Type details for Irish County

Type:Irish County
Identifier:IRL_CNTY
Number of units in system:
45
Geographical Level: 7 (County)
ADL Feature Type:countries, 2nd order divisions
May be part of: Irish Province , Country
May have as parts: Poor Law Union , Barony , Irish Civil Parish , Irish Town

Full Description:

Ireland is divided into 32 Counties: 6 in the state of Northern Ireland, 26 in the state of the Republic of Ireland. Counties were introduced into Ireland during the nineteenth century to provide a framework for local government. The administrative and legal functions of these counties went out of official use by 1889, but the counties were sub-divided rather than abolished. For instance, in Northern Ireland the 6 counties have been administratively replaced by 26 unitary authorities, and within the Republic of Ireland 6 of the counties have been split to create 34 county authorities.