Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

GALWAY

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V11, Page 434 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

GALWAY , a seaport, See also:

parliamentary See also:borough and the See also:county See also:town of county Galway, See also:Ireland, on the See also:north See also:shore of Galway See also:Bay, and on the See also:main See also:line of the Midland See also:Great Western railway. Pop._ of See also:urban See also:district (1901) 13,426. Some of the streets are very narrow, and contain curious specimens of old buildings, chiefly in See also:antique See also:Spanish See also:style, being square, with a central See also:court, and a gateway opening into the See also:street. The most See also:note-worthy of these is the See also:pile known as See also:Lynch's See also:Castle. This See also:residence takes its name from the See also:family of whom See also:James Lynch Fitzstephen, See also:mayor of Galway in 1493, was a member; whose severity as a See also:magistrate is exemplified in the See also:story that he executed his own son, and thus gave origin (according to one of several theories) to the See also:familiar See also:term of Lynch See also:law. The See also:principal streets are broad and contain See also:good shops. St See also:Nicholas See also:church is a See also:fine cruciform See also:building founded in 1320, and containing monuments, and a See also:bell, one of a peal, which appears to have been brought from Cavron in See also:France, but how this happened is not known. The church was made collegiate in 1484, and See also:Edward VI. created the Royal See also:College of Galway in connexion with it; but the old college buildings no longer serve this purpose, and the church ceased to be collegiate in 184o. There are remains of a Franciscan friary founded in 1296. St See also:Augustine's church (See also:Roman See also:Catholic) is See also:modern (1859). The town is the seat of a Roman Catholic See also:diocese. There are See also:grammar, See also:model and See also:industrial See also:schools, the first with exhibitions to Trinity College, See also:Dublin; but the principal educational See also:establishment is University College, a quadrangular building in Tudor See also:Gothic style, of See also:grey See also:limestone.

It was founded as See also:

Queen's College, with other colleges of the same name at See also:Belfast and See also:Cork, under an See also:act of 1845, and its name was changed when it was granted a new See also:charter pursuant to the Irish See also:Universities Act 1908. The See also:harbour comprises an extensive line of quays, and is connected for inland See also:navigation with Lough See also:Corrib. The See also:shipping See also:trade is considerable, but as a trans-See also:Atlantic See also:port Galway was exploited unsuccessfully. The See also:fisheries, both See also:sea and See also:salmon, are important. The See also:chief exports are See also:wool, agricultural produce and See also:black See also:marble, which is polished in See also:local See also:mills. Other industrial establishments include See also:corn-mills, See also:iron-foundries, distilleries, and See also:brush and bag factories. The borough, which returned two members to See also:parliament until 1885, now returns one. Galway is divided into the old and new towns, while a suburb known as the Claddagh is inhabited by fishermen. This is a curious collection of small cottages, where communal See also:government by a locally elected mayor See also:long prevailed, together with See also:peculiar See also:laws and customs, strictly exclusive inter-See also:marriage, and a high moral and religious See also:standard. Specimens of thedistinc tive Claddagh See also:ring, for example, were worn and treasured as venerated heirlooms. These customs, with the distinctive See also:dress of the See also:women, died out but slowly, and even to-See also:day their vestiges remain. The environs of Galway are pleasant, with several handsome residences.

The most interesting point in the vicinity is Roscam, with its See also:

round See also:tower, ruined church and other remains. Salthill, with See also:golf links, is a waterside residential suburb. Little is known of the See also:history of Galway until after the arrival of the See also:English, at which See also:time it was under the See also:protection of O'Flaherty, who possessed the adjoining district to the See also:west. On the extinction of the native See also:dynasty of the O'Connors, the town See also:fell into the hands of the De See also:Burgos, the See also:head of a See also:branch of which, under the name of M'See also:William Eighter, long governed it by magistrates of his own See also:appointment. After it had been secured by walls, which began to be built about 1270 and are still in See also:part traceable, it became the residence of a number of enterprising settlers, through whom it attained a position of much commercial celebrity. Of these settlers the principal families, fourteen in number, were known as the tribes of Galway. They were of See also:Norman, Saxon or Welsh descent, and became so exclusive in their relationships that dispensations were frequently requisite for the canonical legality of marriages among them. The town rapidly increased from this See also:period in See also:wealth and commercial See also:rank, far surpassing in this respect the See also:rival See also:city of See also:Limerick. See also:Richard II. granted it a charter of See also:incorporation with liberal privileges, which was confirmed by his successor. It had the right of coinage by act of parliament, but there is no See also:evidence to show that it exercised the See also:privilege. Another charter, granted in 1J45, extended the See also:jurisdiction of the port to the islands of See also:Aran, permitted the exportation of all kinds of goods except linens and woollens, and confirmed all the former privileges. Large See also:numbers of See also:Cromwell's soldiers are said to have settled in the town; and there are many traces of Spanish See also:blood among the See also:population.

Its municipal privileges were extended bya charter from James I., whereby the town, and a district of two See also:

miles round in every direction, were formed into a distinct county, with exclusive jurisdiction and a right of choosing its own magistrates. During the See also:civil See also:wars of 1641 the town took part with the Irish, and was surrendered to the Parliamentary forces under See also:Sir See also:Charles See also:Coote; after which the See also:ancient inhabitants were mostly driven out, and their See also:property was given to adventurers and soldiers, chiefly from See also:England. On the See also:accession of James II. the old inhabitants entertained sanguine hopes of recovering their former rights. But the successes of See also:King William soon put an end to their ex-pectations; and the town, after undergoing another See also:siege, again capitulated to the force brought against it by See also:General Ginkell. GAMA, VASCO DA (c. 1460-1524), Portuguese navigator and discoverer of the sea-route to See also:India, was See also:born at Sines, a small seaport in the See also:province of See also:Alemtejo. Of da Gama's See also:early history little is known. His descent, according to the Nobiliario of See also:Antonio de See also:Lima, was derived from a See also:noble family which is mentioned in the See also:year 1166; but the line cannot be traced without interruption farther back than the year 128o, to one Alvaro da Gama, from whom was descended Estevao da Gama, civil See also:governor of Sines, whose third son Vasco was born probably about the year 146o. In that year died See also:Prince See also:Henry the Navigator, to whose intelligence and foresight must be traced back all the fame that See also:Portugal gained on the seas in the 15th and 16th centuries. Explorers sent out at his instigation discovered the See also:Azores and unknown regions on the See also:African See also:coast, whence continually came reports of a great monarch, " who lived See also:east of See also:Benin, 350 leagues in the interior, and who held both temporal and spiritual dominion over all the neighbouring See also:kings, a story which tallied so remarkably with the accounts of "Prester See also:John which had been brought to the See also:Peninsula by Abyssinian priests, that John II. of Portugal steadfastly resolved that both by sea and by See also:land the See also:attempt should be made to reach the See also:country of this potentate. For this purpose Pedro de See also:Covilham and Affonso de Payva were despatched eastward by land; while Bartholomeu See also:Diaz (q.v.), in command of two vessels, was sent westward by sea (see See also:ABYSSINIA, 14). That there was in truth an ocean See also:highway to the East was proved by Diaz, who returned in See also:December 1488 with the See also:report that when sailing southward he was carried far to the east by a See also:succession of fierce storms, past—as he discovered only on his return voyage—what he ascertained to be the See also:southern extremity of the African See also:continent.

The See also:

condition of John's See also:health and concerns of See also:state, however, prevented the fitting out of the intended expedition; and it was not till nine years later, when Emanuel I. had succeeded to the See also:throne, that the preparations for this great voyage were completed—hastened, doubtless, by See also:Columbus's See also:discovery of See also:America in the meanwhile. For the supreme command of this expedition the king selected Vasco da Gama, who had in his youth fought in the wars against See also:Castile, and in his riper years gained distinction as an intrepid mariner. The See also:fleet, consisting of four vessels specially built for this See also:mission, sailed down the See also:Tagus on the 9th of See also:July 1497, after prayers and See also:confession made by the See also:officers and crews in a small See also:chapel on the site where now stands the church of S. Maria de Belem (see See also:LISBON), afterwards built to commemorate the event. Four months later the flotilla See also:cast See also:anchor in St See also:Helena Bay, See also:South See also:Africa, rounded the Cape in safety, and in the beginning of the next year reached Malindi, on the east coast of Africa. Thence, steering eastward, under the direction of a See also:pilot obtained from See also:Indian merchants met with at this port, da Gama arrived at See also:Calicut, on the See also:Malabar coast, on the loth May 1498, and set up, according to the See also:custom of his country, a marble See also:pillar as a See also:mark of See also:conquest and a See also:proof of his discovery of India. His reception by the zamorin, or See also:Hindu ruler of Calicut, would have in all See also:probability been favourable enough, had it not been for the See also:jealousy of the See also:Mahommedan traders who, fearing for their gains, so incited the See also:Hindus against the new-corners that da Gama was unable to establish a Portuguese factory. Having seen enough of India to assure him of its great resources, he returned to Portugal in See also:September 1499. The king received him with every mark of distinction, granted him the use of the prefix Dom, thus elevating him to the rank of an untitled noble, and conferred on him See also:pensions and other property. In See also:prosecution of da Gama's discoveries another fleet of thirteen See also:ships was immediately sent out to India under Pedro Alvares Cabral, who, in sailing too far westward, by See also:accident discovered See also:Brazil, and on reaching his destination established a factory at Calicut. The natives, again instigated by the Mahommedan merchants, See also:rose up in arms and murdered all whom Cabral had See also:left behind. To avenge this See also:outrage a powerful armament of ten ships was fitted out at Lisbon, the command of which was at first given to Cabral, but was afterwards transferred to da Gama, who received the See also:title See also:admiral of India (See also:January 1502).

A few See also:

weeks later the fleet sailed, and on reaching Calicut da Gama immediately bombarded the town, treating its inhabitants with a savagery too horrible to describe. From Calicut he proceeded in See also:November to See also:Cochin, "doing all the harm he could on the way to all that he found at sea," and having made favourable trading terms with it and with other towns on the coast, he returned to Lisbon in September 1503, with richly laden ships. He and his captains were welcomed with great rejoicings and he received additional privileges and revenues. Soon after his return da Gama retired to his residence in See also:Evora, possibly from pique at not obtaining so high rewards as he expected, but more probably in See also:order to enjoy the wealth and position which he had acquired; for he was now one of the richest men in the See also:kingdom. He had married, probably in 1500, a See also:lady of good family, named Catherina de Ataide, by whom he had six sons. According to See also:Correa, he continued to advise King Emanuel I. on matters connected with India and maritime policy up to 1505, and there are extant twelve documents dated 1507—1522 which prove that he continued to enjoy the royal favour. The most important of these is a See also:grant dated December 1519 by which Vasco da Gama was created See also:count of Vidigueira, with the extraordinary privileges of civil and criminal jurisdiction and ecclesiastical patronage. During this time the Portuguese conquests increased in the East, and were presided over by successive viceroys. The fifth of these was so unfortunate that da Gama was recalled from his seclusion by Emanuel's successor, John III., and nominated See also:viceroy of India, an See also:honour which in See also:April 1524 he left Lisbon to assume. Arriving at See also:Goa during September of the same year, he immediately set himself to correct with vigour the many abuses which had crept in under the See also:rule of his predecessors. He was not destined, however, to prosecute far the reforms he had inaugurated, for, on the See also:Christmas-See also:eve following his arrival, he died at Cochin after a See also:short illness, and was buried in the Franciscan monastery there. In 1538 his See also:body was conveyed to Portugal and entombed in the town of Vidigueira.

In i88o what were supposed on insufficient evidence to have been his remains were transferred to the church of See also:

Santa Maria de Belem. His voyage had the immediate result of enriching Portugal, and raising her to one of the foremost places among the nations of See also:Europe, and eventually the far greater one of bringing to pass the colonization of the East by opening its See also:commerce to the Western See also:world.

End of Article: GALWAY

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
GALVESTON 		[next]
GAMALIEL (Se'So?)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries