ABOUT
IRELAND
 Ireland
(Irish: Éire; Ulster Scots: Airlann) is
the third largest island in Europe,and the twentieth
largest island in the world. It lies to the northwest
of Continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds
of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland,
separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great
Britain. Politically, the Republic of Ireland
(also known simply as Ireland) covers five sixths
of the island, with Northern Ireland, part of
the United Kingdom, covering the remainder in
the northeast.
The
population of the island is slightly over six
million (2007), with 4.34 million in the Republic
of Ireland(1.7 million in Greater Dublin) and
an estimated 1.75 million in Northern Ireland
(0.6 million in Greater Belfast]). This is a significant
increase from a modern historical low in the 1960s,
but still much lower than the peak population
of over 8 million in the early 19th century, prior
to the Great Famine.
The
name Ireland derives from the name Ériu
(in modern Irish, Éire) with the addition
of the Germanic word land. Most other Western
European names for Ireland derive from the same
source, such as French Irlande, Spanish, Italian
and Portuguese Irlanda, and German Irland.
The island of Ireland has two
distinct jurisdictions:
- Ireland
(legal name Ireland, legal descriptionthe
Republic of Ireland), a sovereign state
, covers five sixths of the island. Its capital
is Dublin.
- Northern
Ireland, part of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland, covers the remaining
sixth. Its capital is Belfast .
For
the political history of the island, see History
of Ireland.
| Province |
Population |
Area
(kmē) |
Largest
city |
 Connacht |
503,083 |
17,713 |
Galway |
 Leinster |
2,292,939 |
19,774 |
Dublin |
 Munster |
1,172,170 |
24,608 |
Cork |
 Ulster |
1,993,918
|
24,481 |
Belfast |
Traditionally,
Ireland is subdivided into four provinces: Connacht,
Leinster, Munster and ; and, in a system developed
between the 13th and 17th centuries, 32 counties.
Twenty-six of the counties are in the Republic
of Ireland, and the remaining six (all in Ulster)
are in Northern Ireland. Notably, Ulster and Northern
Ireland are neither synonymous nor coextensive,
as three counties of Ulster (Cavan, Donegal and
Monaghan) are part of the Republic. Counties Dublin,
Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford and Tipperary
have been broken up into smaller administrative
areas, but are still considered by Ordnance Survey
Ireland to be official counties. The counties
in Northern Ireland are no longer used for local
government, although their traditional boundaries
are still used in sports and in some other cultural
areas.
Map
of traditional counties
These
do not correspond exactly to the counties used
as political units.
This
dinnseanchas poem named Ard Ruide (Ruide Headland)
poetically describes the kingdoms of Ireland.
Below is a translation from Old Irish:
"Connacht
in the west is the kingdom of learning, the
seat of the greatest and wisest druids and magicians;
the men of Connacht are famed for their eloquence,
their handsomeness and their ability to pronounce
true judgement.
Ulster in the north is the seat of battle valour,
of haughtiness, strife, boasting; the men of
Ulster are the fiercest warriors of all Ireland,
and the queens and goddesses of Ulster are associated
with battle and death.
Leinster,
the eastern kingdom, is the seat of prosperity,
hospitality, the importing of rich foreign wares
like silk or wine; the men of Leinster are noble
in speech and their women are exceptionally
beautiful.
Munster
in the south is the kingdom of music and the
arts, of harpers, of skilled ficheall players
and of skilled horsemen. The fairs of Munster
were the greatest in all Ireland.
The
last kingdom, Meath, is the kingdom of Kingship,
of stewardship, of bounty in government; in
Meath lies the Hill of Tara, the traditional
seat of the High King of Ireland. The ancient
earthwork of Tara is called Rath na Ríthe."
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