This document summarizes a mini-atlas of County Galway and Galway City that was created by Marguerite Walsh for a class project. The atlas contains 6 maps that show different aspects of the area, including its topography, tourist attractions, transport network, geology, distribution of the Irish Traveller community, and use of the Irish language. Some key details shown are Galway's long coastline, mountain ranges, major attractions along the coast and in Galway City, its road and rail networks, dominant limestone geology, concentration of Irish Travellers near urban areas, and higher rates of Irish language use in the official Gaeltacht regions.

1. Mini Atlas of Co.Galway
Cartography and Visualisation
Marguerite Walsh
MSc Geographical Information
Systems and Remote Sensing
Date Due: 12/11/2014

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This mini-atlas of Co. Galway and Galway City shows the area in 6 different ways. Some of
the maps show the natural, physical characteristics of the region such as the topography and
geology, while another focuses on the features which may attract tourists to the area. A
different map illustrates the accessibility of Co. Galway, while the final two maps show
aspects more related to the human geography of the area.
Map 1: The Topography of Co. Galway
The first maps show the topographic features of Co. Galway.
Galway lies on the western coast of Ireland facing into the Atlantic, and so has a long
coastline. In addition it has a number of inhabited islands off its shores – including Inishbofin
to the north and the Aran Islands to the south-west.
The Connemara is an area in western Co. Galway which is known worldwide for its unique
landscape.
In addition Co. Galway has many mountain ranges, rivers and lakes.

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Map 2: The Tourist Attractions of Co. Galway
This map shows the tourist attractions that Co. Galway has to offer. In the bottom-left hand
corner there is a zoomed in subset of Galway City and the area surrounding it, which shows it
in more detail.
From this may we can see that many of Galway’s attractions lie along its coastline, in Galway
City or in the Aran islands, particularly the largest of these – Inishmore.

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Map 3: The Transport Network of Co. Galway
The map above shows the transport system in and out of Co. Galway. Galway is the fourth
most populous city in the Republic of Ireland and hence has a good transport network.
By land there is an extensive road network including the M6 which goes directly to Dublin.
There is also a railway network running north/south and east/west across the country, which
services Galway.
Given its location and the number of islands off its shores Co. Galway has a large number of
airports, although these are all quite small in size only run small regional flights between the
mainland and the islands. Similarly there are a number of ferry routes also linking the islands
to the mainland, while Galway City also has a substantial port of its own which can facilitate
larger vessels.

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Map 4: The Geology of Co. Galway
The most common rock type in Co. Galway is limestone and calcareous limestone which
covers much of central Galway. To the west in the Connemara area there are stretches of the
famous Connemara Limestone, while in the east are marine basinal facies.
While the geology of Galway is undoubtedly varied, it is still less variable than other parts of
the country.

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Map 5: The Distribution of White Irish Travellers in Co. Galway
This map was produced using Census data from 2011. It shows the distribution of members
of the travelling community in Co. Galway. Each red dot represents two “white Irish
travellers”.
This map also shows the larger urban areas of Co. Galway. It can therefore be seen that the
majority of travellers have settled in or near these urban areas with only a small number
living in more rural parts.

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Map 6: The Irish Language in Co. Galway
The map above was also produced using the 2011 Census data. It shows the distribution of
people who speak Irish on a daily basis outside of the education system. This data is shown as
a per cent age above or below the national average.
The Gaeltacht area of Co. Galway is also drawn on this map. Unsurprisingly the highest
number of Irish speakers can be found here compared to parts of eastern Galway where the
amount of people speaking Irish is more on par with the national level.
This mini-atlas gives a broad overview of some of the characteristics of Galway City and
County.