This site provides a searchable database of placenames in Galway county, a county in the west of Ireland.

It includes the Ordnance Survey Field Name Books; notebooks which were compiled as part of the first Ordnance Survey of Ireland in the 1840s. The books are aranged alphabetically by Civil Parish, and include

• placenames and their variant spellings
• a derivation of the name
• a description of the place
• its situation.

The original books for Galway county are available, on microfilm, at Galway Public Library, but they have been transcribed and can be searched on this site using the place name search form.

The site includes the following...

• place name search form
• list of civil parishes in Galway
• list of landmarks which were identified in Galway at the time of the original Ordnance Survey that took place in the 1840s. This list includes holy wells, castles, forts, churches, burial grounds etc.

• people search form. It can be used to search for people who lived in Galway from the early 1800s to 1911.
• neighbour search form. It can be used to search for people who lived in the same or adjoining townlands in Galway from the early 1800s to 1911.
• list of landlords who owned property in Galway at the time of the original Ordnance survey.This list is derived from the Ordnance Survey Field Name Books of the 1840s.

We would like to receive feedback about this site to help us map its future direction. Perhaps you might tell us what you think of the site, and if you found the information you were seeking. If you wish to provide feedback, please do not hesitate to e-mail us.

Galway Public Library wishes to gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the Heritage Council.