Galway Galway Galway (; , ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht. Galway lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, surrounded by County Galway, and is the sixth most populous city in Ireland, with a population at the 2016 Census of 79,934. Galway will be the European Capital of Culture in 2020, alongside Rijeka, Croatia. The city's name comes from the Irish name "Gaillimhe", which formed the western boundary of the earliest settlement, "Dún Gaillimhe" "Fort Gaillimh". (Mythical and alternative derivations of the name are given in History of Galway).
County Galway island of Ireland (sometimes exceeding 30 °C); though these temperatures only occur when land warmed east winds sweep the area; the opposite effect can occur in the winter. Overall, however, Galway is influenced mainly by Atlantic airstreams which bring ample rainfall in between the fleeting sunshine. Rainfall occurs in every month of the year, though the late autumn and winter months can be particularly wet as Atlantic cyclonic activity increases and passes over and around the area, and which is why Galway tends to bear the brunt of severe windstorms that can occur between August and March. The county on