As the de Burghs eventually became Gaelicised, the merchants of the town, the Tribes of Galway, pushed for greater control over the walled city.

A notice over the west gate of the city, completed in 1562 by Mayor Thomas Óge Martyn, stated "From the Ferocious O'Flahertys may God protect us".

The most famous reminder of those days is ceann an bhalla ("the end of the wall"), now known as the Spanish Arch, constructed during the mayoralty of Wylliam Martin (1519–20).

[5] During the 16th and 17th centuries, Galway remained loyal to the English crown for the most part, even during the Gaelic resurgence, perhaps for reasons of survival.

[citation needed] While extreme weather is rare, the city and county can experience severe windstorms that are the result of vigorous Atlantic depressions that occasionally pass along the north west coast of Ireland.

[28] It contains two mortuary chapels and is the burial place of several important Galwegians, including writer Pádraic Ó Conaire, propagandist William Joyce, dramatist Lady Gregory and sports official Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin.

Smaller numbers of Asian and African immigrants come from East Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.

It also sits twice a year in Galway to hear appeals from the Circuit Court in civil and family law cases.

[46] Galway is known as Ireland's Cultural Heart (Croí Cultúrtha na hÉireann)[47] and hosts numerous festivals, celebrations and events.

The James Hardiman Library at the University of Galway houses around 350 archived and/or digitised collections including the Thomas Kilroy Collection, the Brendan Duddy Papers on the Northern Ireland conflict, the John McGahern archive and the manuscript Minutes of Galway City Council from the 15th to mid-19th centuries.

Gretta Conroy, in James Joyce's short story "The Dead", remembers her lover Michael Furey throwing stones against the window of her grandmother's house on Nun's Island, in the city.

[59] Galway has a permanent Irish language theatre located in the city centre, Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe, which was established in 1928 and has produced some of Ireland's most celebrated actors.

[60] Two of the most celebrated Irish actors of the 20th century, Siobhán McKenna and Peter O'Toole, have strong family connections with Galway.

Other well-known actors include Mick Lally, Seán McGinley and Marie Mullen, all three of whom were founders of the Druid Theatre Company.

Other actors with strong Galway connections are Pauline McLynn, (Shameless and Father Ted), Nora Jane Noone, and Aoife Mulholland.

Garry Hynes, the first artistic director of Druid Theatre, was the first woman ever to win a Tony Award for direction.

Its full name is the Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Apostolic Administratorship of Kilfenora (in Irish – Deoise na Gaillimhe, Chill Mac Duach agus Riarachán Aspalda Cill Fhionnúrach, in Latin – Diocesis Galviensis, Duacensis ac Administratio Apostolica Finaborensis).

In 2009 Galway hosted a stopover on the Volvo Ocean Race and the city was the finishing point of the round-the-world competition in July 2012.

It was refurbished by the Irish Greyhound Board, Bord na gCon, and the facility is shared with the Connacht rugby team.

Another Galway-based newspaper is the Galway Advertiser, a free paper printed every Thursday with an average of 160 pages and a circulation of 70,000 copies.

Galway Airport, located 6 km (3.73 mi) east of the city at Carnmore, ceased to have scheduled passenger flights on 31 October 2011.

[84] Aerfort na Minna (22 km (13.67 mi) west of the city) operates regular flights to each of the Aran Islands (Oileáin Árann).

[90] The Midland Great Western Railway reached Galway in 1851, giving the city a direct main line to its Broadstone Station terminus in Dublin.

The nearby town of Athenry became a railway junction, giving Galway links to Ennis, Limerick and the south in 1869 and Sligo and the north in 1894.

The 20th century brought increasing road competition, and this led the Great Southern Railways to close the Clifden branch in 1935.

Iarnród Éireann, Ireland's national rail operator, currently runs six return passenger services each day between Galway and Dublin Heuston, also serving intermediate stations.

Galway is considered the gateway to Connemara and the Gaeltacht, including Mám, An Teach Dóite, Cor na Móna, Ros Muc, Bearna and An Cheathrú Rua.

Most of the mills are still used today for various purposes; for instance, the University of Galway still uses a water turbine for electricity generation for their building on Nun's Island.

[citation needed] Regular passenger ferry and freight services operate between Galway and the tourist destination of the Aran Islands which is home to World Heritage Site Dún Aonghasa.

[citation needed] The city is planned as the start of the E2 European long-distance path, running for 4,850 kilometres (3,010 mi) to Nice, though (as of 2012) the Irish section was incomplete.