Editing Counties of Ireland (section)

===Pre-Norman divisions of Ireland===
The [[political geography]] of Ireland can be traced with some accuracy from the 6th century. At that time Ireland was divided into a patchwork of [[petty kingdom]]s with a fluid political hierarchy which, in general, had three traditional grades of king.  The lowest level of political control existed at the level of the {{langx|ga|[[túath]]}} (pl. {{langx|ga|túatha}}). A {{langx|ga|túath}} was an autonomous group of people of independent political jurisdiction under a rí túaithe, that is, a local petty king.<ref>Michael Richter, ''Medieval Ireland'', Revised edition, Dublin 2005</ref> About 150 such units of government existed. Each  ''rí túaithe'' was in turn subject to a regional or "over-king" ({{langx|ga|ruiri}}). There may have been as many as 20 genuine [[Rí#Ruiri|ruiri]] in Ireland at any time.

A "king of over-kings" ({{langx|ga|rí ruirech|links=no}}) was often a provincial ({{langx|ga|rí cóicid|links=no}}) or semi-provincial king to whom several ruiri were subordinate. No more than six genuine [[Rí#Rí ruirech|rí ruirech]] were ever contemporary. Usually, only five such "king of over-kings" existed contemporaneously and so are described in the [[Irish annals]] as ''fifths'' ({{langx|ga|cúigí|links=no}}). The areas under the control of these kings were: [[Ulster]] ({{langx|ga|Ulaidh|links=no}}), [[Leinster]] ({{langx|ga|Laighin|links=no}}), [[Connacht]] ({{langx|ga|Connachta|links=no}}), [[Munster]] ({{langx|ga|An Mhumhan|links=no}}) and [[Kingdom of Meath|Mide]] ({{langx|ga|An Mhídhe|links=no}}). Later record-makers dubbed them ''provinces'', in imitation of [[Roman province]]s. In the Norman period, the historic fifths of Leinster and Meath gradually merged, mainly due to the impact of [[the Pale]], which straddled both, thereby forming the present-day province of Leinster.

The use of [[Provinces of Ireland|provinces]] as divisions of political power was supplanted by the system of counties after the Norman invasion. In modern times clusters of counties have been attributed to certain provinces but these clusters have no legal status. They are today seen mainly in a sporting context, as Ireland's four professional rugby teams play under the names of the provinces, and the [[Gaelic Athletic Association]] has separate [[GAA provincial council|Provincial council]]s and [[Provincial championships]].