More about National University of Ireland, Galway
The National University of Ireland, Galway can be traced back to 1845, when the institution’s iconic Tudor Gothic style Quadrangle building was constructed.
It started accepting students four years later under the name Queen’s College Galway, which had just three faculties: arts, medicine and law. The university began accepting women some years later, and in 1906, Alice Perry reportedly became the first female engineering graduate in the world to receive a first class honours civil engineering degree.
In 1908, the university – which is the largest and oldest in western Ireland - changed its name to University College Ireland, before taking on its current name in 1997.
Among the historic buildings on campus is the James Mitchell Museum, founded in 1952, which houses geological artefacts including minerals and fossils. The Quadrangle, meanwhile, was designed by John Benjamin Keane and is based on Christ Church College, University of Oxford.
More recent building projects have seen NUI Galway construct a state-of-the-art sport centre, and the transformation of an old munitions factory into a student centre. It is all part of a €400 million capital investment programme, which will see the institution open a new human biology building and a centre for drama, theatre and performance in the near future.
About 2,000 international students from some 92 countries attend NUI Galway and there are thought to be about 90,000 of the universities graduates residing in 107 countries around the world.
Famous former students include the broadcaster Colm Murray, actor Mick Lally, and president of Ireland Michael D. Higgins.