Editing Provinces of Ireland (section)

===Tudor period===
[[File:1716 Homann Map of Ireland - Geographicus - Ireland-homann-1716.jpg|thumb|[[Johann Homann]]'s 1716 map of Ireland. He incorrectly places [[County Clare]] in Connacht; it had actually been returned to Munster in the immediate years after 1660.]]
During the reign of [[Mary I of England|Mary I]] (1553–1558), the [[Lord Deputy of Ireland]], [[Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex]], sought to divide Ireland into six parts—Connacht, Leinster, Meath, Nether Munster, Ulster, and Upper Munster.<ref name="Falkiner"/> His administrative reign in Ireland, however, was cut short; and even with his reappointment by [[Elizabeth I]] (1558–1603) this plan was never implemented.<ref name="Falkiner"/>

Sir [[Henry Sidney]] during his three tenures as Lord Deputy created two presidencies headed by a Lord President to administer [[Lord President of Connaught|Connacht]] and [[Lord President of Munster|Munster]].<ref name="Falkiner"/> In an attempt to reduce the importance of the province of Munster, Sydney, using the [[River Shannon]] as a natural boundary took Thomond and made it into the [[County Clare|county of Clare]] as part of the presidency of Connaught in 1569.<ref name="Falkiner"/> Around 1600 near the end of Elizabeth's reign, Clare was made an entirely distinct presidency of its own under the [[Earl of Thomond|Earls of Thomond]] and would not return to being part of Munster until after the [[Restoration (England)|Restoration]] in 1660.<ref name="Falkiner"/>

The exact boundaries of the provinces of Ireland during the Tudor period changed several times, usually as a result of the creation of new counties:
*County Clare upon its creation in 1569 was transferred from Munster to Connacht, and was only restored to Munster after 1660.<ref name="Falkiner"/>
*[[County Longford]] upon its creation in 1583 was transferred from Leinster to Connacht.<ref name="Falkiner"/><ref name="Crawford"/>
*[[County Cavan]] was created in 1584 and transferred from Connacht to Ulster.<ref name="roche"/>
*[[County Louth]], which had long been part of [[The Pale]], was transferred from Ulster to Leinster.<ref name="Falkiner"/>

It would not be until the reign of Elizabeth's successor, [[James VI and I|James I]], that Meath by 1610 would cease to be considered a province and that the provincial borders would be permanently set.<ref name="Falkiner"/>