EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

Galway originated as a crossing point on the River Corrib, giving an access to Connemara denied further north by the lough. It was seized by the Norman family of De Burgos in the thirteenth century and developed as a strong Anglo-Norman colony, ruled by an oligarchy of fourteen families. They maintained control despite continual attacks by the bellicose Connacht clans, the most ferocious of which were the O'Flaherties. To the O'Flahertie motto "Fortuna Favet Fortibus" (Fortune Favours the Strong), the citizens of Galway responded with a plea inscribed over the long-vanished city gates: "From the fury of the O'Flaherties, good Lord deliver us."

Galway was granted a charter and city status in 1484 by Richard III and was proudly loyal to the English Crown for the next two hundred years. During this time the city prospered, developing a flourishing trade with the Continent, especially Spain. However, its loyalty to the monarch ensured that when Cromwellian forces arrived in 1652 the place was besieged without mercy for ninety days. It was Cromwell who coined the originally derisory term "the fourteen tribes of Galway"; this didn't worry the Irish, who returned the disdain by proudly adopting the name as a title. The city went into a decline from the mid-seventeenth century onwards and only recently started to revive.

The history of the Claddagh , a fishing village that existed long before Galway was founded alongside it, is quite distinct from that of the city proper. An Irish-speaking village of thatched cottages, the Claddagh was fiercely independent, having its own laws, customs and chief, and it remained a proud, close-knit community long after the cottages had gone. Boat-building skills are still passed down through generations, though of course this work has massively declined, and the old vessels known as Galway hookers are now used more by boating enthusiasts than for fishing. It is from here that the famous Claddagh ring originates, worn by Irish people all over the world. It shows two hands clasping a heart surmounted by a crown and represents love, friendship and respect. It's worn with the heart pointing towards the fingertip when betrothed, the other way when married.