Editing Counties of Ireland (section)

===Plantagenet era===
====Lordships====
With the arrival of [[Cambro-Norman]] knights in 1169, the [[Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland]] commenced. This was followed in 1172 by the invasion of King [[Henry II of England]], commencing English royal involvement.

After his intervention in Ireland, Henry II effectively divided the English colony into liberties also known as lordships. These were effectively [[county palatine|palatine counties]] and differed from ordinary counties in that they were disjoined from the crown and that whoever they were granted to essentially had the same authority as the king and that the king's writ had no effect except a writ of error.<ref name="Falkiner174">{{harv|Falkiner|1903|p=[https://archive.org/details/proceedingsroya29acadgoog/page/174/mode/2up?view=theater 174]}}</ref> This covered all land within the county that was not church land.<ref name="Falkiner174"/> The reason for the creation of such powerful entities in Ireland was due to the lack of authority the English crown had there.<ref name="Falkiner174"/> The same process occurred after the Norman conquest of England where despite there being a strong central government, county palatines were needed in border areas with Wales and Scotland.<ref name="Falkiner174-5">{{harv|Falkiner|1903|p=[https://archive.org/details/proceedingsroya29acadgoog/page/174/mode/2up?view=theater 174-5]}}</ref> In Ireland this meant that the land was divided and granted to [[Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke|Richard de Clare]] and his followers who became lords (and sometimes called earls), with the only land which the English crown had any direct control over being the sea-coast towns and territories immediately adjacent.<ref name="Falkiner175">{{harv|Falkiner|1903|p=[https://archive.org/details/proceedingsroya29acadgoog/page/174/mode/2up?view=theater 175]}}</ref>

Of Henry II's grants, at least three of them—[[Leinster]] to Richard de Clare; [[Lordship of Meath|Meath]] to [[Walter de Lacy, Lord of Meath|Walter de Lacy]]; [[Lordship of Ulster|Ulster]] to [[John de Courcy]]—were equivalent to palatine counties in their bestowing of royal jurisdiction to the grantees.<ref name="Falkiner175"/> Other grants include the liberties of Connaught and Tipperary.<ref name="Falkiner175-6">{{harv|Falkiner|1903|p=[https://archive.org/details/proceedingsroya29acadgoog/page/174/mode/2up?view=theater 175-6]}}</ref>

====Division of lordships====
[[File:Www.wesleyjohnston.com-users-ireland-maps-historical-map1300.gif|thumb|right|Extent of Norman control in Ireland by 1300]]
[[Image:Ireland 1450.png|thumb|right|The Pale (grey), earldoms and lordships (blue) in 1450]]
These initial lordships were later subdivided into smaller "liberties", which appear to have enjoyed the same privileges as their predecessors.<ref name="Falkiner175"/> The division of Leinster and Munster into smaller counties is commonly attributed to King John, mostly due to a lack of prior documentary evidence, which has been destroyed. However, they may have had an earlier origin.<ref name="Falkiner172-3">{{harv|Falkiner|1903|p=[https://archive.org/details/proceedingsroya29acadgoog/page/172/mode/2up?view=theater 172-3]}}</ref> These counties were: in Leinster: Carlow (also known as Catherlogh), Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Louth (also known as Uriel), Meath, Wexford, Waterford; in Munster: Cork, Limerick, Kerry and Tipperary.<ref name="Falkiner172">{{harv|Falkiner|1903|p=[https://archive.org/details/proceedingsroya29acadgoog/page/172/mode/2up?view=theater 172]}}</ref> It is thought that these counties did not have the administrative purpose later attached to them until late in the reign of King John and that no new counties were created until the Tudor dynasty.<ref name="Falkiner">{{Cite book |title=The Counties of Ireland: An Historical Sketch of Their Origin, Constitution, and Gradual Delimitation|last=Falkiner|first=Caesar Litton|year=1837 |publisher=Royal Irish Academy|url=https://archive.org/details/proceedingsroya29acadgoog/page/n814/mode/2up?q=%22counties+of+ireland+an+historical%22&view=theater}}</ref>

The most important office in those that were [[palatine]] was that of [[seneschal]].<ref name="Falkiner179"/> In those liberties that came under Crown control this office was held by a [[sheriff]].<ref name="Falkiner179"/> The sovereign could and did appoint sheriffs in palatines; however, their power was confined to the church lands, and they became known as sheriffs of a County of the Cross, of which there seem to have been as many in Ireland as there were counties palatine.<ref name="Falkiner179">{{harv|Falkiner|1903|p=[https://archive.org/details/proceedingsroya29acadgoog/page/178/mode/2up?q=%22counties+of+ireland+an+historical%22&view=theater 179]}}</ref>

The exact boundaries of the liberties and shrievalties appear to have been in constant flux throughout the [[House of Plantagenet|Plantagenet]] period, seemingly in line with the extent of English control.<ref name="Falkiner178">{{harv|Falkiner|1903|p=[https://archive.org/details/proceedingsroya29acadgoog/page/178/mode/2up?q=%22counties+of+ireland+an+historical%22&view=theater 178]}}</ref> For example, in 1297 it is recorded that Kildare had extended to include the lands that now comprise the modern-day counties of Offaly, Laois (Leix) and Wicklow (Arklow).<ref name="Falkiner178-9">{{harv|Falkiner|1903|p=[https://archive.org/details/proceedingsroya29acadgoog/page/178/mode/2up?q=%22counties+of+ireland+an+historical%22&view=theater 178-9]}}</ref> Some attempts had also been made to extend the county system to Ulster.<ref name="Falkiner180">{{harv|Falkiner|1903|p=[https://archive.org/details/proceedingsroya29acadgoog/page/180/mode/2up?view=theater 180]}}</ref>

However the [[Bruce campaign in Ireland|Bruce Invasion of Ireland]] in 1315 resulted in the collapse of effective English rule in Ireland, with the land controlled by the crown continually shrinking to encompass Dublin, and parts of Meath, Louth and Kildare.<ref name="Falkiner180"/> Throughout the rest of Ireland, English rule was upheld by the earls of Desmond, Ormond, and Kildare (all created in the 14th-century), with the extension of the county system all but impossible.<ref name="Falkiner180"/> During the reign of [[Edward III of England|Edward III]] (1327–77) all franchises, grants and liberties had been temporarily revoked with power passed to the king's sheriffs over the seneschals.<ref name="Falkiner179"/> This may have been due to the disorganisation caused by the Bruce invasion as well as the renouncing of the Connaught Burkes of their allegiance to the crown.<ref name="Falkiner179"/>

The Earls of Ulster divided their territory up into counties; however, these are not considered part of the Crown's shiring of Ireland. In 1333, the [[Earldom of Ulster]] is recorded as consisting of seven counties: [[County Antrim|Antrim]], [[Newtownards|Blathewyc]], [[Carrickfergus|Cragferus]], [[County Coleraine|Coulrath]], [[Ards (territory)|del Art]], [[County Down|Dun]] (also known as [[Lecale|Ladcathel]]), and [[Twescard]].<ref name="Bardon2005pg45">Bardon, Jonathan: ''A History of Ulster'', page 45. The Black Staff Press, 2005. {{ISBN|0-85640-764-X}}</ref><ref name="DownII">Hughes and Hannan: ''Place-Names of Northern Ireland, Volume Two, County Down II, The Ards'', The Queen's University of Belfast, 1992. {{ISBN|085389-450-7}}</ref>