Counties of Northern Ireland
Category	Former local government
Location	Northern Ireland
Number	Six
Populations	63,585 (Fermanagh) 651,321 (Antrim)
Areas	512 sq mi (1,330 km2) (Armagh) 1,261 sq mi (3,270 km2) (Tyrone)
Government	Grand jury (to 1898) / County council (1899–1973)
Subdivisions	County district (borough / urban district, rural district)

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Northern Ireland is divided into six counties, namelyAntrim,Armagh,Down,Fermanagh,Londonderry^{[n 1]} andTyrone. Six largely ruraladministrative counties based on these were among the eight primary local government areas of Northern Ireland fromits 1921 creation until1973.^[1] The other two local government areas were the urbancounty boroughs ofDerry^{[n 1]} (geographically part of the County of Londonderry) andBelfast (geographically split between the counties of Antrim and Down).

The six counties date from theKingdom of Ireland; five were created between 1570 and 1591 in theTudor conquest of Ireland, while county Londonderry dates from 1613 and thePlantation of Ulster.^[2] The total number ofcounties in the island of Ireland is 32, with Northern Ireland and theRepublic of Ireland often respectively called"the Six Counties" and "the Twenty-Six Counties", especially byIrish nationalists opposed to thepartition of Ireland. The 1898–1973 administrative counties were subdivided intocounty districts. The two-tier county/district system was replaced with asingle-tier of "districts",numbering 26 in 1973 andrationalised into 11 in 2015. The areas corresponding to the six counties and two county boroughs remain in use for some administrative purposes, and the six historic counties retain a popular identity.

The English administration in Ireland in the years following theAnglo-Norman invasion of Ireland created counties as the major subdivisions of an Irish province.^[6] This process lasted from the 13th to 17th centuries; however, the number and shape of the counties that would form the future Northern Ireland would not be defined until theFlight of the Earls allowed the shiring of Ulster from 1604.^[1] Each county would have an associated county town, with county courts ofquarter sessions andassizes.^[6]

The area of the modern counties of Antrim and Down was theEarldom of Ulster based onJohn de Courcy's 1170s conquest of GaelicUlaid.^[7] Between the late 13th and early 14th centuries it was subdivided into multiple shires based around centres of Norman power such asAntrim,Carrickfergus, andNewtownards.^[7] TheBruce invasion (1315–18) saw the devastation of the Earldom of Ulster and its overlordship over the neighbouring Gaelic districts. With the murder ofthe last de Burgh earl in 1333, the resulting Gaelic recovery expandedClandeboy and eroded the earldom's territory until by the 15th century only the areas of Carrickfergus and coastal enclaves in Down remained.^[7]

It was not until the reign of QueenElizabeth I that Ulster would be shired into more counties. After the 1567 death and 1570attainder ofShane O'Neill, much of Clandeboy was added to the surviving English enclaves to form the new counties of Antrim and Down, preparing foran abortive private English plantation. In 1584,Lord Deputy of Ireland SirJohn Perrott created six counties inUlster, based largely on the boundaries of existing lordships; four of the six are now Northern Ireland: Armagh, Coleraine, Fermanagh, and Tyrone. The noncooperation and later rebellion ofHugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone made Perrott's scheme largely notional until theNine Years' War ended and theFlight of the Earls allowed thePlantation of Ulster to reinforce the county government. TheCounty of the town of Carrickfergus remained separate from County Antrim until theLocal Government (Ireland) Act 1898, which also promoted the boroughs of Belfast and Derry tocounty boroughs separate from the adjoining administrative counties.

Each county is divided into a number ofbaronies, midway between a county and a parish. Baronies are now obsolete as administrative units, partially derived from the territory of an Irish chieftain. By the time the process of turning local Irish kingdoms into baronies occurred throughout the whole of Ulster by the early 17th century as part of thePlantation of Ulster, it was already being used for taxation and administrative purposes.^[6]

Baronies were used for many records from the 17th to 19th centuries such as: the Civil Survey; Petty's Down Survey; the Books of Survey and Distribution; the 19th century valuation books and census returns. The Grand Jury representment system would also be based on the barony.^[6]

The counties were also used as the administrative unit of local government introduced in Ireland under the 1898 Local Government Act along withcounty boroughs. In regards to Northern Ireland the cities ofBelfast andLondonderry became county boroughs. The administrative counties and county boroughs were abolished as local government areas in Northern Ireland in 1972 and replaced with twenty-six unitary councils, many of which cross county boundaries.

The six administrative counties and two county boroughs remain in use for some purposes, includingcar number plates. The six counties were also used aspostal counties by theRoyal Mail for sorting purposes until their abolition in 1996. Outside government, the counties are used for cultural purposes, for example in theGaelic Athletic Association.

Like the rest of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland is divided intolieutenancy areas. These are areas that have an appointedLord Lieutenant, who acts as the representative of theBritish monarch. Northern Ireland has eight lieutenancy areas, which are defined as the areas of the six counties and two county boroughs with the boundaries they had for local government purposes immediately prior to the local government reforms of 1973.^[8]

Former counties which formed part of the six modern counties of Northern Ireland:

• County Coleraine formed from the territory of the O'Cahans in 1584 by QueenElizabeth I, formed the basis of modernCounty Londonderry.
• Carrickfergus was formerly acounty of itself, it extended further than the modernborough of Carrickfergus. It was merged intoCounty Antrim in 1899.
• Antrim,Blathewyc,Cragferus,Coulrath,del Art,Dun,Ladcathel andTwescard, the seven counties that formed theEarldom of Ulster in 1333.^[9][10]
• In 1549, Ulster itself was called a county containing the baronies ofArde, Bentry,Dondalk,Dufferens, Gallagh, Grenecastle,Kroghfergous,Lacayall, Maulyn,Twscard, andGlyns.^[10]

• List of Northern Ireland counties by highest point
• Local government in Northern Ireland
• Counties of the United Kingdom
• Counties of Ireland
• List of Irish counties by population
• List of Irish counties by area
• Provinces of Ireland

• Connolly, Sean J. (2002).Oxford Companion to Irish History. Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-923483-7.
• Falkiner, C. Litton (Caesar Litton) (1904)."The Counties of Ireland".Illustrations of Irish history and topography, mainly of the seventeenth century. London: Longmans, Green. pp. 103–142: 127–128. Retrieved28 August 2019.

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