Gaillimh inion Breasail is the name of the

mythical Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

woman from whom the river and city of

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, derives its name. According to

James Hardiman James Hardiman (1782–1855), also known as Séamus Ó hArgadáin, was a librarian at Queen's College, Galway. Hardiman is best remembered for his '' History of the Town and County of Galway'' (1820) and '' Irish Minstrelsy'' (1831), one of the f ...

, quoting

Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh ( fl. 1603 – 1616), sometimes anglicised as Lewey O'Clery, was an Irish Gaelic poet and historian. He is best known today as the author of ''Beatha Aodha Ruaidh Uí Dhomhnaill'', a biography of Red Hugh O'Donnell. Life Bor ...

, "that the city of Galway took its name from the river, in which was drowned ''Gaillimh'', the daughter of Breasail." Hardiman goes on to state that in the mid-17th map of the town, "a rock is shown in the river" (now called the Corrib), "where" it is stated, that "a woman, named Galva, was drowned, near a great rock, in the river," (which is delineated on the map) "and that from this circumstance the town originally took its name." She was said to be the daughter of a chief of the

Fir Bolg In medieval Irish myth, the Fir Bolg (also spelt Firbolg and Fir Bholg) are the fourth group of people to settle in Ireland. They are descended from the Muintir Nemid, an earlier group who abandoned Ireland and went to different parts of Europe. ...

, Breasail. It is now generally held that she was a

tribal The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

or local

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...

of the river, much like other

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

deities such as

Boann Boann or Boand (modern Irish spelling: Bónn) is the Irish goddess of the River Boyne (the river-name now always in the nominalised dative/prepositional case, Bóinn), a river in Ireland's historical fifth province, Meath (from Middle Irish '' ...

. The

etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...

of the name is thought to translate, roughly, as ''stony river'', and probably dates back to at least the late Irish pre-historic era.

References

* ''Beatha Aodha Ruaidh Uí Dhomhnaill'',

, a.1603-b.1616 * ''History of Galway'',

, 1820 * ''Early Irish History and Mythology, T.F. O'Rahilly, Dublin , 1946 * ''A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology'', James McKillop,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

University Press, 1998 * ''Galway-Gaillimh: a bibliography of the city and county'', Mary Kavanagh, Galway County Council, 2000 * ''The Tribes of Galway: 1124-1642'', Adrian Martyn, Galway, 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaillimh Inion Breasail Irish goddesses Sea and river goddesses Fir Bolg

See also

References