluej”
- Tajik: “Вилояти Голуэй”
- Tajik: “Вилояти Горлуэй”
- Tamil: “கவுண்டி கால்வே”
- Telugu: “కౌంటీ గాల్వే”
- Thai: “เทศมณฑลกอลเวย์”
- Thai: “เมืองหลวงกัลเวย์”
- Turkish: “Co Galway”
- Turkish: “Co na Gaillimhe”
- Turkish: “Co. Galway”
- Turkish: “Co. na Gaillimhe”
- Turkish: “Contae na Gaillimhe”
- Turkish: “Gaillimh ilçesi”
- Turkish: “Gaillimh”
- Turkish: “Galway Co.”
- Turkish: “Galway County”
- Turkish: “Galway ilçesi”
- Turkish: “Galway Kontluğu”
- Turkish: “IE-G”
- Ukrainian: “Голвей”
- Ukrainian: “Ґолвей”
- Ukrainian: “Голуей”
- Urdu: “کاؤنٹی گالوے”
- Vietnamese: “Hạt Galway”
- Welsh: “Contae na Gaillimhe”
- Welsh: “County Galway”
- Welsh: “Swydd Gaillimh”
- Western Panjabi: “گالوے”
- Wu Chinese: “戈尔韦郡”
- “County Galway”
West Ireland: Must-Visit Destinations
Delve into Castlebar, Achill Island, Roscommon, and Westport.
Explore These Curated Destinations
Discover places selected for their distinct character and enduring appeal.
About Mapcarta. Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, except for photos, directions, and the map. Description text is based on the Wikivoyage page “County Galway”. Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.