Map of provinces and counties in Ireland

There are thirty two counties in present-day Ireland distributed in somewhat uneven fashion across four provinces. The counties vary in size, Cork and Galway being the largest, Louth and Carlow the smallest. The population of counties depends on whether they contain large towns or cities. Some counties, like Leitrim and Clare do not, while other have an associated town or city, e.g. Limerick, Cork, Wexford, etc.

The province of Ulster contains nine counties, six of which are within the borders of Northern Ireland, formed on the partition of Ireland in 1921. There is a limited presence of Ulster Scots speech outside of Northern Ireland, in the Lagan district of north-west Donegal. Features of northern speech spread much further southwards than previously thought as attested by A Sound Atlas of Irish English.