County Leitrim Contae Liatroma | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms | |
| Nicknames: The Wild Rose County(Others) | |
 Interactive map of County Leitrim | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Connacht |
| Region | Northern and Western |
| Established | 1565–83[3] |
| County town | Carrick-on-Shannon |
| Government | |
| • Local authority | Leitrim County Council |
| • Dáil constituency | Sligo–Leitrim |
| • EP constituency | Midlands–North-West |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,589 km2 (614 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 26th |
| Highest elevation | 631 m (2,070 ft) |
| Population | |
• Total | 35,199 |
| • Rank | 32nd |
| Time zone | UTC±0 (WET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (IST) |
| Eircode routing keys | F91, N41(primarily) |
| Telephone area codes | 071(primarily) |
| ISO 3166 code | IE-LM |
| Vehicle index mark code | LM |
| Website | Official website |
County Leitrim (/ˈliːtrəm/LEE-trəm;Irish:Contae Liatroma) is acounty inIreland. It is in theprovince ofConnacht and is part of theNorthern and Western Region. It is named after the village ofLeitrim.Leitrim County Council is thelocal authority for the county, which had a population of 35,199 according to the2022 census.[2]
The county was based on theGaelic territory ofWest Breffny (Bréifne) as it existed in the 1580s.[4][5][6]
Leitrim is the 26th in size of the 32 counties by area (21st of the 26 counties of the Republic) and the smallest by population.[7] It is the smallest of Connacht's five counties in both size and population. Leitrim is bordered by the counties ofDonegal to the north,Fermanagh to the north-east,Cavan to the east,Longford to the south,Roscommon to the south-west andSligo to the west. Fermanagh is inNorthern Ireland while all the other neighbouring counties are within theRepublic of Ireland.
Leitrim has a hilly and mountainous landscape in its northwest and is relatively flat in the southeast, each separated from the other by Lough Allen in the middle of the county. Leitrim has theshortest length of coastline of any Irish county that touches the sea. AtTullaghan, the coastline is only 4.7 kilometres (2.9 mi) long.[8] The Shannon is linked to theErne via theShannon–Erne Waterway. Notable lakes include:
In ancient times Leitrim formed the western half of theKingdom of Breifne. This region was long influenced by the O'Rourke family ofDromahair, whose heraldic lion occupies the official county shield to this day. Close ties initially existed with theO'Reilly clan in the eastern half of the kingdom, however, a split occurred in the 13th century and the kingdom was divided intoEast Breifne, nowCounty Cavan, andWest Breifne, now County Leitrim. TheNormans invaded south Leitrim in the 13th century but were defeated at theBattle of Áth an Chip in 1270.
Much of the county was confiscated from its owners in 1620 and given to Villiers andHamilton. Their initial objective was to plant the county with English settlers. However, this proved unsuccessful. English DeputySir John Perrot had ordered the legal establishment of "Leitrim County" a half-century prior, in 1565. Perrott also demarcated the current county borders around 1583.
Long ago Ireland was covered in woodland,[9][10] and five great forests are traditionally said to have stood in Leitrim, with a 19th-century county survey stating- "a hundred years ago almost the whole country was one continued, undivided forest, so that from Drumshanbo to Drumkeeran, a distance of nine or ten miles, one could travel the whole way from tree to tree by branches".[11] Many of these great forests were denuded for the making of charcoal for iron works aroundSliabh an Iarainn.[9] Working of the county's rich deposits of iron ore began in the 15th century and continued until the mid-18th century. Coal mining became prominent in the 19th century to the east of Lough Allen at Sliabh an Iarainn and also to the west inArigna, on the Roscommon border. The last coal mine closed in July 1990 and there is now a visitor centre.[12] Sandstone was also quarried in the Glenfarne region.
Writing in 1791, the geographerBeaufort suggested the county housing population encompassed 10,026 homes with "upwards of 50,000 inhabitants", the primary agriculture being cattle production, and the growth of flax sustaining the linen industry.[13] Leitrim was first hit by the recession caused by the mechanisation oflinen weaving in the 1830s and its 155,000 residents (as of the 1841 census) were ravaged by theGreat Famine and the population dropped to 112,000 by 1851. The population subsequently continued to decrease due to emigration. After many years, the wounds of such rapid population decline have finally started to heal. Agriculture improved over the last century. Leitrim now has the fastest growing population in Connacht.
TheBook of Fenagh is the most famous medieval manuscript originating here. In the 19th century the poetJohn McDonald (of Dromod) lived in the county, andWilliam Butler Yeats spent the turn of the twentieth century fascinated withLough Allen and much of Leitrim. Glencar Waterfall, 11 kilometres (7 mi) from Manorhamilton, inspired Yeats and is mentioned in his poemThe Stolen Child.
Geographically, the county is almost evenly divided byLough Allen (itself part of theRiver Shannon) and the River Shannon upstream from Lough Allen. While this boundary within the county runs from south to north, separating east from west in its immediate vicinity, the county extends much further north to the west of this line and much further south to the east, and the two parts of the county are commonly known as North Leitrim and South Leitrim, respectively. Uniquely among Irish counties, there is no way to cross from North Leitrim to South Leitrim as defined above (or vice versa) by road without leaving its boundaries. An alternative boundary between North and South Leitrim followsSliabh an Iarainn east from Lough Allen rather than the River Shannon upstream from it, separating thebaronies ofDrumahaire to the north andLeitrim andCarrigallen to the south, as in the map in this section, although this boundary is crossed by a few roads including theregionalR207 road. North Leitrim under at least one definition is slightly larger than the south, comprising 51% of County Leitrim's land area. However, South Leitrim, with towns such as Carrick-on-Shannon, Ballinamore and Drumshambo, is significantly more populous, containing approximately 65% of the county's population as of 2016.[14]
There are five historicbaronies in the county. While baronies continue to be officially defined units, they are no longer used for many administrative purposes. Their official status is illustrated by Placenames Orders made since 2003, where official Irish names of baronies are listed under "Administrative units". They areCarrigallen,Drumahaire,Leitrim,Mohill andRosclogher.[15]
Under theLocal Government (Ireland) Act 1898, County Leitrim was divided into therural districts of Ballyshannon No. 3 (later renamed Kinlough), Bawnboy No. 2 (later renamed Ballinamore), Carrick-on-Shannon No. 1, Manorhamilton and Mohill.[16][17] The rural districts were abolished in 1925.[18]
As of the 2022 census:[19]
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1500 | 2,511 | — |
| 1510 | 2,520 | +0.4% |
| 1550 | 2,544 | +1.0% |
| 1580 | 2,588 | +1.7% |
| 1585 | 2,603 | +0.6% |
| 1600 | 2,645 | +1.6% |
| 1610 | 2,663 | +0.7% |
| 1611 | 2,701 | +1.4% |
| 1613 | 2,744 | +1.6% |
| 1616 | 2,788 | +1.6% |
| 1621 | 2,819 | +1.1% |
| 1631 | 2,877 | +2.1% |
| 1641 | 2,901 | +0.8% |
| 1651 | 2,923 | +0.8% |
| 1653 | 2,970 | +1.6% |
| 1659 | 4,275 | +43.9% |
| 1668 | 4,550 | +6.4% |
| 1672 | 4,707 | +3.5% |
| 1680 | 4,999 | +6.2% |
| 1681 | 5,244 | +4.9% |
| 1686 | 5,779 | +10.2% |
| 1689 | 6,444 | +11.5% |
| 1690 | 6,999 | +8.6% |
| 1691 | 7,515 | +7.4% |
| 1693 | 7,999 | +6.4% |
| 1695 | 8,333 | +4.2% |
| 1696 | 8,970 | +7.6% |
| 1697 | 9,554 | +6.5% |
| 1699 | 10,224 | +7.0% |
| 1700 | 10,475 | +2.5% |
| 1703 | 10,976 | +4.8% |
| 1705 | 11,960 | +9.0% |
| 1708 | 12,880 | +7.7% |
| 1710 | 13,110 | +1.8% |
| 1715 | 13,575 | +3.5% |
| 1718 | 14,020 | +3.3% |
| 1720 | 14,445 | +3.0% |
| 1721 | 14,975 | +3.7% |
| 1725 | 16,100 | +7.5% |
| 1727 | 16,330 | +1.4% |
| 1730 | 17,055 | +4.4% |
| 1735 | 17,775 | +4.2% |
| 1736 | 19,550 | +10.0% |
| 1739 | 21,224 | +8.6% |
| 1737 | 23,920 | +12.7% |
| 1745 | 25,799 | +7.9% |
| 1755 | 28,950 | +12.2% |
| 1765 | 38,992 | +34.7% |
| 1771 | 37,801 | −3.1% |
| 1775 | 68,707 | +81.8% |
| 1781 | 94,201 | +37.1% |
| 1788 | 108,402 | +15.1% |
| 1790 | 116,804 | +7.8% |
| 1801 | 115,801 | −0.9% |
| 1811 | 120,783 | +4.3% |
| 1813 | 101,211 | −16.2% |
| 1821 | 124,783 | +23.3% |
| 1831 | 141,524 | +13.4% |
| 1841 | 155,297 | +9.7% |
| 1851 | 111,897 | −27.9% |
| 1861 | 104,744 | −6.4% |
| 1871 | 95,562 | −8.8% |
| 1881 | 90,372 | −5.4% |
| 1891 | 78,618 | −13.0% |
| 1901 | 69,343 | −11.8% |
| 1911 | 63,582 | −8.3% |
| 1926 | 55,907 | −12.1% |
| 1936 | 50,908 | −8.9% |
| 1946 | 44,591 | −12.4% |
| 1951 | 41,209 | −7.6% |
| 1956 | 37,056 | −10.1% |
| 1961 | 33,470 | −9.7% |
| 1966 | 30,572 | −8.7% |
| 1971 | 28,360 | −7.2% |
| 1979 | 27,844 | −1.8% |
| 1981 | 27,609 | −0.8% |
| 1986 | 27,035 | −2.1% |
| 1991 | 25,301 | −6.4% |
| 1996 | 25,057 | −1.0% |
| 2002 | 25,799 | +3.0% |
| 2006 | 28,950 | +12.2% |
| 2011 | 31,798 | +9.8% |
| 2016 | 32,044 | +0.8% |
| 2022 | 35,199 | +9.8% |
| [2][20][21] | ||
Leitrim County Council is thelocal authority for the county. The county is divided into threelocal electoral areas, each of which is also a municipal district:Ballinamore (6 councillors),Carrick-on-Shannon (6 councillors), andManorhamilton (6 councillors).[25] Leitrim County Council has two representatives on theNorthern and Western Regional Assembly.[26]
The following were elected at the2024 Leitrim County Council election:
| Party | Seats | |
|---|---|---|
| Fianna Fáil | 6 | |
| Independent | 5 | |
| Sinn Féin | 4 | |
| Fine Gael | 3 | |
Leitrim is part of theDáil constituency ofSligo–Leitrim. This constituency existed from 1948 to 2007, and previously from 1923 to 1937 as Leitrim–Sligo. From 1937 to 1948, the county formed theLeitrim constituency. From 2007 until 2016, County Leitrim was divided between two constituencies:Roscommon–South Leitrim andSligo–North Leitrim. This proved controversial, and at the2007 general election there was noTD elected whose domicile was in the county. Sligo–Leitrim was recreated at the2016 general election.
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County Leitrim travel guide from Wikivoyage
Media related toCounty Leitrim at Wikimedia CommonsPlaces adjacent to County Leitrim | |
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