Galway’s canal ways are a lesser-known but historically significant part of the city’s development, reflecting its long relationship with trade, industry, and water management.
The canals were primarily developed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to support milling, drainage, and transport, linking the River Corrib with surrounding areas.
One of the most notable is the Eglinton Canal, constructed in the mid-nineteenth century to improve navigation between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, bypassing the fast-flowing river.
Although commercial traffic on the canal was limited and short-lived, it played an important role in local industry, supplying water to mills and supporting agricultural activity.
Its construction was undertaken in the year 1852 and was created for a variety of purposes: the improvement of trade routes in the region, to feed the desire of turning Galway into a more whole harbour city; consideration of the development of mills in its aftermath; and lastly, to achieve the goal of decreasing the flood risk of the surrounding area.
The canal provided a connection to the sea through five swinging bridges and two locks, which have since been replaced by concrete bridges after only 102 years due to a lack of use, giving Galway trade access to both Connemara and Mayo.
The reason for this canal’s fall in usage was the railway lines built between Galway and Dublin, as well as Galway and Clifden. One mill used at this time is located on the aptly named “mill street”. This mill is a former flour mill, dating back to the early 19th century. This is a rare urban mill that combined both house and mill in one.
Powered by the Corrib, a headrace beneath the mill diverted water to a wooden wheel that drove the functions of the mill, such as two pairs of millstones: one for grinding wheat and the other oats. Smaller mill races and waterways branched off from the main canal system, powering flour mills, breweries, and other enterprises that contributed to Galway’s economy.
Over time, as rail and road transport became dominant, the canals fell into disuse, and many sections were filled in or absorbed into the urban landscape. Despite this, traces of Galway’s canal ways remain visible today in street layouts, waterways, and place names.
They stand as quiet reminders of a period when canals were vital to the city’s growth and adaptation to changing economic needs.
