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