Skip to content
GalwayOnFoot.ieRoundstone
County Galway · Connacht · Cloch na Rón

About Roundstone

Roundstone is a town in County Galway, 59 km west of Galway city, with 214 people at the 2016 census. A harbour village Alexander Nimmo laid out in the 1820s, facing Inishnee across the bay, where Paul Henry and Jack Yeats painted and Sting wrote an album.

Population
214 (2016 census)
Where
59 km from Galway, 243 km from Dublin
Position
53.3963° N, 9.9188° W, 20 m above sea level
In Irish
Cloch na Rón
Twinned with
Noyelles-sous-Lens, France
On the model
862 buildings, 2 streets, 261 places in 32 kinds
Read more
Roundstone on Wikipedia
The 3D model of Roundstone with every named place pinned
Roundstone North Pier
Roundstone North Pier
Stuart Logan, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Roundstone Harbour
Roundstone Harbour
Bob Jones, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Roundstone Harbour
Roundstone Harbour
Bert Kaufmann from Roermond, Netherlands, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Roundstone Harbour, Co. Galway, Ireland.
Roundstone Harbour, Co. Galway, Ireland.
JoachimKohler-HB, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

A short history

  1. 15th century
    The O'Flahertys' priory. The chiefs of the O'Flahertys, who ruled the country to the north, built a Dominican priory about 3 km north of where the village now stands.
  2. 1684
    Round-stone Haven. Roderick O'Flaherty already called the bay by that name; the rock at its entrance is strikingly round.
  3. 1820s
    Nimmo's village. The Scottish engineer Alexander Nimmo founded Roundstone while building roads, houses and harbours across the west; Scottish fishermen settled here.
  4. 1835
    The Franciscan monastery. Built after Catholic Emancipation.
  5. 20th century
    The painters. Paul Henry, Jack B.
  6. Early 1980s
    Zenyatta Mondatta. Sting had a home in Roundstone and wrote most of The Police's third album here.

The full history, 7 moments in order

What to see

  1. The harbour

    Nimmo's harbour of the 1820s, with Inishnee across the water.

  2. Alexander Nimmo5 m

    The monument to the engineer who founded the village.

  3. The Franciscan monastery457 m

    The monastery grounds of 1835, now the park where the crafts are made.

  4. St Mathias's chapel1.7 km

    The chapel ruin 1.7 km from the village.

  5. Toombeola Abbey5.3 km

    The ruin of the O'Flahertys' Dominican priory, 5 km north.

  6. Errisbeg

    The hill above the village, and the beaches of Gurteen and Dog's Bay beyond it.

All the things to see and do

Questions people ask

Where is Roundstone?
In County Galway, in the province of Connacht, in the west of Ireland: 59 km west of Galway city and 243 km west of Dublin, on the R341 to the N59; 18 km from Clifden.
What is the population of Roundstone?
214 people at the 2016 census.
What is there in Roundstone?
On the map, 261 named places in 32 kinds: 6 places to eat and drink, 3 shops, 4 schools, churches and public buildings, and 236 things to see within 12 km.
What is Roundstone known for?
Its harbour, the painters who worked here, the July regatta, the films shot in the village, and Sting's stay while writing Zenyatta Mondatta.

Getting around

Roundstone sits on the R341 to the N59; 18 km from Clifden. 2 bus stops and 1 car park are on the map.

History, sights and civic facts summarise Wikipedia, "Roundstone, County Galway" (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.