Talk:Galway

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request for help

Swept in from the travellers pub

Yesterday I put up an ad for Eds New York Pizza In th "eat" section of Galway City, Ireland. Today I went back to see if anyone had responded and The whole entire Eat section is gone. Please help.(WT-en) Rcevoli 10:30, 1 February 2008 (EST)rcevoli 1 Feb, 2008

it appears to be back. (WT-en) Kire1975 22:16, 22 July 2008 (EDT)

Joyce

I added a mention of Nora Barnacle's house and see this sparked an edit skirmish. Just to clarify: the aspersions against James Joyce's writing style are only to relate Nora's own oft-expressed complaints - I wouldn't put my own opinion here. By all means amend if that's not clear from the text. Grahamsands (talk) 09:23, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

Don't worry, you can put in your own opinion into Wikivoyage (as long as it's not insane and/or offensive, or as they call it round these parts "fair"). As for the James Joyce stuff, it clearly adds colour to the experience of reading this article and should stay. I've encountered a dynamic IP editor before who tries to edit all the fun stuff out of Irish articles.--ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 09:51, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

So Padraig comes for a job in construction, and the hiring boss says "So can you tell me, what's the difference between a joist and a girder?"

"Sure, everyone knows that. Joist wrote Ulysses and Girder wrote Faust." Grahamsands (talk) 07:50, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

Laughing. Out. Loud. more than just an acronym. Ground Zero (talk) 12:01, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

County edits

See County Galway discussion page for some proposed mergers. The only one directly relevant to the city is to merge / redirect Castlegar here - it's got the racetrack and that's all. Grahamsands (talk) 18:01, 25 June 2020 (UTC)

Suspect typo

from Wikivoyage:Correct typos in one click ffrench->french? (omit) context: ~~~ Blake, Bodkin, Browne, D'arcy, Deane, Font, ffrench
ffrench , Joyce, Kirwan, Lynch, Martin, Morris, ~~~

Free images of Galway

See here

(https://www.universityofgalway.ie/ineh/gallery/) AskMeAboutGalway! :) (talk) 14:33, 8 December 2025 (UTC)

Should Galway be upgraded to Guide Article?

It's a very large page with lots of info, bit confused why it's still on "Usable" level. Was going to change it myself, but figured I'd ask first to make sure everyone agrees. AskMeAboutGalway! :) (talk) 14:11, 13 December 2025 (UTC)

Since no response here, I went ahead and did it. I don't see why not, especially considering I've tidied up the page a good bit since posting this and it now is up-to-date and doesn't have many obvious formatting errors. AskMeAboutGalway! :) (talk) 19:22, 15 December 2025 (UTC)

I suggest some minor changes:

- can you find Eyre Square and the principal transport hub on the map? No, because near-identical markers are superimposed. Unmark the less important to make the traveller-critical visible.

- the division into scenery, buildings etc is odd. A geographic grouping is more natural for exploring the city, and a useful side-effect is that you can unmark adjacent POIs.

- several pubs were not updated in my overhaul of May 2025 as they were "temporarily closed". If they remain so, bin them, else update.

regards Grahamsands (talk) 11:23, 22 December 2025 (UTC)

Thanks for the feedback! I'll address each point you have:

1. That's true, I hadn't thought of that. By "unmark the less important", do you mean removing the geo data for nearby markers? And if so, to what extent? For example, "The Hardiman" is definitely overlapping the station and should be removed, but what about "Eyre Square Centre"? That's also overlapping a bit, but if you zoom in by even one level it's not a problem anymore.
2. I think a geographical grouping doesn't make much sense for Galway, as it's very small and each area is within a 5 minute walk mostly. At least for me, the different areas don't really feel at all distinct, I think dividing them into "areas" would just limit the traveler by making them think they're more distinct than they actually are.
3. Ok I have to admit, I personally don't like pubs and actually have never been in any of them, so I've kind of been purposefully avoided updating them haha. I don't think I would be the best person for the job, but I suppose I could verify basic info like opening times etc. I think I'll get on to that now.

Thank you again, these are some helpful tips, especially about unmarking less important stuff! AskMeAboutGalway! :) (talk) 10:53, 23 December 2025 (UTC)

Ok, I've updated the pubs now, although I wasn't too thorough so some of the details might be off. Basically just skimmed through them to make sure they're still open, which they all are. AskMeAboutGalway! :) (talk) 11:33, 23 December 2025 (UTC)

That's about all I would have done with them myself, thanks.

Howabout if the map zooms to 14, that makes markers more distinct, and you take a judgement on which are still overlapping. We'd lose several POIs off the edge but we can't have it both ways. I wasn't suggesting districtification, but say you mark Spanish Arch then describe stuff next to it without markers, ditto for the cathedral and Eyre Square station, the whole thing becomes much clearer. Grahamsands (talk) 19:33, 23 December 2025 (UTC)

I did think about zooming the map in, but I feel like that sort of "excludes" the outer suburbs, and presents a narrow view of Galway as a whole. The article is about "Galway", but zooming in even one level pretty much just makes it a map of "Galway City Centre". Although, I suppose most listings are in the centre, so it might make sense.

I do feel like the fact that there are markers outside the current zoom level is a bit unintuitive, you have to actively zoom out to even realise they're there. I feel like the markers outside of the zoom level might just get forgotten about. I wish there was a little "X number of markers outside map frame bounds" pop-up, so you would know to go looking for them.

For the markers around Spanish Arch etc., would removing the marker for the museum and putting "next to Spanish arch" work?

Thanks! AskMeAboutGalway! :) (talk) 12:37, 24 December 2025 (UTC)

Well, that's what I would do. Grahamsands (talk) 16:42, 27 December 2025 (UTC)

Should Oranmore be included here or in it's own page?

Was thinking about adding a couple listings from Oranmore, but not sure since while it's technically a separate town, it almost functions as another suburb of Galway. Athenry is similar and already has it's own page, but that's 30 minutes away, so it is more distinct. Meanwhile Oranmore is only 15 minutes away so it's more of a grey area. AskMeAboutGalway! :) (talk) 13:05, 26 December 2025 (UTC)

I've done some research on Google Maps, and I'm inclined to agree with your assessment. Athenry should remain its own article while Oranmore could be incorporated here. That said, if you wanted to go ahead and start an article for Oranmore, I don't think anyone would oppose. --Comment by Selfie City (talk) (contributions) 13:12, 26 December 2025 (UTC)

Yeah, it should probably just be included in Galway, there's a lot of restaurants but not really much to See or Do. Now the question is, where to put the Oranmore listings? I feel like they should be at least somewhat distinct from the rest of the city. I would just put an "Oranmore" section under Eat, but there's not only restaurants, but also cafes and hotels in Oranmore that are worth visiting. It might be a bit clunky to have an Oranmore section under every section header. This problem would be solved by it having it's own article, but that would create the new problem of lack of See and Do. Hmm AskMeAboutGalway! :) (talk) 13:46, 26 December 2025 (UTC)

I think, in that case, it makes sense for Oranmore to be an article of its own. In "Do" you can just explain the situation and point to nearby cities/POIs. Perhaps Renville Castle could be listed in "See"? --Comment by Selfie City (talk) (contributions) 14:16, 26 December 2025 (UTC)

I did a bit of looking around Wikivoyage for similar cases and it seems there's lots of articles for places with even less to do than Oranmore, so now I think it should be it's own article too. Plus it's good for future-proofing, as Oranmore feels a bit "up-and-coming", so it might have more to Do in the future. I know the Nearby section isn't used much, but I feel it would probably work here. It could include Oranmore and Athenry, plus maybe Spiddal (I feel like Barna should just be included in Galway). Thanks for helping me make up my mind! AskMeAboutGalway! :) (talk) 14:23, 26 December 2025 (UTC)

I agree! The number of hotels, restaurants, and pubs indicate there's plenty to keep a tourist busy in the town. --Comment by Selfie City (talk) (contributions) 14:26, 26 December 2025 (UTC)

Oranmore could also cover the peninsula and archipelago south, so it's a good candidate for page creation. Grahamsands (talk) 16:45, 27 December 2025 (UTC)

Can a page be a Star Article without having a map?

Swept in from the pub

I've been polishing up the Galway article for a few days now, and I feel like it's very good now. I'm not sure it's quite good enough to be a Star Article yet, but that's what I'm aiming for. The only issue is that the criteria say it needs a map, and I can't make one myself. It also seems like there's a pretty large backlog of map requests, so I'm not sure anyone else would be able to make a map either. My question is: is a map really nescessary? Especially considering nowadays almost everywhere and everyone has constant internet access, so most people probably just look up maps online when traveling. AskMeAboutGalway! :) (talk) 16:02, 16 December 2025 (UTC)

I may develop a static map of the Irish city if I get the time. Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 16:50, 16 December 2025 (UTC)

Yes, a map is necessary. Ikan Kekek (talk) 17:35, 16 December 2025 (UTC)

But why is it necessary? Do all that many people even use physical maps anymore? Obviously some people do, but I'm not sure it's enough to warrant it being a necessity. AskMeAboutGalway! :) (talk) 17:43, 16 December 2025 (UTC)

I'd say more generally that Galway isn't at star status yet for other reasons as well. It also doesn't make a massive difference to an article's visibility whether it is a star or not. Maybe, focus on getting the article ready for a feature at Destination of the month candidates first, and go from there. --Comment by Selfie City (talk) (contributions) 18:19, 16 December 2025 (UTC)

I don't care much for visibility (other articles are just as deserving of the front page spot), I just want it to be an article of very good quality, and I feel it being a Star Article will hold it to that quality. I realize it's probably not star quality yet, I just want to know if I should wait until a map is done before I submit it for feedback. Also wondering just how important a map is, like is it so important that the article can't be good quality without it? (Also I feel like the Star Article criteria are quite vague so am not quite sure what exactly I have to do to improve it) AskMeAboutGalway! :) (talk) 18:30, 16 December 2025 (UTC)

I don't understand why you think a map is unimportant. Almost everyone uses maps, and they're usually online, not paper, just as this one will be. Ikan Kekek (talk) 18:31, 16 December 2025 (UTC)

I don't think maps are unimportant, I just feel like most people would probably use Google Maps or Openstreetmap or some other widely-used map, so I'm not sure any given Wikivoyage page needs a map, considering there's many maps available elsewhere too. Also, every page has a dynamic map anyway, and I feel like people probably prefer using that over a static map. I do think static maps are a nice thing to have, and every page should have one if possible, I just think it might be a bit unrealistic to think a page needs a map, given that not many people know how to make a good-quality map. Some pages have been on the map request list for years, if there's only a few map-makers, what if happens if they all leave Wikivoyage? Will no articles be capable of becoming Star Articles until someone willing to make a map comes along? AskMeAboutGalway! :) (talk) 18:42, 16 December 2025 (UTC)

I find that dynamic maps are great for the later stages of planning a trip, i.e., when I'm deciding if my desired hotel is close enough to places I want to see and eat, or when I'm already in the city.

In contrast, I prefer static maps when I'm in the early stages of planning a trip, i.e., where are the most famous landmarks, how do the named neighborhoods relate to each other, where is the train station, what is reachable by metro. I find the dynamic maps too busy for this in larger cities.

If you were to hand-draw a map with the ~10 most important places in Galway, what would that look like? That's what I want to see towards the top of a travel guide. You can certainly write a good travel guide without that, but it won't be the best travel guide, which is what the Star articles are.

I made my first region map a while back. I had to download all the tools and figure out vector graphics from basic principles, while following the guide. It took a few hours, but actually went better than I was bracing for. Gerode (talk) 20:00, 16 December 2025 (UTC)

Thanks for your perspective! I think you might have changed my mind. I hadn't considered that a dynamic map might be a bit too busy for the initial planning stage. Typically when I plan to visit somewhere, I start with one specific landmark that has captured my interest, and then I plan my day around things that are nearby. I tend to only look at the "bigger picture" of a location after I've already planned what to do. I don't tend to do the "top 10 most important places", because generally what interests me seems to be more niche places.

Here's an interesting fact to consider: I think this probably stems from the fact that I'm autistic, and some autistic people think in a "bottom-up information processing style". Some autistic people prefer to look at small intricate details first, and then learn the "simple overview" later. Meanwhile, non-autistic people tend to have a "top-down information processing style", where they prefer to look at a simple overview first, and then learn the small details.

I tend to forget that most people get overwhelmed with too much info at once, I need to be more considerate of that. What's ironic is that this lengthy reply is probably overwhelming you with info haha, sorry! AskMeAboutGalway! :) (talk) 20:59, 16 December 2025 (UTC)

I realize that you may already be convinced, but I want to address your point that we could farm out maps to Google or Openstreetmap. We could also farm out listings to Tripadvisor, Google, etc. But why would we do that when we can have comprehensive guides in one place? Ikan Kekek (talk) 21:54, 16 December 2025 (UTC)

Er, but of course Galway has a map, a dynamic map, which is the most useful type for a city article. Grahamsands (talk) 16:42, 19 December 2025 (UTC)

But that wasn't the question. Ikan Kekek (talk) 16:48, 19 December 2025 (UTC)