"Galway Girl" is a song written by

Steve Earle Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, author, and actor. Earle began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Initially working in the country music g ...

and recorded with Irish musician

Sharon Shannon Sharon Shannon (born 8 June 1968) is an Irish musician, best known for her work with the button accordion and for her fiddle technique. She also plays the tin whistle and melodeon. Her 1991 debut album, ''Sharon Shannon,'' was the best-selling ...

; the title was originally "The Galway Girl". It was featured on Earle's 2000 album ''

Transcendental Blues ''Transcendental Blues'' is the ninth studio album by Steve Earle, released in 2000. It features Sharon Shannon on the track "The Galway Girl (Steve Earle song), Galway Girl". The album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Contemporary Folk Al ...

''. "The Galway Girl" tells the semi-autobiographical story of the songwriter's reaction to a beautiful black-haired blue-eyed girl he meets in

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 ...

. Local references include

Salthill Salthill () is a seaside area in the City of Galway in the west of Ireland. Lying within the townland of Lenaboy (''an Léana Buí''), it attracts many tourists all year round. There is a 2 km long promenade, locally known as ''the Pro ...

and

The Long Walk ''The Long Walk'' is a dystopian horror novel by American writer Stephen King, published in 1979, under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. It was collected in 1985 in the hardcover omnibus '' The Bachman Books'', and has seen several reprints s ...

. A cover version of the song by

Mundy Edmond Enright (born 19 May 1975), known professionally as Mundy, is an Irish singer-songwriter and founder of the independent record label Camcor Records. Biography He released his debut album ''Jelly Legs'' in 1996 on the Epic Records label ...

and Sharon Shannon reached number one and became the most downloaded song of 2008 in Ireland; it has gone on to become the eighth highest selling single in Irish chart history. The song has been the subject of numerous covers and live interpretations.

Background

The song was written about Joyce Redmond; Redmond plays the

bodhrán The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'' or ''bodhráns'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or othe ...

on Steve Earle's version of the song. Earle met Redmond in Galway. Redmond is from Howth, County Dublin.

Cover versions

Mundy version

The Irish artist

collaborated with

on a cover of "Galway Girl", a track she had previously performed with

. A studio version of the track reached number one on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

in April 2008 and remained there for five weeks. It was the biggest-selling download in Ireland in 2008 and was a winning nominee at the 2008 Meteor Awards. The song was the highest-selling single in Ireland for 2008. Mundy also recorded an

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

version of the track entitled "Cailín na Gaillimhe", for ''

Ceol '08 ''Ceol'' is an Irish compilation album series released annually between 2005 and 2018. Published as part of '' Seachtain na Gaeilge'', the albums contain works in the Irish language by various Irish artists. Releases Ceol '06 ''Ceol 06'' is a ...

'', an Irish language compilation record, which was released in 2008 to raise money for several Irish charities.

Other versions

(Year of release - artist / group - album) * 2003:

The Punters ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

- ''Fisherman's Blues'' * 2004: The Elders - ''

The Best Crowd We Ever Had ''The Best Crowd We Ever Had'' is The Elders' first live album. Track listing # "The Best Crowd We Ever Had" - 0:33 # "1849" - 4:44 # "Packy Go Home" - 5:31 # "Fire in the Hole" - 4:34 # "Moore Street Girls" - 3:51 # "Message from the Battle ...

'' * 2007:

The Fenians The Fenians are a Celtic rock band from Orange County, California. They take their name from a pair of organizations known as the Fenians dedicated to the establishment of an independent Irish Republic in the 19th and early 20th centuries, as well ...

- ''The Best of the Fenians: Couldn't Have Come at a Better Time'' * 2008:

The Langer's Ball ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

- ''As I Roved Out'' * 2009:

Malachi Cush Malachi Cush, also recording as Malachi, (born 23 September 1980), is an Irish singer-songwriter from Donaghmore, a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Coming from a large musical family, he started singing and playing Irish tradi ...

- ''The Galway Girl'' * 2010:

Mike Denver Michael Fallon (born 15 June 1980 in Portumna, County Galway) known as Mike Denver, is an Irish country singer. Career Starting touring at age 16, he later on met manager Willie Carty who signed him. Denver recorded his first album ''Wings to Fl ...

- ''The Essential Galway Boy Collection'' * 2011: Celtic Thunder - ''Heritage'' (later re-recorded) * 2012:

Scythian The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...

- ''It's Not Too Late'' * 2012:

Rapalje Rapalje is a Dutch Celtic folk band which performs Irish, Scottish and Dutch folk music and sings in English as well as in Dutch. The band consists of William van der Laan, David Myles, and Marcel "Maceál" Meijer. Former member Dieb den Boer left ...

- ''Clubs'' * 2013: Johnny Logan - '' The Irish Connection 2'' * 2013:

Foster and Allen Foster and Allen are a musical duo from Ireland consisting of Mick Foster and Tony Allen. In their 47-year career, they have released over 52 albums, many of which entered the UK Albums Chart. Along with "A Bunch of Thyme" (entering the Irish ch ...

featuring

Shayne Ward Shayne Thomas Ward (born 16 October 1984) is an English actor and singer. He rose to fame as the winner of The X Factor (British series 2), the second series of ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor''. His debut single, "That's M ...

. * 2013:

The High Kings The High Kings is an Irish folk group formed in Dublin in 2008. The band consists of Finbarr Clancy, Brian Dunphy, Darren Holden, and Paul O'Brien. As of 2020, the group had released five studio albums, four live albums, and two live DVDs, an ...

- ''Friends for Life'' * 2015:

Damien Leith Damien Leo Leith (born 18 January 1976, in Dublin) is an Irish-Australian singer–songwriter. He was the winner of the Network Ten music contest ''Australian Idol 2006''. Since winning the title, Leith has released nine studio albums, four of wh ...

featuring

- ''

Songs from Ireland ''Songs from Ireland'' is the eighth album by ''Australian Idol'' 2006 winner Damien Leith. It was released by Sony Music Australia on CD and digital download in Australia on 13 March 2015. The album debuted at No. 11 in Australia. Backgroun ...

'' * 2015: Old Goats - ''A Rattling Pint'' * 2017: Ritchie Remo, a Northern Ireland singer as "Galway Girls" as a mashup of this song and identically titled

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

song " Galway Girl"

* 2020: Rocky Sullivan, Psy.D. - ''Hash It Out'' * 2020: Fiddler's Green (band), Fiddler's Green - ''3 Cheers for 30 Years'' The comedian

Stewart Lee Stewart Graham Lee (born 5 April 1968) is an English comedian, screenwriter, and television director. His stand-up routine is characterised by repetition, internal reference, deadpan delivery, and consistent breaking of the fourth wall. Lee b ...

references and performs the song in his 2009 Edinburgh Fringe show and also on his live DVD ''If You Prefer a Milder Comedian Please Ask for One'', released on 11 October 2010.

References in popular culture

The song appears in the

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

film '' P.S. I Love You'';

Gerard Butler Gerard James Butler (born 13 November 1969) is a Scottish actor and film producer. After studying law, he turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as ''Mrs Brown'' (1997), the James Bond film ''Tomorrow Never Di ...

's character sings the song for

Hilary Swank Hilary Ann Swank (born July 30, 1974) is an American actress and film producer. She first became known in 1992 for her role on the television series '' Camp Wilder'' and made her film debut with a minor role in ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1992 ...

's character.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan Jeffrey Dean Morgan (born April 22, 1966) is an American actor of television and film, best known for playing the character Negan in the AMC horror drama series '' The Walking Dead'' (2016–2022), for which he has received critical acclaim. He ...

's character also sings the song to Swank. The song is featured in the TV series '' Treme'' (in episode 9 of "What is New Orleans?", from

Season 2 Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album) * '' 2econd Season'' See also

* {{disambig ...

). It was performed by

(in the role of Harley, a street musician) with

Lucia Micarelli Lucia Micarelli (born July 9, 1983) is an American violinist, singer and actress best known for her collaborations with Josh Groban, Chris Botti and classic rock band Jethro Tull, and her role as Annie Talarico in '' Treme''. Early life Born ...

and

Spider Stacy Peter Richard "Spider" Stacy (born 14 December 1958, Eastbourne) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is best known for playing tin whistle and sometimes singing for The Pogues. Early life Stacy left school at 16 after fa ...

, of

The Pogues The Pogues were an English or Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and others, founded in Kings Cross, London in 1982, as "Pogue Mahone" – the anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic ''póg mo thóin'', meaning "kiss my arse". T ...

, accompanying him on violin and

pennywhistle The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, putting it in the same class as the recorder, Native American flute, and other woodwind instruments that meet such criteria. ...

References

{{authority control 2000 songs 2008 singles 2008 in Irish music Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Irish songs Music in Galway (city) Songs about Ireland Songs written by Steve Earle