County Galway County Galway County Galway () is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West of Ireland, part of the province of Connacht. There are several Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county. The traditional county includes, and is named for, the city of Galway, but the city and county now have separate local authorities: Galway City Council administers the urban area, while the rest of the county is administered by Galway County Council. The population of the county was 258,058 at the 2016 census. The first inhabitants in the Galway area arrived over 7000 years ago. Shell
Galway hooker festival of Cruinniú na mBád is held each year, when boats race across Galway Bay from Connemara to Kinvara on the Galway/Clare county boundary. The hooker refers to four classes of boats. All are named in Irish. The "Bád Mór" (big boats) ranges in length from 10.5 to 13.5 metres (35 to 44 feet). The smaller "Leathbhád" (half boat) is about 10 metres (28 feet) in length. Both the Bád Mór and Leathbhád were decked forward of the mast. These boats were used to carry turf to be used as fuel across Galway Bay from Connemara and County Mayo to