Ireland Counties

Ireland is a country where the county is an identity before it is an administrative unit. It is what the GAA pitches, the number plates and the football rivalries are drawn around, and people will tell you what county they are from before they tell you the town. A round here is a question of which of the state's counties you are standing in.

The quiz: Name to place, on the map
Grouped by: Province: the four historic provinces of Ireland
In the game: 26 counties

Start

What you are looking at

The map is the Republic of Ireland. It leaves out the six counties of Northern Ireland, which are part of the United Kingdom and are drawn in the UK's games, so Ulster appears here with only the three counties of it that are in the state.

Dublin is one county on this map, although for local government it has been four authorities since 1994: Dublin City, Fingal, South Dublin and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown. Tipperary is one as well (it was two councils until 2014), and so are Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford, where a city council sits beside the county council. They are drawn as the counties people mean when they say the name, so the 26 here are the traditional counties of the state and not the 31 local authorities.

Cork is the largest by area and Louth the smallest. The local name is a switch in the start dialog: Cork is Corcaigh, Galway is Gaillimh and Donegal is Dún na nGall.

How to place one

Start with the coast. Donegal in the far north, Kerry and Cork in the southwest, Wexford in the southeast and Dublin on the east coast each tell you where you are before you have found the county.
Follow the Shannon. It runs from Leitrim down through Roscommon, Longford, Offaly, Clare and Limerick, and the counties on either bank are the spine of the middle of the country.
Use the provinces. Leinster is the east, Munster the south and southwest, Connacht the west, and the three Ulster counties are the northern edge.
Leave the midlands for last. Longford, Westmeath, Offaly, Laois and Kildare are alike in shape and size, and are easier from the counties around them.

Every county, by province

Leinster12 counties: Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Longford, Louth, Laois, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wicklow, Wexford
Munster6 counties: Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford
Connacht5 counties: Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo
Ulster3 counties: Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan

Worked examples

Cork

The rebel county

Cork is the largest county, filling the south of the island. It reaches from the Kerry border in the west nearly to Waterford in the east, and Cork city is the second city of the state.

Longford

A midlands county

Longford is small and landlocked, between the Shannon and the Westmeath and Cavan borders. It is one of the counties that most often goes wrong in the midlands, which is why the Shannon is the way in.

Frequently asked questions

How many counties does Ireland have?

Twenty-six in the Republic, and thirty-two on the island once the six of Northern Ireland are counted. This quiz uses the 26 of the state.

Why is Dublin one county here when it has several councils?

Dublin county has been four local authorities since 1994. The quiz asks for the county, which is the unit people mean by Dublin and is the one on the number plates.

Why are there not 31 counties?

Thirty-one is the number of local authorities, which counts the city councils of Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford and the three Dublin authorities separately. The county boundaries underneath did not move.

For another country at this level, see Switzerland Cantons or Belgium Provinces.

Sources

Natural Earth, Admin 1 states and provinces, the boundaries, merged back into the 26 counties
Counties of Ireland, the traditional counties and the local authorities
Provinces of Ireland, the four provinces the counties are grouped into

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