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I\u2019m sure most of you have heard of at least some of these subdivisions, but how many of these do you actually know the function of? Or where they fall in the hierarchy? Here is the full list of all of Irelands many complicated (and sometimes unnecessary subdivisions)<\/p>\n
1. Province (C\u00faige):<\/strong> The highest form of subdivision, the four ancient kingdoms of Leinster, Munster, Connacht, and Ulster While today they hold no administrative power, they make up the highest form of subdivision.<\/p>\n 2. County (Contae):<\/strong> The core administrative unit of Ireland (in the Republic anyway, the north has weird distinct council things which I am not<\/em> getting into) introduced by the Anglo-Normans. There are 32 counties across the island.<\/p>\n 3. Barony:<\/strong> The direct Irish equivalent to the English hundred. Baronies often mapped over old Gaelic clan territories (tuatha<\/em>) and were historically used for collecting taxes and running local courts.<\/p>\n 4. Civil Parish:<\/strong> These are the administrative boundaries used by the Catholic Church and COI, a parish will have one or more dedicated priest who will work entirely within this area (Civil Parishes also fit into dioceses, but those may as well just be a bunch of counties merged together)<\/p>\n 5. Townland (Baile Fearainn):<\/strong> The smallest official<\/em> and legally standardized division of land. These were historically used to measure and manage land value, organize farming and collect taxes and rent. They have no standard size, some townlands can be the sizes of parishes and others are no bigger than a car park.<\/p>\n 6. Hundreds & Sub-townlands:<\/strong> A very rare even smaller subdivision of a townland, these are usually found inside unmanageably large townlands which will be split into multiple pieces for easier monitoring.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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