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The island of Ireland was historically divided into 32 counties (Irish language contae or condae, pronounced IPA: [cʊndeː]). After the partition of Ireland in 1921, what became the Republic of Ireland comprised 26 of these, with Northern Ireland comprising the remaining six. The counties of Northern Ireland are no longer used for local government, and two former counties in the Republic have been subdivided, giving a modern total of 29 counties for administrative purposes rather than 26. Also, the larger cities are administratively equivalent to counties. The traditional 32 counties had previously been adopted by sporting and cultural organisations such as the Gaelic Athletic Association, which organises its activities on county lines, and today they still attract strong loyalties, particularly in the sporting field.
The counties are subdivisions of the ancient Provinces of Ireland, made up, in general, from smaller territories. While the provinces have existed in some form for many centuries, the counties developed under the Norman and British administrations.
In Irish usage, the word county nearly always comes before rather than after the county name; thus "County Clare" in Ireland as opposed to "Clare County" in Michigan. The former "King's County" and "Queen's County" were exceptions; these are now County Offaly and County Laois.
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Republic of Ireland |
† often called Derry: see Derry-Londonderry name dispute
‡ Counties Offaly and Laois were known as King's and Queen's Counties until the 1920s
Historical evolution
The political geography of Ireland can be traced with some accuracy from the seventh century. At that time Ireland was divided into about 150 different units of government, each one called a tuath (pl. tuatha). A tuath was an autonomous group of people of independent political jurisdiction under a chief called sub-rege (Rí Tuaithe, tribal king. often the chief of a clan).
In the sixth century, Ireland was divided into cúigí or fifths (sing. cúige). The four current provinces of Ireland were named after four of these cúigí, Uladh (Ulster), Laighean (Leinster), Connachta (Connacht) and Mumha (Munster). The fifth cúige, Mídh (Meath), corresponded to the present-day counties of Meath, Westmeath, Longford and Offaly in present-day Leinster (Louth was considered to be part of Ulster). In bardic lore, the "fifths of Ireland" corresponded to the five provinces: learning was in the west, war in the north, wealth in the east, music or art in the south and kinship in the centre (Meath).
In the 12th century, the Kings of England began their first of many invasions (commonly referred to in Ireland as the Norman Invasion). The English governed Ireland in a like structure as they did themselves, by dividing the country into shires or counties in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. To correspond with the subdivisions of the English shires into honors or baronies, Irish counties were granted out to the Anglo-Norman noblemen in cantreds, later known as baronies, which in turn were subdivided, as in England, into manors or townlands. (However, in many cases, both baronies and townlands correspond to earlier, pre-Norman, divisions.) While there are 331 baronies in Ireland, divided first into civil parishes, there are around 60,000 townlands that range in size from one to several thousand acres. Townlands were often traditionally divided into smaller units called quarters, but these subdivisions are not legally defined.
The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 was a significant milestone in the framing of the counties and their status.
Former counties
Former counties include: County Coleraine which formed the basis of County Londonderry, and Nether and Upper Tyrone which were merged, and Desmond which was split between Counties Cork and Kerry. Other names seen on old maps include Caterlaugh or Caterlagh, archaic designations of County Carlow, in the days before much of the north of that county was taken into Wicklow. In 1777, the ancient Norman town of Carrickfergus lost its status of county town, there was formerly a county of Carrickfergus which extended further than the modern borough of Carrickfergus.
Republic of Ireland
Main article: Local government in the Republic of IrelandSome of the 26 counties are no longer the main basis for local government, planning and community development purposes, although unlike the counties in Great Britain, the Republic's traditional county boundaries are still generally respected for other purposes (counties on occasion being sub-divided). The administrative borders have subsequently been altered to include various towns originally split between two counties wholly within one.
In the Republic of Ireland, six of the original 26 counties have more than one local authority area, producing a total of 34 "county-level" authorities. County Tipperary has been split into North Tipperary and South Tipperary since 1898 and the formal adoption of the county system for local government. In 1994 County Dublin was split into Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, and South Dublin. By 2002 however, upon the establishment of County Development Boards, the definition of "local government" expanded to include the need for a proper identity in each of the new counties; the development of which is ongoing. Of the administrative structures established under the 1898 Local Government Act, the only type to have been completely abolished was the Rural District, which was rendered void in the early years of the Irish Free State amidst widespread allegations of corruption. On the other hand, administrative structures such as Town Councils and Regional Authorities (created to comply with requirements of the EU) exist in parallel with the county system.
Administration
Generally administration follows the 34 "county-level" counties and cities of Ireland. The counties are referred to as "county councils" and 29 fall into this category. The cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford have "city councils", previously as "corporations", and are administered separately from the counties bearing those names. The City of Kilkenny is the only city in the republic which does not have a "city council"; it is still a borough but not a county borough and is administered as part of County Kilkenny. The most recent local government legislation states that Kilkenny may retain the title of "city" for ornament only.
Education
The Vocational Education Committee system is based on the traditional counties of the Republic of Ireland except that County Tipperary is separated into North Tipperary and South Tipperary. Also each of the cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford have their own committee separate from the county. Dún Laoghaire is unique in that it is the only town with a committee.
The Institute of Technology system was organised on the committee areas or "functional areas", these still remain legal but are not as important as originally envisioned as the institutes are now more national in character and are only really applied today when selecting governing councils, similarly Dublin Institute of Technology was originally a group of several colleges of the City of Dublin committee.
Elections
General election areas in the Republic of Ireland also mostly follow county boundaries - called "constituencies" in accordance with Irish law - maintaining links to the county system is a mandatory consideration in the re-organisation of constituency boundaries. This system usually results in more populated counties having several constituencies - while others, such as Sligo and Leitrim, constitute a single constituency of two counties - Dublin city and county is subdivded into twelve constituencies. Local councillors, elected to local government, are based on similar boundaries to the general election areas, however councillors generally run in a particular town council or borough council area which may often encompasses several smaller towns and villages.
Northern Ireland
Main article: Counties of Northern IrelandIn Northern Ireland, a major re-organisation of local government in 1973 replaced the six traditional counties and two county boroughs (Belfast and Derry) by 26 "single-tier" districts for local government purposes, and these cross the traditional county boundaries. The six counties and two county-boroughs remain in use for some purposes, including Lords Lieutenant, number plates, and the Royal Mail Postcode Address File.
Alphabetical list
See also
- List of Irish counties by population
- List of Irish counties by area
- List of Irish County Towns
- Provinces of Ireland
- Districts of Northern Ireland
- Irish Vehicle Registration Plates
- Irish topics
- ISO 3166-2:IE
- GAA county colours
External links
- Central Statistics Office - 2002 census results
- Family history links to traditional counties of Ireland
Flags
Baronies, Civil Parishes and Townlands
- The Baronies of Ireland -Clans and Baronies
- Connacht Baronies -Map
- Leinster Baronies -Map
- Munster Baronies -Map
- Ulster Baronies -Map
- IreAtlas Townland Search
Representatives of local government
- Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland
- General Council of County Councils
- Local Authority Members Association