Galway is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht. It is the county town of County Galway, which is named after it. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city in the island of Ireland and the fourth most populous in the Republic of Ireland, with a population at the 2016 Census of 79,934.Located near an earlier settlement, Galway grew around a fortification built by the King of Connacht in 1124.