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County Galway · Connacht · Bearna

About Barna

Barna is a town in County Galway, 7 km west of Galway city, with 2,336 people at the 2022 census. A Gaeltacht village seven kilometres west of the city on the coast road, with a Georgian house of 1778, a quay by Alexander Nimmo and a population that has grown into Galway's suburb.

Population
2,336 (2022 census)
Where
7 km from Galway, 192 km from Dublin
Position
53.2519° N, 9.1514° W
In Irish
Bearna
Twinned with
Esquibien, Brittany
On the model
1,469 buildings, 12 streets, 205 places in 45 kinds
Read more
Barna on Wikipedia
The 3D model of Barna with every named place pinned
Rusheen Bay
Rusheen Bay
Ian Capper, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Barna Harbour
Barna Harbour
Ian Capper, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Beach at Barna
Beach at Barna
Ian Capper, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Road to Silverstrand beach
Road to Silverstrand beach
Ian Capper, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

A short history

  1. Early times
    Middens and forts. Shell middens, ringforts, holy wells and castle sites lie in the townlands of Barna, Knockaunnacarragh, Derryloney and Truskey.
  2. 1778
    Barna House. The large Georgian house in Barna townland was built.
  3. 1820s
    Nimmo's quay. The quay was built to the engineer Alexander Nimmo's designs.
  4. 1976
    The co-operative. Comharchumann Bearna Teoranta was formed after funds were raised to buy two acres at Troscaigh Thiar for the community; a tennis court and pitch and putt course followed.
  5. 2008
    An Olympian. Cormac Folan of Freeport rowed for Ireland in the coxless four at the Beijing Games.
  6. 2011 to 2022
    Growing. The village had 1,878 people in 2011, at nearly a thousand to the square kilometre, and 2,336 by 2022.

The full history, 6 moments in order

What to see

  1. The quay

    Alexander Nimmo's pier of the 1820s, at Freeport, An Chéibh.

  2. Barna House

    The Georgian house of 1778.

  3. Tobar Éanna1.4 km

    St Enda's well, 1.4 km from the village.

  4. Barna Woods

    The woodland walks on the city side of the village.

  5. Silverstrand

    The beach towards Salthill.

  6. The hen harrier reserve802 m

    The reserve on the moor north of the village.

All the things to see and do

Questions people ask

Where is Barna?
In County Galway, in the province of Connacht, in the west of Ireland: 7 km west of Galway city and 192 km west of Dublin, on the R336, just west of Galway.
What is the population of Barna?
2,336 people at the 2022 census.
What is there in Barna?
On the map, 205 named places in 45 kinds: 10 places to eat and drink, 8 shops, 3 schools, churches and public buildings, and 169 things to see within 12 km.
What is Barna known for?
Its quay by Nimmo, the woods and Silverstrand, its Irish, and being the coastal village that has become a suburb of Galway.

Getting around

Barna sits on the R336, just west of Galway. 3 bus stops and 0 car parks are on the map.

History, sights and civic facts summarise Wikipedia, "Barna" (CC BY-SA 4.0, read 2026-09-19). Population is the CSO census as listed there. Distances and everything on the model are OpenStreetMap.