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A county is a geographic region within Gaelic games, controlled by a county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and originally based on the 32 counties of Ireland as they were in 1884. While the administrative geography of Ireland has since changed, with several new counties created and the six that make up Northern Ireland superseded by 11 local government districts, the counties in Gaelic games have remained largely unchanged.
However, the county as used in Gaelic games does not always and everywhere cover precisely the same territory as the traditional county. Particularly in the first 50 years of the Association but also in more recent times, there are many examples of clubs based in one of the administrative counties being allowed to participate in the leagues or championships of a neighbouring county. There are also instances where the official county boundary does not coincide precisely with the county as used in Gaelic games, for example where a club is based on a parish that crosses the county border. While in most cases the name of the county as used in Gaelic games is the same as that of the current or former administrative county, there have been exceptions: Derry has never used the official county name of Londonderry, and the board of the county then officially known as Queen's County changed its name in 1907 to Leix and Ossary, later becoming Laois. Each county board is responsible for organising GAA club fixtures within the county, and for the promotion and development of Gaelic games and the other objectives of the Association.
The county can also refer to the inter-county teams fielded by each county board. While in general any county, and only a county, is eligible to compete in the provincial and national championships and leagues, and almost all do so, again there can be anomalies: in the National Hurling League, for example, a team representing Fingal — a sub-region of the GAA county of Dublin, corresponding to the modern administrative county of Fingal — previously competed against other counties.
Since the inception of the county system, there have been changes to the respective regions of control of the overseas units. In Ireland the concept of the county is very strong and changing the county boundary is extremely controversial. In 2002 a proposal to divide Dublin in two was quickly and strongly opposed.[1]
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The following is a list of the 32 county boards in Ireland and the 14 county boards outside of Ireland.
Antrim
Armagh
Asia
Australasia
Canada
Carlow
Cavan
Clare- Cork
- Derry
Donegal
Down
Dublin
Europe
Fermanagh
Galway- Gloucestershire
- Hertfordshire
- Kerry
Kildare
Kilkenny- Lancashire
- Laois
- Leitrim
- Limerick
- London
Longford- Louth
Mayo- Meath
- Middle East
Monaghan
New York
Offaly- Roscommon
Scotland
Sligo- Tipperary
Tyrone- United States
- Warwickshire
- Waterford
- Westmeath
Wexford- Wicklow
- Yorkshire
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Listed below are the 32 county boards based in Ireland and the provincial council to which each is affiliated to. Connacht have five affiliated county boards, Leinster have twelve, Munster have six and Ulster have nine. Also provided is a map showing the location of the province, i.e. north, south, east, west.
| Board | Irish name[2] | Province |
|---|---|---|
| Antrim | Aontroim (Contae Aontroma) |
Ulster |
| Armagh | Ard Mhacha (Contae Ard Mhacha) |
Ulster |
| Carlow | Ceatharlach (Contae Cheatharlach) |
Leinster |
| Cavan | An Cabhán (Contae an Chabháin) |
Ulster |
| Clare | An Clár (Contae an Chláir) |
Munster |
| Cork | Corcaigh (Contae Chorcaí) |
Munster |
| Derry[a] | Doire (Contae Dhoire) |
Ulster |
| Donegal | Dún na nGall (Contae Dhún na nGall) |
Ulster |
| Down | An Dún (Contae an Dúin) |
Ulster |
| Dublin | Áth Cliath (Contae Átha Cliath) |
Leinster |
| Fermanagh | Fear Manach (Contae Fhear Manach) |
Ulster |
| Galway | Gaillimh (Contae na Gaillimhe) |
Connacht |
| Kerry | Ciarraí (Contae Chiarraí) |
Munster |
| Kildare | Cill Dara (Contae Chill Dara) |
Leinster |
| Kilkenny | Cill Chainnigh (Contae Chill Chainnigh) |
Leinster |
| Laois | Laois (Contae Laoise) |
Leinster |
| Leitrim | Liatroim (Contae Liatroma) |
Connacht |
| Limerick | Luimneach (Contae Luimnigh) |
Munster |
| Longford | An Longfort (Contae an Longfoirt) |
Leinster |
| Louth | Lú (Contae Lú) |
Leinster |
| Mayo | Maigh Eo (Contae Mhaigh Eo) |
Connacht |
| Meath | An Mhí (Contae na Mí) |
Leinster |
| Monaghan | Muineachán (Contae Mhuineacháin) |
Ulster |
| Offaly | Uíbh Fhailí (Contae Uíbh Fhailí) |
Leinster |
| Roscommon | Ros Comáin (Contae Ros Comáin) |
Connacht |
| Sligo | Sligeach (Contae Shligigh) |
Connacht |
| Tipperary | Tiobraid Árann (Contae Thiobraid Árann) |
Munster |
| Tyrone | Tír Eoghain (Contae Thír Eoghain) |
Ulster |
| Waterford | Port Láirge (Contae Phort Láirge) |
Munster |
| Westmeath | An Iarmhí (Contae na hIarmhí) |
Leinster |
| Wexford | Loch Garman (Contae Loch Garman) |
Leinster |
| Wicklow | Cill Mhantáin (Contae Chill Mhantáin) |
Leinster |
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Listed below are the 14 county boards outside of Ireland and the provincial council to which each is affiliated to. Seven county boards are affiliated to Britain and three county boards are affiliated to North America (an unofficial province). The remaining four county boards are not affiliated to any.
| Board | Irish name | Province |
|---|---|---|
| Asia | An Áise (Contae na hÁise) |
|
| Australasia | An Astráil (Contae na hAstráile) |
|
| Canada | Ceanada (Contae Ceanada) |
North America |
| Europe | Eoraip (Contae Eoraip) |
|
| Gloucestershire | Chontae Gloucester | Britain |
| Hertfordshire | Britain | |
| Lancashire | Lancasír | Britain |
| London | Londain (Contae Londain) |
Britain |
| Middle East | An Meánoirthear (Contae an Mheán-Oirthir) |
|
| New York | Nua Eabhrac (Contae Nua Eabhrac) |
North America |
| Scotland | Albain (Contae na hAlban) |
Britain |
| United States | Stáit Aontaithe Mhéiriceá (Contae Stáit Aontaithe Mheiriceá) |
North America |
| Warwickshire | Britain | |
| Yorkshire | Britain | |
40 of the 46 national and overseas county teams currently compete in the Hurling and Football Championships.
County teams outside of Ireland
Counties as used in Gaelic games outside Ireland cover large geographic non-traditional areas which are not considered as counties in any other context. For example, Scotland is a county for GAA purposes, as is London, while the remaining counties of Great Britain cover wider areas than their names suggest. The Hertfordshire County Board, for example, oversees clubs in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Oxfordshire; Gloucestershire GAA reaches into South Wales, Warwickshire GAA includes Staffordshire and Birmingham, and so on.[3] There are also "county boards" for Australasia, Canada, New York, the rest of United States, Europe and Asia, while other overseas GAA regions such as the Cayman Islands operate with their own structures not including county boards.[4]
London county teams
London county football team competes in the National Football league, Connacht Senior Football Championship, All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and Tailteann Cup. London county hurling team competes in the National Hurling League, All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship and Christy Ring Cup.
Greatest Football achievement: Runners-up of the 2013 Connacht Senior Football Championship.
Greatest Hurling achievement: Winners of the 1901 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.
New York county teams
New York enters a county team in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and won its first game in the 2023 Connacht football championship vs Leitrim after more than 20 years of trying. They also enter the Tailteann Cup. New York last entered the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship in 2006.
Greatest Football achievement: Semi-finalists of the 2023 Connacht Senior Football Championship.
Greatest Hurling achievement: Runners-up of the 2006 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship.
Warwickshire county teams
Warwickshire county hurling team competes in the National Hurling League, All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship and Lory Meagher Cup. Their football team competes in the All-Britain Junior Football Championship.
Greatest Football achievement: Winning two All-Britain Junior Football Championships in a row in 1968 and 1969.
Greatest Hurling achievement: Winners of the 2017 Lory Meagher Cup.
Lancashire county teams
Lancashire county hurling team competes in the National Hurling League, All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship and Lory Meagher Cup. Their football team competes in the All-Britain Junior Football Championship.
Greatest Football achievement: Winning four All-Britain Junior Football Championships in a row between 2010 and 2013.
Greatest Hurling achievement: Semi-finalists of the 1913 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.
Other British county teams
Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Scotland and Yorkshire compete in the All-Britain Junior Football Championship.
Inactive county teams
As of 2023, no team from continental Europe, Canada, the rest of the United States, Middle East, Asia or Australasia competes against the counties of Ireland in any of the Gaelic games.
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- Derry represents County Londonderry (see Derry-Londonderry name dispute) — the GAA only uses the name Derry.
- Derry represents County Londonderry (see Derry-Londonderry name dispute) — the GAA only uses the name Derry.
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