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Courses
Courses
Choosing a course is one of the most important decisions you'll ever make! View our courses and see what our students and lecturers have to say about the courses you are interested in at the links below.
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University Life
University Life
Each year more than 4,000 choose University of Galway as their University of choice. Find out what life at University of Galway is all about here.
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About University of Galway
About University of Galway
Since 1845, University of Galway has been sharing the highest quality teaching and research with Ireland and the world. Find out what makes our University so special – from our distinguished history to the latest news and campus developments.
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Colleges & Schools
Colleges & Schools
University of Galway has earned international recognition as a research-led university with a commitment to top quality teaching across a range of key areas of expertise.
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Research & Innovation
Research & Innovation
University of Galway’s vibrant research community take on some of the most pressing challenges of our times.
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Business & Industry
Guiding Breakthrough Research at University of Galway
We explore and facilitate commercial opportunities for the research community at University of Galway, as well as facilitating industry partnership.
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Alumni & Friends
Alumni & Friends
There are 128,000 University of Galway alumni worldwide. Stay connected to your alumni community! Join our social networks and update your details online.
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Community Engagement
Community Engagement
At University of Galway, we believe that the best learning takes place when you apply what you learn in a real world context. That's why many of our courses include work placements or community projects.
Accessibility & LanguageSchool of Law
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Welcome to the School of Law
Founded in 1849, the School of Law at University of Galway offers a forward-looking legal education within a dynamic environment committed to rigorous and impactful research. With more than 1,000 students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, a dedicated team of over 45 staff, an extensive portfolio of degree programmes and vibrant clinical legal education opportunities, the School emphasises student-focused, research-led teaching delivered in a supportive and intellectually challenging environment.
The School is home to internationally recognised research centres — Irish Centre for Human Rights, Centre for Housing Law, Rights and Policy (CHLRP), Centre for Law, Religion and Society, and the Centre for Disability Law & Policy — each with a global reputation in their fields. We are committed to research of the highest calibre — research that enriches student learning, engages with today’s societal challenges, and informs public policy and practice. Our new School of Law Strategic Plan 2022-2026 is now available online for consultation.
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Undergraduates
At undergraduate level, we offer a range of options that prepare students for traditional legal careers — and many other professional pathways.
Our flagship Bachelor of Law (BCL) degree features a rich curriculum of core and elective modules. Students develop strong skills in legal analysis, research, and both written and oral communication.
We also offer interdisciplinary programmes — for example, the Bachelor of Law and Business, and the Bachelor of Arts (Law) — which allow students to combine legal study with commerce, languages, humanities or social sciences.
Research
The School of Law has a strong commitment to collaborative and interdisciplinary research across a wide range of fields - with a particular focus on the domains of human rights, criminal law, and public policy.
We offer a wide range of research degrees, including the LLM by Research and Structured PhD in Law. Researchers at the School of Law can draw on the expertise of our existing research centres: the Irish Centre for Human Rights, Centre for Disability Law and Policy and Centre for Housing Law and Policy, as well as associated institute within the College of Business, Public Policy and Law; the Institute for Lifecourse and Society (ILAS).
Postgraduates
Our postgraduate community is diverse and ambitious. We ensure that our students are educated, engaged, and equipped to meet both professional and lifelong challenges. The School of Law staff includes full-time professors and lecturers who are national and international experts on the areas of law they teach. Many of the lecturers have been appointed to public bodies and are advisers to regulatory authorities, NGOs and governments. As a student of the School you will benefit greatly from this collective expertise, all of whom bring with them distinctive Irish, European and International teaching and research profiles.
Our one-year taught LLM programmes cover areas including Public Law, Human Rights Law, International & Comparative Disability Law & Policy, and International Criminal Law, but the option of a research degree (usually taking two years) is also available, as a structured PhD programme.
Clinical Legal Education
University of Galway has pioneered the development of clinical legal education in Ireland. "Learning by doing” is at the heart of our clinical legal education programme — widely acknowledged as one of the most significant advances in legal teaching in recent decades. The School of Law has long recognised the value of clinical legal education and has provided some of its students with opportunities to work in a variety of “real world” settings.
Thirty final year BCL students undertook placements in the last academic year – twice the number as in the previous year – with government agencies, non-governmental organisations, solicitors’ firms and barristers.
International Study
As the practice of law becomes increasingly internationalized, the School of Law is committed to providing our students with first-rate opportunities to incorporate an international element into their law studies. The School has a long-standing commitment to the European Union’s Erasmus Programme. Every year some forty of our undergraduate students spend a year at one of sixteen partner institutions around Europe. The School also welcomes a similar number of students from these institutions to Galway.
Beyond the Erasmus+ programme, we have expanding study-abroad partnerships in Australia, Canada, China, and the United States — and we’re continuously adding more destinations to offer even greater global opportunities.
