The following is a list of University of Galway people, including notable alumni and faculty members of the University of Galway and its forerunners: Queen's College, Galway (QCG) created in 1845 as a college of the Queen's University of Ireland; University College, Galway (UCG) chartered in accordance with the Irish Universities Act, 1908 as a university college of the National University of Ireland; and National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI, Galway and later NUI Galway without the comma), a constituent university of the National University of Ireland and newly named since the Universities Act, 1997 until 2022.
Alumni Politicians Michael D. Higgins - 9th President of Ireland Enda Kenny - 13th Taoiseach of Ireland Eamon Gilmore Frank Fahy Joseph Brennan Séamus Kirk Michael Kitt Pat "the Cope" Gallagher Heather Humphreys Michael Ring Lisa Chambers Barry Cowen Anne Rabbitte Sylvester Barrett Mark Clinton Paul Connaughton Jnr Ciara Conway Rose Conway-Walsh Brendan Griffin Fidelma Healy Eames Jim Higgins Lorraine Higgins Seán Kyne Patrick Lindsay Farrell McElgunn Bobby Molloy Rónán Mullen Ronan Moore Carol Nolan Derek Nolan Maureen O'Carroll Pádraig Ó Céidigh Trevor Ó Clochartaigh John O'Mahony Pat Rabbitte Seán Sherlock Madeleine Taylor-Quinn Mary Upton Pat Upton John Dallat - SDLP politician Aisling Dolan
Government officials Henry Arthur Blake - Governor of Hong Kong (1898-1903) Antony MacDonnell, 1st Baron MacDonnell - Colonial Administrator Charles James O'Donnell - Colonial Administrator John Sheehy - Colonial Official William Alfred Browne - Civil servant
Diplomats Noel Dorr Pádraig MacKernan
Law John Atkinson Joseph R. Fisher Mark Heslin - judge of the High Court Likando Kalaluka - Attorney General of Zambia in 2015 Walter Lewis Robert McCall John Monroe Thomas O'Shaughnessy Andrew Reed Guy Rutledge Mathilda Twomey - Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Seychelles Raymond West - High Court Judge in British India Máire Whelan - Attorney General of Ireland, Judge of the Court of Appeal
Military Major General Michael Beary - UNIFIL Commander General Bindon Blood - British military commander Major General Kieran Brennan - Deputy Chief of Staff (Ops) and former Kilkenny hurler Lieutenant General Sean McCann - Former Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces Vice Admiral Mark Mellett - Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces Brigadier General Maureen O'Brien - First woman to attain the rank of Lt Colonel (Army Line), Colonel and Brig Gen in the Irish Defence Forces Commandant Cathal Berry - Former Deputy Commander of the Army Ranger Wing and Head of the Military Medical School
Religion Brendan Kelly - Bishop Fintan Monahan - Bishop George Thomas Stokes - Clergyman of the Church of Ireland and Historian Michael Lenihan O.F.M. - Bishop of La Ceiba, Honduras (2011-present) Robert Moore - Theologian Samuel Angus - Theologian William Mahony S.M.A. - Bishop of Ilorin, Nigeria Wilfrid Napier O.F.M. - Cardinal, Archbishop of Durban William Slattery O.F.M. - Archbishop of Pretoria
Literature Emily Anderson- Linguist Gerald Dawe - Poet James Hardiman - Librarian Mike McCormack - Writer Eamonn McGrath- Writer Ronan Moore - Writer W. F. Marshall - Poet Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh - Poet Breandán Ó hEithir - Writer Valentine O'Hara
Academics William Bindon Blood - first professor of civil engineering at Queen's College Galway Alexander Anderson (physicist) - Physicist; former president of Queen's College and University College Galway J. E. Cairnes - Economist Louis Cullen - Professor of Irish History at Trinity College Edward Divers - Chemist Charles Joseph Gahan - Coleopterist John Hegarty - Provost of Trinity College Dublin Máire Herbert MRIA – Professor of Early and Medieval Irish at University College Cork Ethna Gaffney - scientist and first female professor at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Alfred Keogh - Director General Army Medical Services (1905-1910 and 1914-1918) Thomas J. Laffey - Mathematician known for his contributions to group theory and matrix theory. John A. McClelland - Physicist Mick Molloy - IRB medical officer Michael O'Shaughnessy - Chief engineer of San Francisco Alice Perry - First woman in Ireland to graduate with a degree in engineering
Media Patsy McGarry - Journalist Harry McGee - Journalist T. P. O'Connor Frank Hugh O'Donnell Conor Pope - Journalist Cillian Fennell - Former head of programming at TG4 and producer Pat McGrath - Correspondent Colm Murray - Sports-reader Siún Nic Gearailt - Television newsreader Eimear Ní Chonaola - Journalist and television news anchor Sean O'Rourke - Presenter Gráinne Seoige - Television news anchor
Arts Keith Barry - Performing artist Seán McGinley - Actor Nora-Jane Noone - Actress Martin Sheen - Actor Éabha McMahon - Singer Leo Moran - Guitarist John Coll - Figurative sculptor Pádraic Breathnach - Actor, first manager of Galway Arts Centre and co-founder of Macnas John Concannon - Director of "Ireland 2016" (official commemorations of the centenary of the Easter Rising) Garry Hynes - Co-founder Druid Theatre Company Mick Lally - Co-founder Druid Theatre Company Marie Mullen - Co-founder Druid Theatre Company Nicola Coughlan - Actress
Sports Enda Colleran - Gaelic football Iarfhlaith Davoren - Association football Daithí Burke - Hurling Niall Burke - Hurling Conor Cleary - Hurling Joe Connolly - Hurling Joseph Cooney - Hurling Anthony Cunningham - Hurling Cyril Farrell - Hurling Pat Fleury - Hurling Francis Forde - Hurling John Hanbury - Hurling Aidan Harte - Hurling Conor Hayes - Hurling Seán Loftus - Hurling Jeffrey Lynskey - Hurling Joe McDonagh - Dual player, Gaelic games administrator and 32nd President of the Gaelic Athletic Association Cathal Mannion - Hurling Pádraic Mannion - Hurling Conor Whelan - Hurling Cian Lynch - Hurling Eoghan Clifford - Paralympic cyclist Cormac Folan - Rower Paul Hession - Sprinter Olive Loughnane - Racewalker Neville Maxwell - Rower Ciaran Fitzgerald - Rugby union Fiona Everard - National champion runner
Business Nicky Hartery - Chairman of CRH plc John Hourican - Investment banker; former CEO of Bank of Cyprus Declan Kelly - Founding partner and co-CEO of Teneo Pádraig Ó Céidigh - Airline developer
Faculty John Breslin - engineering professor and entrepreneur Nicholas Canny - historian and noted authority on early modern Ireland and Britain Ada English - psychiatrist Gerard Jennings - physics professor Thomas Kilroy - playwright, novelist, former Professor of English at the university Shortly after 1 minute 40 seconds into the video, Lionel Pilkington introduces Kilroy as, among other things, "a former Professor of English at this university". William King - geologist Joseph Larmor - physicist, Professor at Queen's College Galway 1880-1885 and later Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge Alexander Gordon Melville - comparative anatomist, Professor at Queen's College Galway 1849-1882 George Johnstone Stoney - physicist who introduced the term electron as the "fundamental unit quantity of electricity"; first Professor of Science at the then new university; elder brother of Bindon Blood Stoney D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson - professor of Greek at UCG from 1862 and father of biologist Sir D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson
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