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County Galway · Connacht · Tuaim

About Tuam

Tuam is a town in County Galway, 30 km north-east of Galway city, with 9,647 people at the 2022 census. The mound of two shoulders, a monastery, a market square laid out in 1613, and every building of the town it became. Its motto is “Long live the people of Tuam”.

Population
9,647 (2022 census)
Where
30 km from Galway, 173 km from Dublin
Position
53.5148° N, 8.8513° W, 44 m above sea level
In Irish
Tuaim
Eircode
H54 routing key · phone +353 (0)93
Governed
Tuam Municipal District, Galway County Council · Galway East constituency
Twinned with
Straubing, Germany
Largest employer
Valeo Vision Systems, with more than 1,000 staff
On the model
6,657 buildings, 76 streets, 223 places in 67 kinds
Read more
Tuam on Wikipedia
The 3D model of Tuam with every named place pinned
St Mary's Cathedral
St Mary's Cathedral
Andreas F. Borchert, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The Town Hall on the Square
The Town Hall on the Square
Tony Webster from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The O'Connor castle of 1164
The O'Connor castle of 1164
ClintMalpaso, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
St Jarlath's College
St Jarlath's College
Andreas F. Borchert, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

A short history

  1. Bronze Age
    A burial ground by the river. People have lived here since the Bronze Age: ground beside what is now Shop Street was used as a burial place, and in 1875 workmen found a Bronze Age burial urn there.
  2. 1106 to 1156
    Seat of the High King. During Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair's fifty-year reign Tuam was the centre of provincial power and, from 1128, the seat of the High King of Ireland, a title he took by force of arms.
  3. 1184
    Fire, and a long quiet. The first cathedral was destroyed by fire and collapsed.
  4. 1800
    St Jarlath's College. The college was founded in 1800.
  5. 1860 to 1978
    The railway. Tuam station opened on 27 September 1860 on the Athenry to Sligo line.
  6. 1980s
    The Chair and the Cross. The Chair of Tuam monument was unveiled in May 1980 by Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich, and in the same decade the High Cross was moved indoors, into the south transept of St Mary's Cathedral.

The full history, 17 moments in order

What to see

  1. Temple Jarlath3.7 km

    On High Street, near the centre: the site of the monastery Jarlath founded about 526 to 527.

  2. The Mill Museum

    An undershot water-wheel corn mill off Shop Street, beside the River Nanny, with origins in the seventeenth century and in use until 1964.

  3. Cathedral of the Assumption245 m

    The Roman Catholic cathedral, built 1827 to 1837, seat of the Archdiocese of Tuam.

  4. St Mary's Cathedral301 m

    The Church of Ireland cathedral, built 1861 to 1878, incorporating a twelfth-century red sandstone chancel arch in Irish Romanesque style, a national monument, and a fourteenth-century chancel.

  5. The High Cross of Tuam297 m

    Erected in 1152, reputedly once the tallest in Ireland, though the top of its shaft is missing and its ringed head comes from a second cross.

  6. The Chair of Tuam

    The monument unveiled in 1980 marks where the town's sovereign was sworn in under the 1613 charter, believed to be within the surviving tower of Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair's 1164 castle.

All the things to see and do

Population since 1821

2,4124,8247,23518211851190119511971200220229,647

Source: Wikipedia article 'Tuam', Historical populations template, citing the CSO census.

Questions people ask

Where is Tuam?
In County Galway, in the province of Connacht, in the west of Ireland: 30 km north-east of Galway city and 173 km west of Dublin, on the N17 to Collooney and the N83 from Galway, with the R332 and R347; the M17 motorway bypasses the town.
What is the population of Tuam?
9,647 people at the 2022 census, up from 8,767 in 2016.
What is there in Tuam?
On the map, 223 named places in 67 kinds: 17 places to eat and drink, 26 shops, 20 schools, churches and public buildings, and 97 things to see within 12 km.
What is there to do in Tuam?
Two cathedrals, the 1152 High Cross, Temple Jarlath where the town began, the Mill Museum on the River Nanny, the Chair of Tuam, castles in the countryside around, a monthly market, Gaelic football at Tuam Stadium and golf.
What is the history of Tuam?
A Bronze Age burial mound gave it its name; Jarlath founded a monastery about 526; the O'Connors made it their stronghold from 1049 and the seat of the high kings of Ireland in the twelfth century, when it became an archbishopric and got Ireland's first stone castle; a royal charter of 1613 laid out the market square it still has.

Getting around

Tuam sits on the N17 to Collooney and the N83 from Galway, with the R332 and R347; the M17 motorway bypasses the town. 6 bus stops and 5 car parks are on the map. Schools: St Jarlath's College, Archbishop McHale College and High Cross College (formed in 2023 from Presentation College and St Bridget's), with five main primary schools including Gaelscoil Iarfhlatha, an Irish-language school.

History, sights and civic facts summarise Wikipedia, "Tuam" (CC BY-SA 4.0, read 2026-09-18). Population is the CSO census as listed there. Distances and everything on the model are OpenStreetMap.