Counties of the Republic of Ireland

Ireland

The Republic of Ireland has 26 counties. They are in essence a part of the system of counties which had been developed across the British Isles by the Middle Ages, and which are the oldest extant national divisions in the world.

Where a distinction has to be made with statutory "counties" so called for administrative purposes, the counties are variously known as historic counties, traditional counties or ancient or geographical counties.

All of the Irish counties have an existence stretching back to the Middle Ages. They have no administrative function, existing as geographical and cultural areas. In this time many activities many activities and much social understanding and local identity has grown up intertwined with the counties, and so they have become a vital part of Irish culture.

From the Middle Ages up to today, administrative functions have been carried on using the counties' boundaries or approximations to them, and so centuries of public records have been organised county by county, for which reason an understanding of the counties is vital for genealogical and historic research.

List of the counties

The following table lists the proper name of each county along with its area (in square miles), population, population density (in persons/square mile), the province in which it is located and a selection of its principal towns. County towns are listed first and cities are shown in bold.

Name	Area	Population	Density	Province	Principal towns in the county
County Carlow	346	54,612	157.84	Leinster	Carlow, Bagenalstown
County Cavan	746	73,183	98.10	Ulster	Cavan, Bailieborough, Virginia
County Clare	1,330	117,196	88.12	Munster	Ennis, Kilkee, Kilrush, Shannon
County Cork	2,895	518,128	178.97	Munster	Cork, Kinsale, Skibbereen, Youghal
County Donegal	1,869	161,137	86.22	Ulster	Donegal, Lifford, Ballyshannon, Buncrana, Bundoran, Letterkenny
County Dublin	356	1,270,603	3,569.11	Leinster	Dublin, Dún Laoghaire, Swords, Tallaght
County Galway	2,374	250,541	105.54	Connaught	Galway, Ballinasloe (part), Loughrea, Tuam, Mountshannon
County Kerry	1,832	145,502	79.42	Munster	Tralee, Killarney, Listowel
County Kildare	654	210,312	321.58	Leinster	Naas, Athy, Kildare, Leixlip, Newbridge
County Kilkenny	800	95,419	119.27	Leinster	Kilkenny, Urlingford
County Laois	660	80,559	122.06	Leinster	Portlaoise, Mountmellick
County Leitrim	613	31,798	51.87	Connaught	Carrick-on-Shannon, Leitrim
County Limerick	1,064	191,809	180.27	Munster	Limerick
County Longford	421	39,000	92.64	Leinster	Longford
County Louth	319	122,897	385.26	Leinster	Dundalk (part), Ardee, Drogheda
County Mayo	2,157	130,638	60.56	Connaught	Castlebar, Ballina (part), Westport, Ballaghaderreen
Meath	904	184,135	203.69	Leinster	Navan, Kells, Trim
County Monaghan	500	60,483	120.97	Ulster	Monaghan, Ballybay, Carrickmacross, Castleblayney, Clones
County Offaly	800	76,687	95.86	Leinster	Tullamore, Daingean, Birr, Edenderry
County Roscommon	983	64,065	65.17	Connaught	Roscommon, Athlone, Boyle
County Sligo	709	65,393	92.23	Connaught	Sligo
County Tipperary	1,661	158,754	95.58	Munster	Clonmel, Carrick-on-Suir (part), Cashel, Nenagh, Templemore, Thurles, Tipperary
County Waterford	717	113,795	158.71	Munster	Waterford (part), Dungarvan, Lismore, Tramore
Westmeath	710	86,164	121.36	Leinster	Mullingar, Athlone
County Wexford	909	145,320	159.87	Leinster	Wexford, Enniscorthy, Gorey, New Ross (part)
County Wicklow	781	136,448	174.71	Leinster	Wicklow, Arklow, Bray (part), Greystones

See also

• Counties of the United Kingdom