Seán an tSalainn French (1489–1546) was

Mayor of Galway The office of Mayor of Galway is an honorific title used by the of Galway City Council. The council has jurisdiction throughout its administrative area of the city of Galway which is the largest city in the province of Connacht, in Ireland. The ...

from 1538 to 1539. French was born 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 ...

, a member of one of

The Tribes of Galway The Tribes of Galway ( ga, Treibheanna na Gaillimhe) were 14 merchant families who dominated the political, commercial and social life of the city of Galway in western Ireland between the mid-13th and late 19th centuries. They were the families ...

. Baptised John, he was known as ''Seán an tSalainn'' ('John of the Salt') because of the immense wealth he accrued as a merchant. He financed several additions to St. Nicholas' Collegiate Church, and had a

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

built on the south side of St. Francis Abbey. A large stone building, called John French's Chamber, was erected on arches, just outside the town walls, over the river Corrib. Four of his sons later became Mayors - Dominick (1568–69); Peter (1576–77); Robuck French (1582–83); Marcus French (1604–1605).

References

* ''History of Galway'',

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 ...

, Galway, 1820. * ''Old Galway'',

Maureen Donovan O'Sullivan Mary Josephine Donovan O'Sullivan was Professor of History at Queens College, Galway (now NUI Galway) from 1914 to 1957. Biography One of ten children, four of whom survived infancy, Donovan was born at Fair Hill Road in Galway on 24 November ...

, 1942. * Henry, William (2002). ''Role of Honour: The Mayors of Galway City 1485–2001''. Galway: Galway City Council. * Martyn, Adrian, ''The Tribes of Galway:1124–1642'', Galway, 2016. 1489 births 1546 deaths Mayors of Galway Politicians from County Galway 16th-century Irish businesspeople {{Ireland-mayor-stub