Leinster

Leinster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the east of Ireland. It comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Mide, Osraige and Leinster. Following the twelfth-century Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient fifths of Leinster and Mide gradually merged, mainly because of the effect of the Pale, which straddled both, thereby forming the present-day province of Leinster. The historic kingdoms had been shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial functions. In later centuries, neighborhood government regulation has seen similarly sub-division of the ancient counties.

Leinster had a population of 2,630,720 according to the preliminary effects of the 2016 census, making it the maximum populous province within the usa. The traditional flag of Leinster capabilities a golden harp on a green historical past. The Gaelic Kingdom of Leinster before 1171, drastically smaller than the present-day province, generally did no longer encompass certain territories consisting of Meath, Osraige or the Viking towns of Wexford and Dublin. The first part of the call Leinster derives from Laigin, the name of a major tribe that after inhabited the region. The latter part of the name derives both from the Irish tír or from the Old Norse staor, each of which translate as "land" or "territory”.