04 Jan History of Galway
Galway is truly worth a visit on any Ireland tours and is one of our favorite places !!!
Galway was first recorded in 1124 when a fort was built there.
However the town was founded in the 13th when in 1232 a baron named Richard de Burgh took this area and created a town.
After 1270 walls were built around Galway.
In 1396 Galway was granted a charter (a document granting the townspeople certain rights).
Galway was then made a royal borough.
In 1484 it gained a mayor. By then Galway probably had a population of around 3 ,000.
For centuries Galway was dominated by 14 families known as the tribes of Galway. The mayor and the leading citizens usually came from these 14 families. They were the Athy, Blake, Bodkin, Browne, Darcy, Deane, French, Font, Joyce, Kirwan, Lynch, Martin, Morris and Skerrett families. Have you a relative ?
In the Middle Ages Galway was an important port. The main import was wine while xports included wool , skins and leather.
But without doubt the leading citizens of Galway were definitely English in their manners and customs.
However in the 14th and 15th centuries the English kings gradually lost control of Ireland except for Dublin and the surrounding Pale. However to a large extent Galway was an island of ‘Englishness’.
Any tours of Ireland should visit Galway….Ireland Luxury Tours are specialists in planning such trips…….
