County town

A county town is the 'capital' of a county in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland.

The concept of a county town is ill-defined and unofficial. The attribution may have fallen to the town used as the seat for the election of county members of parliament or for some administrative or judicial functions, which has established it over time as the de facto main town of a county.

County towns in the United Kingdom

Where the county town is a city it is shown in bold.

County	County town
Aberdeenshire	Aberdeen
Anglesey	Beaumaris
Angus	Forfar
County Antrim	Antrim or Belfast
Argyllshire	Inveraray
County Armagh	Armagh
Ayrshire	Ayr
Banffshire	Banff
Bedfordshire	Bedford
Berkshire	Abingdon
Berwickshire	Duns (formerly Berwick-upon-Tweed and Greenlaw)
Brecknockshire	Brecon
Buckinghamshire	Aylesbury, formerly Buckingham
Buteshire	Rothesay
Caernarfonshire	Caernarfon
Caithness	Wick
Cambridgeshire	Cambridge
Cardiganshire	Cardigan
Carmarthenshire	Carmarthen
Cheshire	Chester
Clackmannanshire	Alloa or Clackmannan
Cornwall	Bodmin or Truro
Cromartyshire	Cromarty
Cumberland	Carlisle
Denbighshire	Ruthin (formerly Denbigh)
Derbyshire	Derby
Devon	Exeter
Dorset	Dorchester
County Down	Downpatrick
Dumfriesshire	Dumfries
Dunbartonshire	Dumbarton
County Durham	Durham
East Lothian	Haddington
Essex	Chelmsford
Fermanagh	Enniskillen
Fife	Cupar
Flintshire	Mold (formerly Flint)
Glamorgan	Cardiff
Gloucestershire	Gloucester
Hampshire	Winchester
Herefordshire	Hereford
Hertfordshire	Hertford
Huntingdonshire	Huntingdon
Inverness-shire	Inverness
Kent	Maidstone
Kincardineshire	Stonehaven (formerly Kincardine)
Kinross-shire	Kinross
Kirkcudbrightshire	Kirkcudbright
Lanarkshire	Lanark
Lancashire	Lancaster
Leicestershire	Leicester
Lincolnshire	Lincoln
County Londonderry	Londonderry
Merionethshire	Dolgellau
Middlesex	Brentford, or London
Midlothian	Edinburgh
Montgomeryshire	Montgomery
Monmouthshire	Monmouth
Morayshire	Elgin
Nairnshire	Nairn
Norfolk	Norwich
Northamptonshire	Northampton
Northumberland	Alnwick
Nottinghamshire	Nottingham
Orkney	Kirkwall
Oxfordshire	Oxford
Peeblesshire	Peebles
Pembrokeshire	Haverfordwest (formerly Pembroke)
Perthshire	Perth
Radnorshire	Presteigne (formerly New Radnor)
Renfrewshire	Renfrew
Ross-shire	Dingwall
Roxburghshire	Jedburgh
Rutland	Oakham
Selkirkshire	Selkirk
Shetland	Lerwick
Shropshire	Shrewsbury
Somerset	Taunton
Staffordshire	Stafford
Stirlingshire	Stirling
Suffolk	Ipswich
Surrey	Guildford
Sussex	Chichester
Sutherland	Dornoch
Tyrone	Omagh
Warwickshire	Warwick
West Lothian	Linlithgow
Westmorland	Appleby
Wigtownshire	Wigtown
Wiltshire	Salisbury, Devizes or Trowbridge
Worcestershire	Worcester
Yorkshire	York

County towns in the Republic of Ireland

The term county capital is also used. Where the county town is a city it is shown in bold.

County	County town
County Carlow	Carlow
County Cavan	Cavan
County Clare	Ennis
County Cork	Cork
County Donegal	Lifford
County Dublin	Dublin
County Galway	Galway
County Kerry	Tralee
County Kildare	Naas
County Kilkenny	Kilkenny
County Laois	Portlaoise (Maryborough)
County Leitrim	Carrick-on-Shannon
County Limerick	Limerick
County Longford	Longford
County Louth	Dundalk
County Mayo	Castlebar
County Meath	Navan (previously Trim).
County Monaghan	Monaghan
County Offaly	Tullamore or Daingean (Philipstown)
County Roscommon	Roscommon
County Sligo	Sligo
County Tipperary	Clonmel
County Waterford	Dungarvan (previously Waterford).
County Westmeath	Mullingar
County Wexford	Wexford
County Wicklow	Wicklow