A Timeline of Galway

By Tim Lambert

1232 Richard de Burgh creates a town at Galway

1296 Franciscan friars arrive in Galway

1320 The Church of St Nicholas is built

1396 Galway is made a royal borough

1473 Galway suffers a fire

1484 Galway gains a mayor. Galway has a population of about 3,000.

1488 Dominican friars arrive in Galway

1500 Galway suffers another fire

1505 The main streets of Galway are paved

1508 Augustinian friars arrive in Galway

1543 St Bridget’s Hospital is built. Sweating sickness strikes Galway.

1545 Galway is given another charter

1579 Galway gets another charter

1584 The Spanish Arch is built

c 1600 Lynch’s Castle is built

1610 Galway is made a county in its own right

1649 Plague strikes Galway

1652 The English capture Galway

1800 The population of Galway peaks at about 5,000

1812 Galway Court House is built

1818 Salmon Weir Bridge is built

1849 Queens College opens

1850 The railway reaches Galway

1934 A statue of Padraic O’Conaire is erected

1950 The population of Galway reaches 21,000

1963 President Kennedy visits Galway

1965 The Roman Catholic Cathedral is built

1977 Galway City Museum opens

1984 The Quincentennial Fountain is erected at Galway

1991 Eyre Shopping Centre opens