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Galway's Quincentennial Year [1984]
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Galway's Quincentennial Year [1984]
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Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Digital Library Collections
This is a PDF of a folder from our textual collections.
Collection: Correspondence, White House Office of:
Records, 1981-89
Folder Title: Galways Quincentennial Year
Box: Box 75(1984)
To see more digitized collections visit:
https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/digitized-textual-material
To see all Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Inventories, visit:
https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/white-house-inventories
Contact a reference archivist at: [email protected]
Citation Guidelines: https://reaganlibrary.gov/archives/research-
support/citation-guide
National Archives Catalogue: https://catalog.archives.gov/
Last Updated: 05/3/2023
THE UNITED
THE
BO
SEAL
COPARIS
Galway's Quincentennial Year, 1984
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Many Americans trace their heritage directly to Ireland. All Americans have
benefitted greatly from the distinctive Irish cultural contribution, plus the
creativity and enduring effort of Irish people from colonial days to the present.
Many Americans have a special affection for a city on Ireland's western
shore, Galway, which this year celebrates its Quincentennial as a mayoral
city. For many Americans, the song "Galway Bay" has a special place in their
hearts. Even those not of Irish extraction are aware that this song encapsu-
lates a bit of the history of Ireland and its proud culture, and serves as a
reminder of what separation from a beloved land meant to many Irish
emigrants in the United States.
The area of Galway has been inhabited since the thirteenth century. A
Franciscan monastic centre was established in 1291 and served as a focus for
scholarship and religious activities. The town grew in prominence, and its
chief officer was granted the rank of Mayor in 1484. Historically, Galway's
relative geographical isolation from the central seat of English power fostered
a spirit of independence, which it has nurtured to this day. Galway's impor-
tance as an international trading center gave medieval Galway a cosmopoli-
tan flavor, perhaps unique in Ireland. Tradition has it that Christopher Colum-
bus and many other explorers visited Galway on one of their voyages.
Medieval Galway developed into a de facto city-state, ruled by a merchant
oligarchy, the famous "tribes." Galway's history is a rich one involving trading
and cultural contributions from many nations and the more direct impact of
the Normans and the English. Pre-Cromwellian Galway became an imporant
seat of learning, boasting the famous free school founded by the Lynch family.
This was swept away in the havoc caused by Cromwell's forces in 1652 and
marked the end of Galway's Golden Age.
The Williamite wars, brought to an end by the Treaty of Limerick in 1691,
added further to the decline of the city. The greatest calamity of all to befall
the city was the great famine of 1846-47, which seemed to mark the end and to
relegate the city to the level of country town. The Seaport, which had once
rung with the laughter of many tongues in better days, now echoed with the
wails of country- and city-folk alike as they left the city for the last time on
board the dreaded coffin ships headed for North America.
The darkness of the nineteenth century gave way to a century bright with
prospects for the city of Galway. The new Irish state encouraged Galway's
growth as a university city and industrial center, and once again the city
began to expand and develop. Today, Galway is a modern and thriving city, a
center of culture, learning and industry. The "city of the tribes," which has
given so much to Irish culture and history, rightly enjoys the admiration of all
who have a special affection for Ireland.
NOW, THERFORE, I, RONALD REAGAN, President of the United States of
America, do hereby recognize Galway's Quincentennial Year, 1984. I call upon
the people of the United States to join in celebrating and honoring Galway's
Quincentennial with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 23rd day of May,
in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-four, and of the Independ-
ence of the United States of America the two hundred and eighth.
Ronald Reagan