93-523: The River Corrib ( Irish : Abhainn na Gaillimhe ) in the west of Ireland flows from Lough Corrib through Galway to Galway Bay . The river is among the shortest in Europe, with only a length of six kilometres from the lough to the Atlantic . It is popular with local whitewater kayakers as well as several rowing clubs and pleasure craft. The depth of this river reaches up to 94 feet. The Corrib drains
186-541: A constituent college of the new National University of Ireland, together with University College Dublin (UCD), and University College Cork (UCC). Queen's College, Belfast, became an independent university, called the Queen's University of Belfast. University College, Galway (UCG), was given special statutory responsibility under the University College Galway Act 1929 with respect of the use of
279-547: A unique dialect of Irish developed before falling out of use in the early 20th century. With a writing system , Ogham , dating back to at least the 4th century AD, which was gradually replaced by Latin script since the 5th century AD, Irish has one of the oldest vernacular literatures in Western Europe . On the island, the language has three major dialects: Connacht , Munster and Ulster Irish . All three have distinctions in their speech and orthography . There
372-717: A bargaining chip during government formation in Northern Ireland, prompting protests from organisations and groups such as An Dream Dearg . Irish became an official language of the EU on 1 January 2007, meaning that MEPs with Irish fluency can now speak the language in the European Parliament and at committees, although in the case of the latter they have to give prior notice to a simultaneous interpreter in order to ensure that what they say can be interpreted into other languages. While an official language of
465-575: A better future for Ireland and all her citizens." The Strategy was produced on 21 December 2010 and will stay in action until 2030; it aims to target language vitality and revitalization of the Irish language. The 30-page document published by the Government of Ireland details the objectives it plans to work towards in an attempt to preserve and promote both the Irish language and the Gaeltacht. It
558-649: A catchment area of 3,138 km. Although the Corrib is one of Ireland's shortest rivers, it has a mean long-term flow rate of 104.8 m/s, making it Ireland's second-largest river (by flow), only surpassed by the River Shannon . The translation of the Irish name of the river is Galway river i.e. from Gaillimh . In Irish it is sometimes called An Ghaillimh ("the Galway") and also incorrectly called Abhainn na Coiribe . The legend concerning its naming states that it
651-478: A cultural and social force. Irish speakers often insisted on using the language in law courts (even when they knew English), and Irish was also common in commercial transactions. The language was heavily implicated in the "devotional revolution" which marked the standardisation of Catholic religious practice and was also widely used in a political context. Down to the time of the Great Famine and even afterwards,
744-553: A degree course in the NUI federal system to pass the subject of Irish in the Leaving Certificate or GCE / GCSE examinations. Exemptions are made from this requirement for students who were born or completed primary education outside of Ireland, and students diagnosed with dyslexia . NUI Galway is required to appoint people who are competent in the Irish language, as long as they are also competent in all other aspects of
837-480: A few years of the start of the university's sponsorship of the Connacht Rugby Academy, the team had won, what was then the 2015–16 Pro12 title, for the first time by defeating Leinster in the 2016 Pro12 Grand Final . Seven players from the Connacht Rugby Academy played 55 times for their team during that campaign, with others in that squad also graduates of the Connacht Rugby Academy. The deal
930-460: A fully recognised EU language for the first time in the state's history. Before Irish became an official language it was afforded the status of treaty language and only the highest-level documents of the EU were made available in Irish. The Irish language was carried abroad in the modern period by a vast diaspora , chiefly to Great Britain and North America, but also to Australia , New Zealand and Argentina . The first large movements began in
1023-467: A number of female lecturers starting proceedings against the university as gender as a grounds of discrimination is prohibited by Irish law. University of Galway has been awarded the full five QS stars for excellence, and is ranked among the top 1 per cent of universities according to the 2018 QS World University Rankings . These rankings marked the sixth consecutive year that the university's ranking improved by these standards. In 2016 and 2017,
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#17327757242831116-585: A paper suggested that within a generation, non-Gaeltacht habitual users of Irish might typically be members of an urban, middle class, and highly educated minority. Parliamentary legislation is supposed to be available in both Irish and English but is frequently only available in English. This is notwithstanding that Article 25.4 of the Constitution of Ireland requires that an "official translation" of any law in one official language be provided immediately in
1209-575: A pass in Leaving Certificate Irish or English, and receive lessons in Irish during their two years of training. Official documents of the Irish government must be published in both Irish and English or Irish alone (in accordance with the Official Languages Act 2003, enforced by An Coimisinéir Teanga , the Irish language ombudsman). The National University of Ireland requires all students wishing to embark on
1302-625: A religious context. An Irish translation of the Old Testament by Leinsterman Muircheartach Ó Cíonga , commissioned by Bishop Bedell , was published after 1685 along with a translation of the New Testament. Otherwise, Anglicisation was seen as synonymous with 'civilising' the native Irish. Currently, modern day Irish speakers in the church are pushing for language revival. It has been estimated that there were around 800,000 monoglot Irish speakers in 1800, which dropped to 320,000 by
1395-644: A river called Αυσοβα ( Ausoba ) which probably referred to the River Corrib. The part of the river that flows from the southern end of the lake to the Salmon Weir is known as the Upper Corrib . The weir , a set of weir gates also built during the above navigation scheme, was originally built from stone and timber but now only two of these gates remain and are only opened in times of flood. The rest have been replaced by fourteen steel gates, as shown in
1488-539: A student-run drama society. Cumann Staire is one of Europe's oldest history societies, and is a member of Comhaltas na gCumann Staire and the International Students of History Association . The university's Fianna Fáil branch, Cumann de Barra, was founded in 1954, making it the oldest university political party branch in Ireland. Fine Gael 's youth wing was founded in the university in 1973 during
1581-451: A thinly disguised Galway and telling the story of student life over four days in April 1949, has featured on the secondary school Leaving Certificate syllabus. Tom Curtin's novel Melting Pot: An Irish Odyssey tells the story of three lads from University College Galway who leave Ireland for New York in 1969. The university has also faced the legal consequences of gender inequality after
1674-545: A wider meaning, including the Gaelic of Scotland and the Isle of Man , as well as of Ireland. When required by the context, these are distinguished as Gaeilge na hAlban , Gaeilge Mhanann and Gaeilge na hÉireann respectively. In English (including Hiberno-English ), the language is usually referred to as Irish , as well as Gaelic and Irish Gaelic . The term Irish Gaelic may be seen when English speakers discuss
1767-492: Is a public research university located in the city of Galway , Ireland. The university was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College, Galway". It was known as "University College, Galway" (UCG) ( Irish : Coláiste na hOllscoile, Gaillimh ) from 1908 to 1997 and as "National University of Ireland Galway" (NUI Galway) ( Irish : Ollscoil na hÉireann Gaillimh; OÉ Gaillimh ) from 1997 to 2022. In September 2022, it changed its name to "University of Galway". The University of Galway
1860-552: Is a member of the Coimbra Group , a network of 40 long-established European universities. The university was established in 1845 as Queen's College, Galway, together with Queen's College, Cork , and Queen's College, Belfast . It opened for teaching on 30 October 1849 with 68 students. In 1850, it became part of the Queen's University of Ireland , and its degrees were conferred in the name of that university. Located close to
1953-523: Is a member of the Goidelic language group of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous to the island of Ireland . It was the majority of the population's first language until the 19th century, when English gradually became dominant, particularly in the last decades of the century, in what is sometimes characterised as a result of linguistic imperialism . Today, Irish
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#17327757242832046-452: Is also An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , a standardised written form devised by a parliamentary commission in the 1950s. The traditional Irish alphabet , a variant of the Latin alphabet with 18 letters , has been succeeded by the standard Latin alphabet (albeit with 7–8 letters used primarily in loanwords ). Irish has constitutional status as the national and first official language of
2139-511: Is divided into four separate phases with the intention of improving 9 main areas of action including: The general goal for this strategy was to increase the number of daily speakers from 83,000 to 250,000 by the end of its run. By 2022, the number of such speakers had fallen to 71,968. Before the partition of Ireland in 1921, Irish was recognised as a school subject and as "Celtic" in some third level institutions. Between 1921 and 1972, Northern Ireland had devolved government. During those years
2232-587: Is only in Gaeltacht areas that Irish continues to be spoken as a community vernacular to some extent. According to data compiled by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht , Sport and Media , only 1/4 of households in Gaeltacht areas are fluent in Irish. The author of a detailed analysis of the survey, Donncha Ó hÉallaithe of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology , described
2325-481: Is still commonly spoken as a first language in Ireland's Gaeltacht regions, in which 2% of Ireland's population lived in 2022. The total number of people (aged 3 and over) in Ireland who declared they could speak Irish in April 2022 was 1,873,997, representing 40% of respondents, but of these, 472,887 said they never spoke it and a further 551,993 said they only spoke it within the education system. Linguistic analyses of Irish speakers are therefore based primarily on
2418-412: Is still spoken daily to some extent as a first language . These regions are known individually and collectively as the Gaeltacht (plural Gaeltachtaí ). While the fluent Irish speakers of these areas, whose numbers have been estimated at 20–30,000, are a minority of the total number of fluent Irish speakers, they represent a higher concentration of Irish speakers than other parts of the country and it
2511-666: The Fíor-Ghaeltacht (true Gaeltacht ), a term originally officially applied to areas where over 50% of the population spoke Irish. There are Gaeltacht regions in the following counties: Gweedore ( Gaoth Dobhair ), County Donegal, is the largest Gaeltacht parish in Ireland. Irish language summer colleges in the Gaeltacht are attended by tens of thousands of teenagers annually. Students live with Gaeltacht families, attend classes, participate in sports, go to céilithe and are obliged to speak Irish. All aspects of Irish culture and tradition are encouraged. The Act
2604-578: The Galway & District League , the CUFL (Colleges and Universities Football League), Collingwood Cup and Harding Cup (Freshers). The campus is home to a wide range of sport facilities. Facilities include Dangan Sportsground, where the university's GAA teams compete, and the Kingfisher, where Moycullen Basketball Club play their games. In 2013, the university announced it would sponsor Connacht Rugby ,
2697-639: The Irish language as a working language of the university. Members of the Franciscan Order from St. Anthony's College would have studied for degrees in UCG, similarly members of the Society of African Missions at their House of Philosophy, at Cloughballymore, Kilcolgan, Co Galway, studied for degrees in UCG. St. Anthony's is now used by the economics department. Several new buildings were constructed on
2790-556: The Liam Cosgrave -led Fine Gael/Labour Coalition government, with Enda Kenny and Madeleine Taylor-Quinn among those behind its establishment there. Official Sinn Féin were also influential in campus politics in the 1970s, and Students Union Presidents Eamon Gilmore and Johnny Curran were party members. CompSoc (the university's computer society) is the oldest of its kind in the country, established in 1977. Most of Ireland's main political parties have active societies at
2883-631: The Republic of Ireland , and is also an official language of Northern Ireland and among the official languages of the European Union . The public body Foras na Gaeilge is responsible for the promotion of the language throughout the island. Irish has no regulatory body but An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , the standard written form, is guided by a parliamentary service and new vocabulary by a voluntary committee with university input. In An Caighdeán Oifigiúil ("The Official [Written] Standard ")
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2976-595: The Shit Chute and the access point to the river, a small stream that flows through Newcastle , the grounds of NUI Galway , and empties into the Lower just downstream of King's weir, commonly known as the fish gates. The official publication for NUI Galway Alumni, Staff & Friends, Cois Coiribe , is named in reference to the Corrib. Four bridges span Corrib in Galway . These are the Wolfe Tone Bridge,
3069-543: The Universities Act 1997 , the name of University College, Galway, was changed to National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI Galway), and it became a university in its own right, as a constituent university of the National University of Ireland (NUI). The university had hoped to change its name to University of Galway, but had received legal advice that this was not possible under the provisions of
3162-755: The University Education (Ireland) Act 1879 , and was replaced by the Royal University of Ireland (RUI), which had been established on 27 April 1880. Under the Irish Universities Act 1908 , the RUI was dissolved and was replaced by the National University of Ireland (NUI) and Queen's University of Belfast (QUB). The name of Queen's College, Galway, was changed to University College, Galway (UCG), and it became
3255-507: The "University of Galway". This change took legal effect in February 2024. Up until 2007, the university was divided into seven faculties (Arts, Celtic Studies, Commerce, Law, Medicine and Health Sciences, and Science), which were further subdivided into some 69 departments. In 2007–2008, the university transitioned from the faculties and departments structure to a structure of five colleges divided into various schools. The following are
3348-634: The 17th century, largely as a result of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland , which saw many Irish sent to the West Indies . Irish emigration to the United States was well established by the 18th century, and was reinforced in the 1840s by thousands fleeing from the Famine . This flight also affected Britain. Up until that time most emigrants spoke Irish as their first language, though English
3441-789: The 1998 Good Friday Agreement , the language gradually received a degree of formal recognition in Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom, and then, in 2003, by the British government's ratification in respect of the language of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . In the 2006 St Andrews Agreement the British government promised to enact legislation to promote the language and in 2022 it approved legislation to recognise Irish as an official language alongside English. The bill received royal assent on 6 December 2022. The Irish language has often been used as
3534-403: The 6th century, used the Latin alphabet and is attested primarily in marginalia to Latin manuscripts. During this time, the Irish language absorbed some Latin words, some via Old Welsh , including ecclesiastical terms : examples are easpag (bishop) from episcopus , and Domhnach (Sunday, from dominica ). By the 10th century, Old Irish had evolved into Middle Irish , which
3627-571: The Act all detailing different aspects of the use of Irish in official documentation and communication. Included in these sections are subjects such as Irish language use in official courts, official publications, and placenames. The Act was recently amended in December 2019 in order to strengthen the already preexisting legislation. All changes made took into account data collected from online surveys and written submissions. The Official Languages Scheme
3720-494: The Act. Visiting the university in 2003, on what was to be his last visit to Ireland, Nelson Mandela condemned U.S. foreign policy and received an honorary doctorate from the NUI Chancellor, Garret FitzGerald . In 2008, Éamon Ó Cuív , Minister for Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs , and a student became involved in an altercation on the grounds of the university. In 2009, former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern
3813-471: The European Union , only co-decision regulations were available until 2022, due to a five-year derogation, requested by the Irish Government when negotiating the language's new official status. The Irish government had committed itself to train the necessary number of translators and interpreters and to bear the related costs. This derogation ultimately came to an end on 1 January 2022, making Irish
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3906-549: The Irish language policy followed by Irish governments as a "complete and absolute disaster". The Irish Times , referring to his analysis published in the Irish language newspaper Foinse , quoted him as follows: "It is an absolute indictment of successive Irish Governments that at the foundation of the Irish State there were 250,000 fluent Irish speakers living in Irish-speaking or semi Irish-speaking areas, but
3999-644: The Lambe Institute and the O'Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance, and the Human Biology Building. In 2014, the Equality Tribunal ruled in favor of Dr Micheline Sheehy Skeffington, granddaughter of the famous Irish feminist couple Hannah Sheehy Skeffington and Francis Sheehy Skeffington , who claimed she had been discriminated against on the grounds of gender during 2009. The university "unreservedly" accepted
4092-620: The Republic of Ireland ), new appointees to the Civil Service of the Republic of Ireland , including postal workers , tax collectors , agricultural inspectors, Garda Síochána (police), etc., were required to have some proficiency in Irish. By law, a Garda who was addressed in Irish had to respond in Irish as well. In 1974, in part through the actions of protest organisations like the Language Freedom Movement ,
4185-661: The William O'Brien Bridge, the Salmon Weir Bridge, and the Quincentenary Bridge. There is also a new pedestrian bridge adjacent to the Salmon Weir Bridge since 2023. Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish : Gaeilge ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( / ˈ ɡ eɪ l ɪ k / GAY -lik ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family . It
4278-456: The academic to artistic and performing, lifestyle and wellbeing, religious and political, social action and volunteering, social and cultural, and special interest. The oldest society on the campus is the Literary and Debating Society , founded in 1846. The university's drama society, Dramsoc, was founded in 1914 after the earliest recorded student production in 1904 demonstrated the need for
4371-746: The beginning of the following academic year. For a number of years there has been vigorous debate in political, academic and other circles about the failure of most students in English-medium schools to achieve competence in Irish, even after fourteen years of teaching as one of the three main subjects. The concomitant decline in the number of traditional native speakers has also been a cause of great concern. In 2007, filmmaker Manchán Magan found few Irish speakers in Dublin , and faced incredulity when trying to get by speaking only Irish in Dublin. He
4464-645: The city centre, the university campus stretches along the River Corrib . The oldest part of the university, the Quadrangle with its Aula Maxima , was designed by John Benjamin Keane in a Tudor Gothic architectural style and was constructed from local limestone; it is a replica of Christ Church , one of the colleges at the University of Oxford . The Queen's University was dissolved on 3 February 1882 under
4557-621: The current colleges and schools of the university: Since 2015 the Shannon College of Hotel Management has been fully incorporated into the university — becoming part of the College of Business, Public Policy & Law at Galway — formally marked by the then Minister for Education and Skills Jan O'Sullivan at an event held in Shannon College on 9 November 2015. All staff of Shannon College of Hotel Management became staff of
4650-412: The decision that the "hiring process was flawed". In 2015 with "widespread concern" among staff, mandatory unconscious bias training was introduced for senior staff, including heads of school and interview boards. In 2017 Dr Elizabeth Tilley was deemed to have exceeded qualifications for senior lectureship following a Labour Court hearing and promoted. In 2017, the gender ratio of senior lecturers in
4743-585: The decision was unjustified, citing the more than €20,000 raised for charities that year. RAG Week continued unofficially until 2024, when the fundraising event returned with support from the Students' Union. International students make up over 12 percent of the student population at the University of Galway. University of Galway is the setting for, and is referred to in, numerous works of fiction. Breandán Ó hEithir 's novel Lig Sinn i gCathú , set in
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#17327757242834836-474: The end of the famine, and under 17,000 by 1911. Irish is recognised by the Constitution of Ireland as the national and first official language of Republic of Ireland (English being the other official language). Despite this, almost all government business and legislative debate is conducted in English. In 1938, the founder of Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League), Douglas Hyde , was inaugurated as
4929-560: The first President of Ireland . The record of his delivering his inaugural Declaration of Office in Roscommon Irish is one of only a few recordings of that dialect. In the 2016 census, 10.5% of respondents stated that they spoke Irish, either daily or weekly, while over 70,000 people (4.2%) speak it as a habitual daily means of communication. From the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 (see History of
5022-498: The language family, is derived from the Old Irish term. Endonyms of the language in the various modern Irish dialects include: Gaeilge [ˈɡeːlʲɟə] in Galway, Gaeilg / Gaeilic / Gaeilig [ˈɡeːlʲəc] in Mayo and Ulster , Gaelainn / Gaoluinn [ˈɡeːl̪ˠən̠ʲ] in West/Cork, Kerry Munster , as well as Gaedhealaing in mid and East Kerry/Cork and Waterford Munster to reflect local pronunciation. Gaeilge also has
5115-410: The language was in use by all classes, Irish being an urban as well as a rural language. This linguistic dynamism was reflected in the efforts of certain public intellectuals to counter the decline of the language. At the end of the 19th century, they launched the Gaelic revival in an attempt to encourage the learning and use of Irish, although few adult learners mastered the language. The vehicle of
5208-425: The language. For most of recorded Irish history , Irish was the dominant language of the Irish people , who took it with them to other regions , such as Scotland and the Isle of Man , where Middle Irish gave rise to Scottish Gaelic and Manx . It was also, for a period, spoken widely across Canada , with an estimated 200,000–250,000 daily Canadian speakers of Irish in 1890. On the island of Newfoundland ,
5301-446: The last vessel to use the navigation was the Amo II, a 90' motor-yacht that had been sold by the Guinness trustees to Frank Bailey, a Galway hotelier. Lough Corrib is the anglicised form of Loch Coirib which itself is a corruption of Loch nOrbsean which, according to placename lore, is named after the Irish god of the sea. There is good fishing to be had on both the lake and river. Ptolemy 's Geography (2nd century AD) described
5394-410: The main course of the river and was then widened. The section of the river that runs from the Salmon Weir through Galway city and out into Galway Bay is known as the Lower Corrib . Three bridges cross the Lower – the Salmon Weir Bridge , William O'Brien Bridge and Wolfe Tone Bridge. The only tributary of the Lower Corrib is Sruthán na gCaisleáin (Castle Stream) known by whitewater kayakers as
5487-399: The mid-18th century, English was becoming a language of the Catholic middle class, the Catholic Church and public intellectuals, especially in the east of the country. Increasingly, as the value of English became apparent, parents sanctioned the prohibition of Irish in schools. Increasing interest in emigrating to the United States and Canada was also a driver, as fluency in English allowed
5580-484: The most popular Irish field sports of association football , Gaelic football , hurling , and rugby union , as well as cricket , hockey , and lacrosse . NUI Galway GAA compete in the Sigerson Cup (Gaelic football) and the Fitzgibbon Cup (hurling). They are the second most prolific winners of the Sigerson Cup. NUI Galway RFC compete in the Connacht Senior Cup , and are the competition's most successful side with 34 wins. University of Galway FC compete in
5673-497: The name of the language is Gaeilge , from the South Connacht form, spelled Gaedhilge prior the spelling reform of 1948, which was originally the genitive of Gaedhealg , the form used in Classical Gaelic . The modern spelling results from the deletion of the silent ⟨dh⟩ in Gaedhilge . Older spellings include Gaoidhealg [ˈɡeːʝəlˠəɡ] in Classical Gaelic and Goídelc [ˈɡoiðʲelɡ] in Old Irish . Goidelic , used to refer to
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#17327757242835766-404: The nearby professional Pro12 (now URC ) rugby union team, for the following three years and would put in place a "High Performance Education Partnership" that would give players from the Connacht Rugby Academy and age-grade teams the chance to educated there. At the time of the announcement 17 members of Connacht's squad were either attending the university as students or were graduates. Within
5859-409: The new immigrants to get jobs in areas other than farming. An estimated one quarter to one third of US immigrants during the Great Famine were Irish speakers. Irish was not marginal to Ireland's modernisation in the 19th century, as is often assumed. In the first half of the century there were still around three million people for whom Irish was the primary language, and their numbers alone made them
5952-522: The number now is between 20,000 and 30,000." In the 1920s, when the Irish Free State was founded, Irish was still a vernacular in some western coastal areas. In the 1930s, areas where more than 25% of the population spoke Irish were classified as Gaeltacht . Today, the strongest Gaeltacht areas, numerically and socially, are those of South Connemara , the west of the Dingle Peninsula , and northwest Donegal, where many residents still use Irish as their primary language. These areas are often referred to as
6045-570: The number of daily users in Ireland outside the education system, which in 2022 was 20,261 in the Gaeltacht and 51,707 outside it, totalling 71,968. In response to the 2021 census of Northern Ireland , 43,557 individuals stated they spoke Irish on a daily basis, 26,286 spoke it on a weekly basis, 47,153 spoke it less often than weekly, and 9,758 said they could speak Irish, but never spoke it. From 2006 to 2008, over 22,000 Irish Americans reported speaking Irish as their first language at home, with several times that number claiming "some knowledge" of
6138-448: The other official language, if not already passed in both official languages. In November 2016, RTÉ reported that over 2.3 million people worldwide were learning Irish through the Duolingo app. Irish president Michael D. Higgins officially honoured several volunteer translators for developing the Irish edition, and said the push for Irish language rights remains an "unfinished project". There are rural areas of Ireland where Irish
6231-404: The period 2020–2025) in 2020. Also in 2020, the university was awarded €4 million from the EU's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme to support its Solar2chem project. In April 2022, it was announced that NUI Galway would be renamed "Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway" in summer 2022, amid confusion over its proper title. On 1 September 2022, the university changed its name to
6324-418: The photograph above. The main channel leaving Lough Corrib is called Friars' Cut or Friars' River ( Irish : Abhainn na mBráithre ) as it is the result of a very early piece of canal engineering. In 1178 the friars of Claregalway Abbey , being tired of the long detour they had to make to the west to enter the river, asked permission from the Blakes of Menloe to make an artificial cut, which in time became
6417-415: The political party holding power in the Stormont Parliament , the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), was hostile to the language. The context of this hostility was the use of the language by nationalists. In broadcasting, there was an exclusion on the reporting of minority cultural issues, and Irish was excluded from radio and television for almost the first fifty years of the previous devolved government. After
6510-436: The relationship between the three Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx). Gaelic is a collective term for the Goidelic languages, and when the context is clear it may be used without qualification to refer to each language individually. When the context is specific but unclear, the term may be qualified, as Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic or Manx Gaelic. Historically the name "Erse" ( / ɜːr s / URS )
6603-432: The requirement for entrance to the public service was changed to proficiency in just one official language. Nevertheless, Irish remains a required subject of study in all schools in the Republic of Ireland that receive public money (see Education in the Republic of Ireland ). Teachers in primary schools must also pass a compulsory examination called Scrúdú Cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge . As of 2005, Garda Síochána recruits need
6696-712: The revival was the Gaelic League ( Conradh na Gaeilge ), and particular emphasis was placed on the folk tradition, which in Irish is particularly rich. Efforts were also made to develop journalism and a modern literature. Although it has been noted that the Catholic Church played a role in the decline of the Irish language before the Gaelic Revival, the Protestant Church of Ireland also made only minor efforts to encourage use of Irish in
6789-489: The river and its accompanying cut, the Eglinton Canal , which was built as part of the "Drainage and Navigation scheme of Lough Carra , Lough Corrib and Lough Mask " in the mid-19th century. The canal, which is about three-quarters of a mile long, had a sea-lock, a large basin, a second lock at Parkavore and five swivelling bridges. It is still in water but the swivelling bridges have been replaced by fixed bridges;
6882-485: The town. Indeed, the earliest settlement at Galway was called Dún Bhun na Gaillimhe , or "the fort at the end of the Galway (river)". The river gave its name to the town, which grew to a city, and from c. 1570 onwards, the city gave its name to the county. It also aided massively in the industrial development of the town, allowing it to develop electrical power before London. At the height of water power, there were over twenty water wheels in operation from races built on
6975-611: The university and all students of Shannon College of Hotel Management became students of the university. There are five designated Research Institutes and a number of Research Centres and Units at the University of Galway. Designated Research Institutes at the university are characterised by significant interdisciplinary (generally cross-College) and high-quality research activity, including extensive collaboration nationally and internationally. Examples of mould-breaking research include sugar coating devices and how spider bites can lead to hospitalisation. Galway University Foundation (GUF)
7068-502: The university campus in the 1970s and were designed by architects Scott Tallon Walker . The 1990s also saw considerable development, including the conversion of an old munitions factory into a student centre. Under the early 21st-century Presidency of Iognáid G. Ó Muircheartaigh , the university announced details of plans to make the university a "campus of the future" at a cost of around €400 million. Ó Muircheartaigh's successor James J. Browne continued and implemented that plan. Under
7161-707: The university including Fianna Fáil , Fine Gael , Green , Labour , People Before Profit , Sinn Féin and the Social Democrats . Flirt FM is a community radio station located on campus, spearheaded by the Radio Society. GUMS, the university musical society, hosts annual musicals in the Dubhlann/Black Box Theatre. In 2014, the Christian and LGBT societies were involved in a showdown over same-sex marriage . The incident
7254-576: The university was 60:40 in favour of men. The ratio of professorships, the most senior academic grade, was 87:13 in favor of men. In 2018 the university achieved bronze status in the Athena SWAN recognises a commitment to advancing gender equality in higher education and research careers. In 2018 a further four female lecturers who had also applied for promotion in 2009 were promoted having settled their cases "amicably". The university launched its Strategic Plan "Shared Vision, Shaped By Values" (for
7347-604: The university was ranked ahead of University College Dublin (UCD) and Queen's University Belfast (QUB) in the Academic Ranking of World Universities ( ARWU ), placing it second among Irish universities — behind only Trinity College Dublin (TCD). Likewise, in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings , Galway was ranked ahead of UCD and behind only TCD. The Sunday Times University Guide has named
7440-1005: The university's main Irish language societies, following the demise of the Cumann Craic. One of the main events of the Cumann Gaelach is the yearly celebration of Seachtain na Gaeilge . The society was awarded the Best New Entry Award at the Glór na nGael awards in 2011. University of Galway has more than 40 sports clubs based on campus, ranging from indoor sports (such as archery , badminton , fencing , weightlifting , table tennis , and squash ), to water sports (such as rowing , kayaking , sailing , windsurfing , and scuba diving ), as well as martial arts (such as judo , karate , aikido , Muay Thai , kendo , and taekwondo ), plus equestrian , triathlon , athletics, and snow sports. The university also competes in
7533-642: The vacancy to which they are appointed. This requirement is laid down by the University College Galway Act, 1929 (Section 3). In 2016, the university faced controversy when it announced the planned appointment of a president who did not speak Irish. Misneach staged protests against this decision. The following year the university announced that Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh , a fluent Irish speaker, would be its 13th president. He assumed office in January 2018; in June 2024, he announced he would be stepping down as president at
7626-594: The work of such writers as Geoffrey Keating , is said to date from the 17th century, and was the medium of popular literature from that time on. From the 18th century on, the language lost ground in the east of the country. The reasons behind this shift were complex but came down to a number of factors: The change was characterised by diglossia (two languages being used by the same community in different social and economic situations) and transitional bilingualism (monoglot Irish-speaking grandparents with bilingual children and monoglot English-speaking grandchildren). By
7719-531: Was also sometimes used in Scots and then in English to refer to Irish; as well as Scottish Gaelic. Written Irish is first attested in Ogham inscriptions from the 4th century AD, a stage of the language known as Primitive Irish . These writings have been found throughout Ireland and the west coast of Great Britain. Primitive Irish underwent a change into Old Irish through the 5th century. Old Irish, dating from
7812-420: Was called after Gaillimh inion Breasail , the daughter of a Fir Bolg chieftain who drowned in the river. The word Gaillimh is believed to mean "stony" as in "stony river". The commonly held myth that the city takes its name from the Irish word Gallaibh , "foreigners" i.e. "the town of the foreigners" (from Gall , a foreigner) is incorrect as the name Gaillimh was applied to the river first and then later onto
7905-668: Was enacted 1 July 2019 and is an 18-page document that adheres to the guidelines of the Official Languages Act 2003 . The purpose of the Scheme is to provide services through the mediums of Irish and/or English. According to the Department of the Taoiseach, it is meant to "develop a sustainable economy and a successful society, to pursue Ireland's interests abroad, to implement the Government's Programme and to build
7998-595: Was established in 1998 with the intention of generating financial support for the university from private individuals and institutions. It nurtures relationships with donors for whom the university's approach to education appeals. The Foundation has many 'Priority Projects' in development. The main library building of the University of Galway is named the James Hardiman Library after the library's first librarian, James Hardiman . University of Galway has about 150 active student societies , ranging from
8091-548: Was establishing itself as the primary language. Irish speakers had first arrived in Australia in the late 18th century as convicts and soldiers, and many Irish-speaking settlers followed, particularly in the 1860s. New Zealand also received some of this influx. Argentina was the only non-English-speaking country to receive large numbers of Irish emigrants, and there were few Irish speakers among them. NUI Galway The University of Galway ( Irish : Ollscoil na Gaillimhe )
8184-657: Was forced to flee from a public discussion at the university after being jostled by students opposed to the planned reintroduction of college fees. 21st-century developments include a state-of-the-art University Sports Centre ( Ionad Spóirt ), Áras Moyola, J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics, the Alice Perry Engineering Building, the BioSciences Research Building, the Life Course Institute,
8277-474: Was passed 14 July 2003 with the main purpose of improving the number and quality of public services delivered in Irish by the government and other public bodies. Compliance with the Act is monitored by the An Coimisinéir Teanga (Irish Language Commissioner) which was established in 2004 and any complaints or concerns pertaining to the Act are brought to them. There are 35 sections included in
8370-543: Was provoked by the auditor of the Christian Society, running for the position of Equality Officer in that year's student union election. Earlier, in the late part of 2013, the university suspended the Legion of Mary Society after it failed to satisfactorily explain its connection to posters containing information on a Christian support group for homosexual persons. An Cumann Gaelach and An Cumann Drámaíochta are
8463-406: Was renewed in 2017, covering the period until 2019. The Students' Union's primary role is to provide a recognised representative channel between undergraduates and the university and college authorities. In February 2009, the university announced the Students' Union-run RAG Week would "no longer form part of the university calendar". The President of the Students' Union expressed the belief that
8556-693: Was spoken throughout Ireland, Isle of Man and parts of Scotland . It is the language of a large corpus of literature, including the Ulster Cycle . From the 12th century, Middle Irish began to evolve into modern Irish in Ireland, into Scottish Gaelic in Scotland, and into the Manx language in the Isle of Man . Early Modern Irish , dating from the 13th century, was the basis of the literary language of both Ireland and Gaelic-speaking Scotland. Modern Irish, sometimes called Late Modern Irish, as attested in
8649-442: Was unable to accomplish some everyday tasks, as portrayed in his documentary No Béarla . There is, however, a growing body of Irish speakers in urban areas, particularly in Dublin. Many have been educated in schools in which Irish is the language of instruction. Such schools are known as Gaelscoileanna at primary level. These Irish-medium schools report some better outcomes for students than English-medium schools. In 2009,
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