Editing Counties of Ireland (section)

===Tudor era===
It was not until the Tudors, specifically the reign of [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] (1509–47), that crown control started to once again extend throughout Ireland.<ref name="Falkiner180-1">{{harv|Falkiner|1903|p=[https://archive.org/details/proceedingsroya29acadgoog/page/180/mode/2up?view=theater 180-1]}}</ref> Having declared himself [[King of Ireland]] in 1541, Henry VIII went about converting Irish chiefs into feudal subjects of the crown with land divided into districts, which were eventually amalgamated into the modern counties.<ref name="Falkiner180-1"/> County boundaries were still ill-defined; however, in 1543 [[Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act 1543|Meath was split into Meath and Westmeath]].<ref name="Falkiner180-1"/> Around 1545, the [[Byrne]]s and [[O'Toole (surname)|O'Tooles]], both native septs who had constantly been a pain for the English administration of the Pale, petitioned the Lord Deputy of Ireland to turn their district into its own county, Wicklow. However, this was ignored.<ref name="Falkiner"/>

During the reigns of the last two Tudor monarchs, [[Mary I of England|Mary I]] (1553–58) and [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]] (1558–1603), the majority of the work for the foundation of the modern counties was carried out under the auspices of three [[Lord Deputy of Ireland|Lord Deputies]]: [[Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex]], Sir [[Henry Sidney|Henry Sydney]], and Sir [[John Perrot]].<ref name="Falkiner182">{{harv|Falkiner|1903|p=[https://archive.org/details/proceedingsroya29acadgoog/page/182/mode/2up?view=theater 182]}}</ref>

Mary's reign saw the first addition of actual new counties since the reign of King John. Radclyffe had conquered the districts of Glenmaliry, Irry, Leix, Offaly, and Slewmargy from the O'Moores and O'Connors, and in 1556 a statute decreed that Offaly and part of Glenmaliry would be made into the county of [[County Offaly|King's County]], whilst the rest of Glenmarliry along with Irry, Leix and Slewmargy was formed into [[County Laois|Queen's County]].<ref name="Falkiner182"/> Radclyffe brought forth legislation to shire all land as yet unshired throughout Ireland and sought to divide the island into six parts—Connaught, Leinster, Meath, Nether Munster, Ulster, and Upper Munster. However, his administrative reign in Ireland was cut short, and it was not until the reign of Mary's successor, Elizabeth, that this legislation was re-adopted. Under Elizabeth, Radclyffe was brought back to implement it.<ref name="Falkiner"/>

Sydney during his three tenures as Lord Deputy created two presidencies to administer Connaught and Munster. He shired Connaught into the counties of Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, and Sligo.<ref name="Falkiner184">{{harv|Falkiner|1903|p=[https://archive.org/details/proceedingsroya29acadgoog/page/184/mode/2up?view=theater 184]}}</ref> In 1565 the territory of the O'Rourkes within Roscommon was made into the county of Leitrim. In an attempt to reduce the importance of the province of Munster, Sydney, using the [[River Shannon]] as a natural boundary took the former kingdom of Thomond (North Munster) and made it into the county of Clare as part of the presidency of Connaught in 1569.<ref name="Falkiner185">{{harv|Falkiner|1903|p=[https://archive.org/details/proceedingsroya29acadgoog/page/184/mode/2up?view=theater 185]}}</ref> In 1569 the Irish Parliament passed "An Act for turning of Countries that be not yet Shire Grounds into Shire Grounds".<ref>[https://opac.oireachtas.ie/Data/Library7/Library1/DC900041.pdf 11 Elizabeth I, Session 3, Chapter 9 (1569)]</ref> A commission headed by Perrot and others in 1571 declared that the territory of Desmond in Munster was to be made a county of itself, and it had its own sheriff appointed, however in 1606 it was merged with the county of Kerry.<ref name="Falkiner192-3">{{harv|Falkiner|1903|p=[https://archive.org/details/proceedingsroya29acadgoog/page/192/mode/2up?view=theater 192-3]}}</ref> In 1575 Sydney made an expedition to Ulster to plan its shiring. However, nothing came to bear.<ref name="Falkiner"/>

In 1578 the go-ahead was given for turning the districts of the Byrnes and O'Tooles into the county of Wicklow. However, with the outbreak of war in Munster and then Ulster, they resumed their independence.<ref name="Falkiner"/> Sydney also sought to split Wexford into two smaller counties, the northern half of which was to be called Ferns, but the matter was dropped as it was considered impossible to properly administer.<ref name="Falkiner"/> The territory of the [[Ó Fearghail|O'Farrell]]s of [[Annaly]], however, which was in Westmeath, in 1583 was formed into the county of Longford and transferred to Connaught.<ref name="Falkiner"/><ref>{{cite book|first=John G.|last=Crawford|title=Anglicising the Government of Ireland: The Irish Privy Council & the Expansion of Tudor Rule 1556–1578|location=Blackrock|year=1993}}</ref> The [[Desmond Rebellions|Desmond rebellion]] (1579–83) that was taking place in Munster stopped Sydney's work and by the time it had been defeated Sir John Perrot was now Lord Deputy, being appointed in 1584.<ref name="Falkiner"/>

Perrot would be most remembered for shiring the only province of Ireland that remained effectively outside of English control, that of Ulster.<ref name="Falkiner"/> Prior to his tenancy the only proper county in Ulster was Louth, which had been part of the Pale.<ref name="Falkiner"/> There were two other long recognised entities north of Louth—Antrim and Down—that had at one time been "counties" of the Earldom of Ulster and were regarded as apart from the unreformed parts of the province.<ref name="Falkiner"/> The date Antrim and Down became constituted is unknown.<ref name="Falkiner"/> Perrot was recalled in 1588 and the shiring of Ulster would for two decades basically exist on paper as the territory affected remained firmly outside of English control until the defeat of [[Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone]] in the [[Nine Years' War (Ireland)|Nine Years' War]].<ref name="Falkiner"/> These counties were: Armagh, Cavan, Coleraine, Donegal, Fermanagh, Monaghan, and Tyrone.<ref name="Falkiner"/> Cavan was formed from the territory of the [[O'Reilly]]'s of [[East Breifne]] in 1584 and had been transferred from Connaught to Ulster.<ref name="roche">{{cite book|first=Desmond|last=Roche|title=Local Government in Ireland|location=Dublin|year=1982}}</ref> After O'Neill and his allies fled Ireland in 1607 in the [[Flight of the Earls]], their lands became escheated to the Crown and the county divisions designed by Perrot were used as the basis for the grants of the subsequent [[Plantation of Ulster]] effected by King [[James VI and I|James I]], which officially started in 1609.<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"/>

It was not until the subjugation of the Byrnes and O'Tooles by Lord Deputy Sir [[Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester|Arthur Chichester]] that in 1606 Wicklow was finally shired.<ref name="Falkiner"/> This county was one of the last to be created, yet was the closest to the centre of English power in Ireland.<ref name="Falkiner"/>

County Londonderry was incorporated in 1613 by the merger of [[County Coleraine]] with the barony of [[Loughinsholin]] (in County Tyrone), the [[North West Liberties of Londonderry]] (in County Donegal), and the [[North East Liberties of Coleraine]] (in County Antrim).