Leinster


This article is about the Province of Ireland. For the town in Western Australia, see Leinster, Western Australia.
For the ship which was sunk on 10 October 1918 with over 500 deaths, see RMS Leinster.
For The Professional Rugby Union Team, see Leinster Rugby.


Leinster
Laighin
Flag of Leinster
Flag
Location of Leinster
Location of Leinster
State Flag of Ireland Ireland
Counties Carlow
Dublin City
Fingal
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown
South Dublin
Kildare
Kilkenny
Laois
Longford
Louth
Meath
Offaly
Westmeath
Wexford
Wicklow
Government
 - Teachta Dála
Area
 - Total 19,774.23 km2 (7,634.87 sq mi)
Population (2006)
 - Total 2,292,939

Leinster (pronounced /ˈlɛnstər/; Irish: Laighin, Irish pronunciation: [lainʲ]), one of the Provinces of Ireland, lies in the east of Ireland and comprises the counties of Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wexford and Wicklow. Leinster has the largest population of the four provinces of Ireland. The traditional flag of Leinster features a golden harp on a green background.

Contents

Cities

  • The only official city in Leinster is Dublin, the capital of Ireland. However, the Greater Dublin Area (GDA) has a total population of 1,661,185 (2006) with some of its larger urban areas comprising the towns of Tallaght & environs, Blanchardstown, Clondalkin and Lucan. The city of Kilkenny (and environs) also has a sizeable population, but is not usually included as a city, despite holding that title for the past 400 years[1].

Large towns

In order of size:

Economy

According to the CSO regional income report, GDP for the province of Leinster in 2004 was estimated to be well over 75 billion Euro.

Name and early history

In ancient times Leinster was occupied by five major Fir-Bolg tribes, of which the tribe of the Laigin rose to dominance and gave Leinster its name. The Fir Bolg may be related to the Belgae, but this has not been firmly established. The tribes of Leinster were united by Úgaine Mor (Hugony, the Great), who built the hill-fort of Ailinne Knochawlin, near Kilcullen, County Kildare. He is a likely, but uncertain candidate as the first historical king of Laigin (Leinster) in the 7th century BC. The "-ster" of the toponym comes from the Nordic S-genitive and the Irish tír, meaning country, as the Vikings dominated and held Dublin, Wexford and Waterford, among other times for a period of time (around 800AD-1000AD). Therefore Leinster breaks down as:

  • Laigin
  • s
  • Tír

or "the Laigin's country".

The kingdom of Laigin was re-founded circa 175/185 AD following a period of civil wars in Ireland by the legendary Cathair Mor.

Finn Mac Cool, or Fionn mac Cumhaill, was reputed to have built a stronghold at the Hill of Allen, on the edge of the Bog of Almhainn, in what was then Leinster.

In the 4th and 5th centuries, after Magnus Maximus left Britain with his legions, leaving a power vacuum, colonists from Laigin settled in North Wales, specifically in Anglesey, Carnarvonshire and Denbighshire. In Wales some of the Leinster-Irish colonists left their name on the Llŷn Peninsula, which derives its name from Laigin.

By the 8th century, Laigin had split into two dynasties:

Northern Leinster dynasty: Murchad mac Brain (d. 727), King of Uí Dúnlainge, and joint leader of the Laigin

Southern Leinster dynasty: Áed mac Colggen (d. 738), King of Uí Cheinnselaig, and joint leader of the Laigin

After the death of the last Kildare-based King of Laigin, Murchad Mac Dunlainge in 1042, the kingship of Leinster reverted to the Uí Cheinnselaig sept based in the south east (southern dynasty) which comprise the later Kings of Leinster.

Borders of Leinster

Today, made of twelve counties, it encompasses the old province of Mide (mostly now in modern-day County Meath and County Westmeath). Also in it are County Longford and the Annally and Lusmagh parishes of County Offaly, formerly of Connacht, and County Louth, formerly of Ulster. The borders were redrawn by Cromwell for administration and military reasons. The last major boundary changes occurred with the formation of County Wicklow (1603-1606), from lands in the north of Carlow (which previously extended to the sea) and most of southern Dublin.

Later minor changes dealt with "islands" of one county in another. By the late 18th century, Leinster looked as shown below.

Leinster, province of Ireland - detailed; Hogg, 1784

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Kilkenny was declared a city on 11th of April 1609, http://news.ie.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=15971532

References

v • d • e
Counties of Ireland
Connacht
Munster
Leinster
Ulster

Cavan · Donegal · Monaghan · Antrim · Armagh · Down · Fermanagh · Londonderry · Tyrone
Italics denote non-administrative counties. Parentheses () denote eponymous cities or non-traditional counties.







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