[5] On Saint Patrick's Day, 17 March 2017, Sheeran announced the song as the third single from his 2017 album ÷, accompanied by a lyric video.

However, the rest of the song was made up and not about anyone in particular (Dunne is from County Limerick and married an Irishman and Sheeran, although English, is of paternal Irish descent).

Eamon Murray of Beoga described the collaboration as being very productive, noting Sheeran's ability to create a pop hook that "gets into people's heads", and recalling his own astonishment at how quickly the songs were written.

Of the approximately half-dozen songs resulting from the session, two of them, "Galway Girl" and "Nancy Mulligan", were included on the album.

[18] According to Sheeran, he had to fight his record label to keep the song on his album: "They were really, really against 'Galway Girl', because apparently folk music isn't cool.

"[19][20] However, he was able to convince them to include the song by telling them that it would be a "f***ing massive [hit] because there are 400 million people in the world who will say they are Irish even if they aren't".

Amy Mulvaney from the Irish Independent gave the song a positive review, calling it "definitive proof of just how much he (Ed) likes Ireland" and wrote "With mentions of Grafton Street, "Carrickfergus", fiddles, céilis, an Irish band and trad tunes, there's no denying just how much the pop star loves our fair isle, and can see this becoming a sure fire hit over the next few weeks.

Snapes said, "Set to bodhrán and uileann pipes [sic], it's the latest of many Sheeran barnstormers about meeting a great gal (who is definitely real) on a boozy night out.

"[1] Writing for The New York Times, Jon Caramanica described the song as a "literal take on Irish-inflected pop", also drawing a comparison to music of Irish band the Corrs.

[27] Craig Jenkins of Vulture found it to be an "upbeat R&B love song with Celtic folk accents", with a "guitar breakdown that sounds like a nod to Oasis' 'Wonderwall'.

"[4] Galway Girl was ranked as one of the worst songs of 2017 by Time[28] and New York Post,[29] with the latter calling it a "hodgepodge of borderline-offensive Irish clichés".

[3] Sheeran was impressed by Ronan's performance in the video, commenting, "She, off-screen, is normal and just like a cool person and as soon as the camera goes on her she just turns...

[40][41] On 8 December 2017, Sheeran performed "Galway Girl" live at the Z100 Jingle Ball at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

[42][43] On 10 December 2017, Sheeran performed the song live at the Jingle Bell Ball at London's O2 arena, hosted by Capital FM.

Although he was on world tour in support of his album ÷ at the time, his performance at Phoenix Park in Dublin was broadcast at the award ceremony in Las Vegas.