Wylliam Martin ( fl. 1504-1547) was the 34th

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 ...

Martin was 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 ...

, and had first served as a town bailiff for the term 1504-1505. He enjoyed two terms as Mayor, 1519–1520, and 1525-1526. He is noteworthy for introducing a statute concerning

morality Morality () is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of co ...

. *''It is ordered that if any man, free or unfree, be found by nighttime in any mans house to have

copulation Sexual intercourse (or coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion and thrusting of the penis into the vagina for sexual pleasure or reproduction.Sexual intercourse most commonly means penile–vaginal penetra ...

or to do with the good mans servant girl or the daughter of a merchant became pregnant, that the man responsible would have to marry or provide for her.'' Martin was also responsible for the erection during his term of ''Ceann an Bhalla'' (''the head of the wall''). This was an extension of the town wall from Martin's Tower to the bank of the Corrib, as a measure to protect the town's quays, which were located in the area once known as the Fish Market. It is now known as the

Spanish Arch Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

. He was the first Mayor of the Martyn family, who would ultimately produce nineteen Mayors and almost thirty Bailiffs and Sheriffs of Galway. His only known child was Thomas Óge Martyn.

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 Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

, 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 (2016). ''The Tribes of Galway: 1124-1642'' 16th-century Irish businesspeople Politicians from County Galway Irish merchants Mayors of Galway 15th-century births 16th-century deaths {{Ireland-mayor-stub

See also

References