The city's name means stony river, and if you think that's formidable sounding, it's nickname is "City of the Tribes". The city has largely been loyal to the English crown for most of it's history; it's brief Gaelic foray was aborted when the Cromwellian campaign in Ireland laid siege to the city for nine months.
Galway is the "Heart of Irish Culture", what with a merry lifestyle, heaps of festivals, a great number of art institutes that includes four writers groups. The city loves its music; the Saw Doctors and the Stunning are only bands that the world knows about, but the streets of the city itself are lined with cheery buskers (skills and unskilled) regaling your musical appetite with traditional Irish Music; and the church choirs are acclaimed. Heck, the city's frequently been called one of the sexiest cities in the world.