PIC: This Map Of Galway 600 Years Ago Is Really Something

While this may not look like the Galway you've strolled through, driven by or partied in - this ancient map of the city shows just how little of the city has actually changed.

These maps have been published in a new book, as well as an accompanying exhibition that includes illustrations of Galway dating back nearly 600 years.

The atlas has details of over 2,500 sites that explore how the city developed from Gaelic fortifications in the early 12th century to becoming an Anglo-Norman seaport a century later.

The new publication is the 28th Irish town to be illustrated as part of the Irish Historic Towns Atlas, an initiative that was founded in 1981 as part of the Royal Irish Academy - Galway follows towns like Kells, Bandon and Belfast.

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Archaeologist Paul Walsh of the National Monuments Service explains that the modern city of Galway developed as a trading port at the mouth of Lough Corrib with commodities like hide and tallow being exported and iron, salt and spices coming in.

There you have it, everyday's a cool day kids.