Galway

The city grew around a fortification built by Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair, King of Connacht, in 1124, near an earlier settlement. A municipal charter in 1484 let the citizens of the by-then walled town form a council and a mayoralty, and a group of merchant families known as the Tribes of Galway ran it as a trading port for centuries. It sits on the Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, the most populous place in Connacht. It was named European Region of Gastronomy in 2018 and European Capital of Culture for 2020, alongside Rijeka.