Editing Provinces of Ireland (section)

==Etymology==
In modern [[Irish language|Irish]], the word for province is {{lang|ga|cúige}} (pl. {{lang|ga|cúigí}}). The modern Irish term derives from the [[Old Irish]] {{lang|ga|cóiced}} (pl. {{lang|ga|cóiceda}}) which literally meant "a fifth".<ref name="Koch"/> This term appears in 8th-century law texts such as {{lang|ga|Miadslechta}} and in the legendary tales of the [[Ulster Cycle]] where it refers to the five kingdoms of the "Pentarchy".<ref name="Koch"/> MacNeill enumerates the five earliest fifths mentioned, these comprising the kingdoms of Ulster, Connacht, Munster, Tara (North Leinster) and Dinn Riogh (South Leinster), located on the Barrow. The earliest hero tales name the Boyne as the dividing boundary between Ulster and Leinster, indicating that no province representative of Meath or Brega was yet in existence. The kings of Tara and Dinn Riogh were said to derive from the same lineage, which ruled all the Laigin.<ref>{{cite book |last1=MacNeill |first1=Eoin |title=Phases of Irish History |date=1920 |publisher=Gill |isbn=7800362035 |page=103 |edition=3}}</ref> In the 12th century {{lang|ga|[[Lebor na Cert]]}} (Book of Rights), the term means province, seemingly having lost its fractional meaning with seven {{lang|ga|cúigeadh}} listed.<ref name="Koch"/> Similarly this seems to be the case in regards to titles with the [[Annals of Ulster]] using the term {{lang|ga|rex in Chóicid}} (king of the fifth/province) for certain overkings.<ref name="Koch"/>