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