Counties of Ireland

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Updates: 

County Laois's own website  uses a spelling different from the one I was using, so I've updated it.

Change Notice 8 to FIPS PUB 10-4 is dated 2002-06-28. The only change under Ireland is that the Gaelic names of the counties were added as alternate names.

Country overview: 

Short nameIRELAND
ISO codeIE
FIPS codeEI
LanguagesEnglish (en), Gaelic (ga)
Time zone0 ~
CapitalDublin

 

At the beginning of the 20th century, the whole island of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom. Irish patriots repeatedly argued and fought for independence. Finally, on 1921-12-06, the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed. By its terms, Ireland became an independent country with dominion status, although Northern Ireland was to be allowed to make a separate decision. The name of the new country was the Irish Free State (Gaelic: Saorstát Éireann). On 1922-12-12, six counties in the north voted to revert to the United Kingdom. On 1949-04-18, the Irish Free State broke off its remaining links with Britain under a new constitution, becoming the Irish Republic (Poblacht na hÉireann).

Other names of country: 

  1. Danish: Irland
  2. Dutch: Ierse Republiek, Ierland, Republiek Ierland (formal)
  3. English: Republic of Ireland (formal), Irish Free State (obsolete)
  4. Finnish: Irlanti
  5. French: Irlande f
  6. Gaelic: Éire (formal)
  7. German: Irland, Eire n, Irische Republik f, Republik f Irland n (formal)
  8. Icelandic: Írland
  9. Italian: Irlanda f
  10. Norwegian: Irland
  11. Portuguese: Irlanda f
  12. Spanish: Irlanda, República f de Irlanda f (formal)
  13. Swedish: Irland

Origin of name: 

Éire + land. Éire may be from iar: west + fonn: country; or from i: isle + iarunn: iron.

Primary subdivisions: 

Ireland is divided into 26 (traditional) counties.

CountyHASCISOFIPSPrPop-2002Pop-1996Area(km.²)Area(mi.²)GaelicCapital
CarlowIE.CWCWEI01L46,01441,616896346CeatharlachCarlow
CavanIE.CNCNEI02U56,54652,9441,891730An CabhánCavan
ClareIE.CECEEI03M103,27794,0063,1881,231An ClárEnnis
CorkIE.CKCEI04M447,829420,5107,4602,880CorcaighCork
DonegalIE.DLDLEI06U137,575129,9944,8311,865Dún na nGallLifford
DublinIE.DNDEI07L1,122,8211,058,264922356Baile Átha CliathDublin
GalwayIE.GYGEI10C209,077188,8545,9402,293GaillimhGalway
KerryIE.KYKYEI11M132,527126,1304,7011,815CiarraíTralee
KildareIE.KEKEEI12L163,944134,9921,694654Cill DaraNaas
KilkennyIE.KKKKEI13L80,33975,3362,062796Cill ChainnighKilkenny
LaoisIE.LSLSEI15L58,77452,9451,720664LaoisePortlaoise
LeitrimIE.LMLMEI14C25,79925,0571,525589LiatroimCarrick on Shannon
LimerickIE.LKLKEI16M175,304165,0422,6861,037LuimneachLimerick
LongfordIE.LDLDEI18L31,06830,1661,044403An LongfortLongford
LouthIE.LHLHEI19L101,82192,166823318Dundalk
MayoIE.MOMOEI20C117,446111,5245,3982,084Maigh EoCastlebar
MeathIE.MHMHEI21L134,005109,7322,336902An MhíTrim
MonaghanIE.MNMNEI22U52,59351,3131,291498MuineachánMonaghan
OffalyIE.OYOYEI23L63,66359,1171,998771Uíbh FhailíTullamore
RoscommonIE.RNRNEI24C53,77451,9752,463951Ros ComáinRoscommon
SligoIE.SOSOEI25C58,20055,8211,796693SligeachSligo
TipperaryIE.TYTAEI26M140,131133,5354,2551,643Tiobraid ÁrannClonmel (S), Nenagh (N)
WaterfordIE.WDWDEI27M101,54694,6801,838710Port LáirgeWaterford
WestmeathIE.WHWHEI29L71,85863,3141,763681An IarmhíMullingar
WexfordIE.WXWXEI30L116,596104,3712,351908Loch GarmanWexford
WicklowIE.WWWWEI31L114,676102,6832,025782Cill MhantáinWicklow
26 counties3,917,2033,626,08768,89726,600
  • HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes.
  • ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. Based on Ireland's Statutory County Codes, used on license plates, etc., with
    minor differences (e.g. TN and TS for Tipperary North and South).
  • FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4.
  • Pr: Traditional provinces (see list below)
  • Pop-2002: 2002-04-28 census. Source: Central Statistics Office Ireland .
  • Pop-1996: 1996-04-28 census. Source: Europa World Year Book 2001.
  • Gaelic: Name of county in Gaelic
  • Capital: See note

 

Note: Sources disagree about some capitals (county seats). The capital of Laois is Portlaoise. The same city is known as Maryborough, and has been known by both names throughout the 20th century. The name Maryborough was more common in English-language sources up to ~1955; after that, Portlaoise, or one of its variant spellings (Port Laoighis, Portlaoighise, etc.), was preferred. The sources seem to be divided on the capital of Meath: some say it's Trim (Baile Átha Troim), while others say Navan (An Uaimh). Most sources say that the capital of Tipperary is Clonmel, but a few maintain that it is Tipperary, and some say that it's Nenagh. In reality, Nenagh is the capital of the North Riding, and Clonmel, the South Riding. Finally, most sources say that the capital of Waterford is Waterford, but a few of them say that it's Dungarvan. Here, Dungarvan is the capital of Waterford administrative county, while Waterford itself is an administratively separate city.

Further subdivisions:

Ireland has administrative counties, electoral counties, and what I will call traditional counties. Most administrative counties have the same name and extent as traditional counties. The exceptions are four traditional counties that each contain an administrative county and a city, all of the same name (Cork, Galway, Limerick, and Waterford); one traditional county that is divided into two ridings (Tipperary); and one traditional county that is divided into three administrative counties and a city (Dublin). The electoral counties are election districts, and correspond to one or two traditional counties or a portion of a traditional county. The cities were known as county boroughs until 2001.

In common with the standards, I list the traditional counties.

The provinces date back to about the beginning of the Christian era, when there were five of them (with Meath). They now have no administrative function. The separation of Northern Ireland divided Ulster into two parts: the larger (six counties at the time of the split) is all of Northern Ireland, and the smaller (three counties) is now two disjoint parts of the Irish Republic.

ISOProvinceGaelicPopulationArea(km.²)
CConnaughtConnacht422,90917,122
LLeinsterLaighean1,860,03719,634
MMunsterAn Mhumhain1,008,44324,128
UUlsterUlaidh232,0128,013
  • ISO: Province codes from ISO 3166-2.
  • Gaelic: Name of province in Gaelic
  • Population: 1991 census.

 

Eight regional authorities were established in 1994. Their functions are largely confined to studying and recommending.

RegionCounties
BorderCavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Louth, Monaghan, Sligo
DublinDublin
Mid-EastKildare, Meath, Wicklow
MidlandLaois, Longford, Offaly, Westmeath
Mid-WestClare, Limerick, Tipperary North Riding
South-EastCarlow, Kilkenny, Tipperary South Riding, Waterford, Wexford
South-WestCork, Kerry
WestGalway, Mayo, Roscommon

Territorial extent: 

All of the counties lie primarily on the main island, Ireland. Other islands occupied are listed for each county, roughly in order of decreasing size.

  1. Clare: Mutton, and islands in the Shannon Estuary, especially at the mouth of River Fergus
  2. Cork: Bear (Bere), Dursey, Great (in Cork Harbor), Clear, Sherkin, Whiddy, Long
  3. Donegal: Aran, Tory, Cruit, Inishbofin, Inishtrahull, Gola
  4. Dublin: Lambay, Dalkey, Irelands Eye, Shenicks
  5. Galway: the Aran Islands, of which the largest are Inishmore, Inishmaan, and Inisheer; Gorumna, Inishbofin, Lettermore, Inishshark, Lettermullan, Mweenish, Tawin, Omey, High, Croaghnakeela
  6. Kerry: Valentia (Valencia), the Blasket Islands (largest is Great Blasket), Carrig, Scariff, Beginish
  7. Mayo: Achill, Clare, Inishturk, Inishkea North and South, Caher
  8. Sligo: Inishmurray
  9. Wexford: Saltee Islands, Tuskar Rock

Origins of names: 

  1. Carlow: Irish ceatharlach: quadruple lake
  2. Cavan: Irish an cabhán: hollow
  3. Clare: Irish an clár: plain
  4. Cork: from Irish corcach: swamp
  5. Donegal: Irish Dun na nGall: fort of foreigners (probably Danes)
  6. Dublin: Irish dubh: black, linn: pool, referring to the Liffey estuary
  7. Galway: Irish gailimh: stony river
  8. Kerry: Irish ciarraí: people of Ciar
  9. Kildare: Irish cill: convent, dara: oak
  10. Kilkenny: Irish for church of Cainneach
  11. Laois: from ethnic name, tribe of Laeight
  12. Leitrim: Irish liatroim: gray ridge
  13. Limerick: Irish luimneach: barren land
  14. Longford: fortified place
  15. Louth: after River Lud
  16. Mayo: Irish maigh eo: plain of the yews
  17. Meath: Irish an mhí: the middle
  18. Monaghan: Irish muineachán: place of the shrubs
  19. Offaly: Irish uíbh Fhailí: Failghe's people
  20. Roscommon: Irish ros Comáin: grove of Comán
  21. Sligo: after River Shelly
  22. Tipperary: Irish tipper: spring or well, and Ara, the name of a river
  23. Ulster: Irish uladh: cairn, tomb, and a suffix -ster for land
  24. Waterford: inlet of water
  25. Westmeath: Irish an iarmhí: middle west

Change history: 

  1. 1898: Under the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, Tipperary county split into Tipperary North Riding and Tipperary South Riding administrative counties. Cork, Dublin, Limerick, and Waterford county boroughs split from the administrative counties of the same names.
  2. 1920: Names of Kings and Queens counties changed to Offaly and Laois, respectively.
  3. 1985: Galway county borough split from Galway administrative county.
  4. 1994-01-01: Under the (Regional Authorities) (Establishment) Order, eight regions were established, as listed under "Further Subdivisions". At the same time, under the Local Government (Dublin) Act, 1993, Dublin administrative county split into Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown (capital Dún Laoghaire), Fingal (Swords), and South Dublin (Tallaght) administrative counties.

Other names of subdivisions: 

  1. Donegal: Tyrconnel (obsolete)
  2. Laois: Laoighis, Leix (variant); Queens (obsolete)
  3. Offaly: Kings (obsolete)

Population history:

County190119361946-05-121956-04-081966-04-171971-04-181981-04-051991-04-212002-04-28
Carlow37,72334,45234,08133,88834,00034,23739,82040,94646,014
Cavan97,36876,67070,35561,74054,00052,61853,85552,75656,546
Clare112,12989,87985,06477,17674,00075,00887,56790,826103,277
Cork404,813355,957343,668336,663340,000352,892402,465409,814447,829
Donegal173,625142,310136,317122,059109,000108,344125,112127,994137,575
Dublin447,266586,925636,193705,781795,000852,2191,003,1641,024,4291,122,821
Galway192,146168,198165,201155,553148,000149,223172,018180,304209,077
Kerry165,331139,834133,893122,072113,000112,772122,770121,719132,527
Kildare63,46957,89264,84965,91566,00071,977104,122122,516163,944
Kilkenny78,82168,61466,71264,08960,00061,47370,80673,61380,339
Laois57,22650,10949,69747,08745,00045,25951,17152,32558,774
Leitrim69,20150,90844,59137,05631,00028,36027,60925,29725,799
Limerick146,018141,153142,559137,881137,000140,459161,661161,856175,304
Longford46,58137,84736,21832,96929,00028,25031,14030,29331,068
Louth65,74164,33966,19469,19470,00074,95188,51490,707101,821
Mayo202,627161,349148,120133,052116,000109,525114,766110,696117,446
Meath67,46361,40566,23266,76267,00071,72995,419105,540134,005
Monaghan74,50561,28957,21552,06446,00046,24251,19251,26252,593
Offaly60,12951,30853,68651,97052,00051,82958,31258,44863,663
Roscommon101,63977,56672,51063,71056,00053,51954,54351,87653,774
Sligo84,02267,44762,37556,85051,00050,27555,47454,73658,200
Tipperary159,754137,835136,014129,415123,000124,565135,261132,620140,131
Waterford87,03077,61476,10874,03173,00077,31588,59191,608101,546
Westmeath61,52754,70654,94954,12253,00053,57061,52361,88271,858
Wexford103,86094,24591,85587,25983,00085,35199,081102,045116,596
Wicklow60,67958,56960,45159,90660,00066,29587,44997,293114,676
Totals3,221,8232,968,4202,955,1072,898,2642,885,0002,978,2483,443,4053,525,7193,917,203
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