Scribd
Upload
14 views3 pages

Galway_Races

The Galway Races is an annual horse-racing festival held at Ballybrit Racecourse in Galway, Ireland, starting on the last Monday of July and lasting for seven days. It features significant events such as the Galway Plate and Galway Hurdle, attracting over 150,000 spectators. The festival has a rich history dating back to 1869 and has adapted to challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic, returning to full capacity in 2022.

Uploaded by

subhajit malakar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
14 views3 pages

Galway_Races

The Galway Races is an annual horse-racing festival held at Ballybrit Racecourse in Galway, Ireland, starting on the last Monday of July and lasting for seven days. It features significant events such as the Galway Plate and Galway Hurdle, attracting over 150,000 spectators. The festival has a rich history dating back to 1869 and has adapted to challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic, returning to full capacity in 2022.

Uploaded by

subhajit malakar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

Galway Races

The Galway Races (Irish: Rásaí na Gaillimhe) is an


Irish horse-racing festival that starts on the last Galway Races
Monday of July every year. Held at Ballybrit Rásaí na Gaillimhe
Racecourse in Galway, Ireland over seven days, it is
one of the longest of all the race meets that occur in
Ireland.

The busiest days of the festival are Wednesday, when


the Galway Plate is held, and Thursday, when the
Galway Hurdle and Ladies' Day take place. Jockey and horses preparing for the races
Genre Horse-racing festival
Frequency Annually; last Monday of July
Festival history
Venue Ballybrit Racecourse, Ballybrit,
The first racing festival held in Ballybrit was a two-day County Galway, Ireland
event with the first race meeting on Tuesday, 17 Coordinates 53°17′45″N 8°59′45″W
August 1869. The summer festival was extended to a Country Ireland
3-day meeting in 1959, 4 days in 1971, 5 days in 1974,
Years active 155
6 days in 1982 and, most recently to, 7 days in 1999.
Inaugurated 17 August 1869
The summer festival is the highlight of the business
year for most local businesses as crowds and horses Attendance 150,000+
flock from all over the world to attend one of the Website galwayraces.com (http://galwayr
world's biggest race meetings. aces.com)

The pub underneath the Corrib Stand, built in 1955,


was for many years the longest bar in the world.[1] It was replaced by the Millennium Stand which
opened in 1999. The Killanin Stand opened in 2007 replacing the old Corrib (west) Stand.

On the 4th day of the Galway races there was a race meeting held in Tuam. The last race meeting held at
Tuam racecourse was in 1973.[2]

Additional race meetings also take place in September and October, but these are not as popular as the
summer festival, which draws more than 150,000 spectators.

On 21 April 2020, the Galway Race Committee announced that the 2020 summer festival—scheduled for
27 July to 2 August—was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and would be held behind closed
doors for the first time since 1869.[3][4]

The 2021 festival was held with a maximum of 1,000 people allowed to attend each day.[5]

The festival returned to full capacity in 2022 with over 130,000 people expected to attend over the
week.[6]
In culture
The Galway Races are the subject of At Galway Races, a poem by W. B. Yeats. They are also the subject
of an eponymous folk song, popularized by The Clancy Brothers, The Chieftains, and The Dubliners. The
Celtic rock band, JSD Band played it on their album, Travelling Days. The song also appears on The
Kreellers 2008 release, Sixth and Porter. Further, it constitutes the last third of the track Medley on the
1988 album If I Should Fall from Grace with God by The Pogues (the two first parts being The
Recruiting Sergeant and an instrumental version of Rocky Road to Dublin).

In 2009, TG4 broadcast a comedy TV series, Rásaí na Gaillimhe, that unfolds during Galway Race
Week.[7]

References
1. "The A to Z of Galway" (http://www.independent.ie/sport/horse-racing/galway-races/the-a-to-
z-of-galway-29450131.html). Irish Independent. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
2. "Eamonn harks backs to Tuam Races of 1951" (http://www.tuamherald.ie/news/roundup/arti
cles/2014/03/28/4024428-eamonn-harks-backs-to-tuam-races-of-1951). The Tuam Herald.
20 July 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
3. "Statement on behalf of the Galway Race Commitee [sic]" (https://www.galwayraces.com/st
atement-on-behalf-of-the-galway-race-commitee/). Galway Races. 21 April 2020. Retrieved
19 July 2020. "Summer Festival 2020 - Galway Races" (https://www.galwayraces.com/sum
mer-festival-2020/). Galway Races. Retrieved 19 July 2020. "Galway Races will not be open
to public this year" (https://www.rte.ie/sport/racing/2020/0421/1132982-galway-races-to-take
-place-behind-closed-doors/). RTÉ News and Current Affairs. 21 April 2020. Retrieved
19 July 2020. O'Connor, Brian (21 April 2020). "Galway festival to take place behind closed
doors if racing gets green light" (https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/racing/galway-festival-to-ta
ke-place-behind-closed-doors-if-racing-gets-green-light-1.4234518). The Irish Times.
Retrieved 19 July 2020.
4. O'Loughlin, Mikie (21 April 2020). "Galway Races 2020 has been cancelled by organisers"
(https://www.rsvplive.ie/news/irish-news/galway-races-2020-been-cancelled-21904246).
RSVP Live. Retrieved 19 July 2020. Fennessy, Paul (21 April 2020). "Galway Races won't
take place 'as an open event' this summer" (http://the42.ie/galway-races-wont-take-place-as
-an-open-event-this-summer-5080436-Apr2020/). The42. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
MacKenzie, Linley (16 July 2020). "Galway Races may be behind closed-doors, but craic
can continue on line" (https://www.advertiser.ie/galway/article/115690/galway-races-may-be-
behind-closed-doors-but-craic-can-continue-on-line). Galway Advertiser. Retrieved 19 July
2020.
5. " 'Extremely disappointing news for fans' - Galway Races limited to 1,000 spectators per
day" (https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/extremely-disappointing-news-for-fans-galwayr
aces-limited-to-1000-spectators-per-day-40652059.html). Irish Independent. 14 July 2021.
Retrieved 4 August 2021.
6. "Punters Back Huge Crowd For Galway Festival With Over 130,000 Expected For The
Week" (https://galwayraces.com/punters-back-huge-crowd-for-galway-festival-with-over-130
000-expected-for-the-week/). Galwayraces.com. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
7. Rásaí na Gaillimhe | Player | TG4 | Irish Television Channel, Súil Eile (https://www.tg4.ie/en/
player/categories/drama-tv-shows/?series=R%C3%A1sa%C3%AD%20na%20Gaillimhe&ge
nre=Drama), retrieved 27 July 2022
www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ACalend/GalwayRaces (http://www.irishcultureandcustom
s.com/ACalend/GalwayRaces.html)
History Galway Races (https://web.archive.org/web/20080803090217/http://www.galwayrac
es.com/History-galway-races.shtml)

External links
Galway Races Official Site (http://www.galwayraces.com)
Galway Races (song lyrics) (http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/folk-songs-with-chords/Galwa
y%20Races.htm)
Galway Races (song listen) (http://www.last.fm/music/The+Dubliners/_/The+Galway+Races)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Galway_Races&oldid=1277638237"

You might also like