Provinces of Ireland Totally Explained

Everything about Provinces Of Ireland totally explained

The Four Provinces of Ireland
>


Location

1. Leinster, 2. Munster, 3. Connacht, 4. Ulster
Statistics
Area:	84,412 km²
Population (2006):	5,962,110

Ireland has historically been divided into four provinces, although the Irish-language word for this territorial division, cúige (literally: "fifth part"), indicates that there were once five — Meath (now incorporated into Leinster) being the fifth.
   The four provinces are:

Province Population (2006) Area (km²) Number of Counties† Chief city

2,292,939 19,774 12 Dublin

1,172,170 24,608 6 Cork

503,083 17,713 5 Galway

1,993,918‡ 24,481 9 Belfast

Note 1: † "Number of Counties" is traditional counties, not administrative ones.
Note 2: ‡ Population for Ulster is the sum of the 2006 census results for counties of Ulster in Republic of Ireland and the 2006 estimated population for Northern Ireland. Population for other provinces is all 2006 census results.

The origins of these provinces (loosely federated kingdoms with somewhat flexible boundaries) of which there were five in existence prior to the coming of the Normans can be traced to the overriding influence exerted in their respective territories by the great Irish dynastic families of O Neill (Ulster), O Melaghlin (Mide), O Brien (Munster), O Conor (Connacht) and MacMurrough-Kavanagh (Leinster). In the post-Norman period the historic provinces of Leinster and Meath gradually merged, mainly due to the impact of the Pale, which straddled both, thereby forming the present-day province of Leinster. In the Irish Annals these five ancient political divisions were invariably referred to as Cúigí, i.e ‘fifth parts’, such as the fifth of Munster, the fifth of Ulster and so on. Later record-makers, dubbed them ‘provinces’, in imitation of the Roman imperial provinciae.
   In modern times they've become associated with groups of specific counties, although they've no legal status. They are today seen in a sporting context, as Ireland's four professional rugby teams play under the names of the provinces, and the Gaelic Athletic Association has separate Provincial councils and Provincial championships.
   The provinces were supplanted by the present system of counties after the Norman occupation in the twelfth century.
   Six of the nine Ulster counties form modern-day Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland is often referred to as a province of the United Kingdom. These two inconsistent usages of the word "province" (along with the use of the term "Ulster" to describe Northern Ireland) can cause confusion.
Poetic description
This dinnseanchas poem named Ard Ruide (Ruide Headland) poetically describes the kingdoms of Ireland. Below is a translation from Old Irish:
Further Information
Get more info on 'Provinces Of Ireland'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://provinces_of_ireland.totallyexplained.com">Provinces of Ireland Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
   As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.