River Corrib - Definition

The Corrib River in the west of Ireland flows from Lough Corrib through Galway city to Galway Bay. The river has only a length of four miles from the lough to the sea, and is said to be the shortest in Europe. It is also among the most powerful, especially after a few days rain.

The correct name for the river is the Gaillimh or Galway river. No one has ever determined where the name comes from. The oldest legend concerning its naming states that it was called Gaillimh after the daughter of a Fir Bolg chieftain who drowned in the river. A later theory holds that it was called after the Gaill (Gaelic for "foreigners"), meaning the Normans, who established what was later to become the town of Galway there in 1232. However this cannot be true as the river already bore its name long beforehand. Indeed, the earliest settlement on what was later to become Galway City was called Dún Bun Gallimhe, or "the town at the mouth of the Galway (river)".

The river gave its name to the town, which grew to a city, and from c.1570 onwards, the city gave its name to the county.

Lough Corrib is a corruption of the an earlier name, Lough Orbsen, named after a Fir Bolg leader. There is good fishing to be had on both the lake and river.

See also: List of rivers in Ireland