Patron Saint:Ailbe of Emly[3]a.^ Munster is part of theSouth constituency; the six Munster counties contain 67.7% of the population of this constituency.[4]
Munster (Irish:an Mhumhain[əˈwuːnʲ] orCúige Mumhan[ˌkuːɟəˈmˠuːnˠ]) is the largest of the fourprovinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, theKingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms ofGaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (Irish:rí ruirech). Following theNorman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms wereshired intocounties for administrative and judicial purposes. In later centuries, local government legislation has seen further sub-division of the historic counties.
Munster has no official function forlocal government purposes. For the purposes of theISO, the province is listed as one of the provincial sub-divisions of the State (ISO 3166-2:IE) and coded as "IE-M". Munster covers an area of 24,675 km2 (9,527 sq mi). Its population was 1,373,346 in 2022,[2] withCork being the largest city. Other significant urban centres in the province includeLimerick andWaterford.
In the early centuries AD, Munster was the domain of theIverni peoples and theClanna Dedad familial line, led byCú Roí and to whom the kingConaire Mór belonged. In the 5th century,Saint Patrick spent several years in the area and founded Christian churches and ordained priests. The area was ruled by theDáirine andCorcu Loígde overlords.
In the 9th century, theGaels were joined byNorseVikings, who founded towns such asCork,Waterford andLimerick, for the most part, incorporated into a maritime empire by theDynasty of Ivar, who periodically threatened Munster with conquest in the next century. Around this period Ossory broke away from Munster. The Eóganachta dominated Munster until the 10th century,[5] which saw the rise of theDalcassian clan, who had earlier annexedThomond, north of theRiver Shannon to Munster. Their leaders were the ancestors of theO'Brien dynasty and spawnedBrian Boru, perhaps the most notedHigh King of Ireland, and several of whose descendants were also high kings.
The area of Munster was colonized in the mid to late 16th century by the Britishplantations of Ireland during the Tudor conquest of Ireland. A group known as theWest Country Men played a role in the colonization of Munster.[6][7] In 1568, attempts to settle a joint stock colony atKerrycurrihy were made.Richard Grenville seized lands for colonization at Tracton, to the west of Cork harbour. The Munster plantation was the largest colonial venture of the English at the time.[8][9]
Noted for its traditions inIrish folk music, and with many ancient castles and monasteries in the province, Munster is a tourist destination. During the fifth century, St. Patrick spent seven years founding churches and ordaining priests in Munster, but a fifth-century bishop namedAilbe is thepatron saint of Munster.
The province has long had trading and cultural links with continental Europe. TheCorcu Loígde had a trading fleet active along the French Atlantic coast, as far south as Gascony, importing wine to Munster. TheEóganachta had ecclesiastical ties with Germany, which show in the architecture of their ceremonial capital at theRock of Cashel.
The majority of Irishogham inscriptions are found in Munster, principally in areas occupied by the Iverni, especially theCorcu Duibne.[11] Later, Europe's first linguistic dictionary in any non-Classical language, theSanas Cormaic, was compiled by Munster scholars, traditionally thought to have been directed by the king-bishopCormac mac Cuilennáin (d. 908).
TheSchool of Ross in Munster was one of Europe's leading centres of learning in the Early Middle Ages.
Rugby is a popular game in the cities of Limerick and Cork.Munster Rugby is anIrish Rugby Football Union representative side which competes in theUnited Rugby Championship competition, winning in 2003, 2009, 2011 and 2023 and in theHeineken Cup, winning in 2006 and 2008. Until 2016, the Munster side was the only Irish side to have defeated the New ZealandAll Blacks.
TheIrish language, or more specificallyMunster Irish, is spoken as a first language inGaeltachtaí (Irish speaking areas) in a number of areas in the province. This includes West Kerry (Corca Dhuibhne), South Kerry (Uíbh Ráthach), West Cork (Múscraí), south-west Cork (Oileán Cléire), and parts of Waterford (Gaeltacht na Rinne orGaeltacht na nDéise).
There are about 35,000 Irish language speakers in Munster, with 9,737 native speakers in the Munster Gaeltacht areas of Cork, Kerry and Waterford. There are also 12,219 pupils attending 45Gaelscoils (Irish language primary schools) and 15Gaelcholáiste (Irish language secondary schools) in the province.[15]In 2011, there were 13,193 daily speakers outside the education system in Munster.
The province is divided into six traditionalcounties:Clare,Cork,Kerry,Limerick,Tipperary andWaterford. Munster is the largest of Ireland's four provinces by land area, and the third largest by population.
Cork City QuaysLimerick City QuaysWaterford City Quays
Munster has many large towns, including a number of growing satellite towns, and is the province with the most cities (three) in Ireland.[18] The following is a list of urban areas in Munster in order of size in 2022, with cities andcounty towns bolded:[19]
2014CSO figures indicated that GDP per capita in the province ranged from €28,094 in the South Tipperary/Waterford (South-East) region, to €50,544 in Cork and Kerry (South-West).[20] Disposable income in the province was approximately €22,000 per person in 2008 – behind the Eastern and Dublin region (€25,000 per person) and ahead of the Border, Midland and Western regions (€20,000 per person).[21]
Munster's agricultural industry centres around theGolden Vale pasturelands which cover counties Cork, Limerick and Tipperary.Kerry Group manufactures dairy products from the dairy cows of the region.Glanbia is a food producer which operates an "innovation centre" in the region.[23] Dawn Meats operate from County Waterford.[24]
The largest employment hub in Munster isMetropolitan Cork, where a number of multinational firms are located in the Cork city area, including atLittle Island. TheShannon Free Zone, in County Clare and near Limerick city, is also a centre of employment.
A number of television companies and studios have (or had) a Munster-focus. These includeRTÉ Cork (RTÉ's regional studio in Cork),South Coast TV andChannel South. Channel South transmitted local programming to Cork, Limerick, and parts of Kerry, Waterford, Clare and Tipperary.
Apart from the local city or regional newspapers, a number of print outlets focus or market themselves on a provincial basis. These include theAvondhu (covering parts of Cork, Waterford, Limerick and Tipperary),[25] theNationalist & Munster Advertiser, theMunster Express,[26] and others.
^Challoner, Richard.A Memorial of Ancient British Piety: or, a British Martyrology,p. 128Archived 29 February 2020 at theWayback Machine. W. Needham, 1761. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
^Census of Ireland 2016: 1,280,394 out of 1,890,982 total.
^Somerset, Anne (2003), Elizabeth I (1st Anchor Books ed.), London: Anchor Books, ISBN 978-0-385-72157-8
^Falkiner, Caesar Litton (1904). Illustrations of Irish history and topography, mainly of the 17th century. London: Longmans, Green, & Co. p. 117. ISBN 1-144-76601-X.
^Moody, T. W.; Martin, F. X., eds. (1967). The Course of Irish History. Cork: Mercier Press. p. 370.
^In 1841, before the Great Famine, there were just under three million people living in the province, but the population dropped devastatingly low due to mass emigration in the 1840s and continued emigration up until the 1980s.
^The ruins of theIron Age mountaintop fortressCaherconree, preserving the name of Cú Roí, can also be found in their lands.
