IRELAND

Ireland is made up of four provinces.  Munster includes County Clare and five other counties in the south.  Connacht includes County Galway and four other counties in the west.  Leinster includes Dublin and eleven other counties in the east.  Ulster includes the six counties of Northern Ireland (UK) and three counties of northern part of the Republic.  These provinces no longer include a government and are used mainly to describe the area.  Irish sports teams are often called by the name of the province.
 
Here is a poetic desciption of the people of the provinces.  The poem is Ard Ruide and is translated from the old Irish which dates it between the 6th and 10th centuries.

Connacht is the kingdom of learning, the seat of the greatest and wisest druids and magicians; the men of Connacht are famed for their eloquence, their handsomeness and their ability to pronounce true judgement.

Ulster is the seat of battle valour, of haughtiness, strife, boasting; the men of Ulster are the fiercest warriors of all Ireland, and the queens and goddesses of Ulster are associated with battle and death.

Leinster is the seat of prosperity, hospitality, the importing of rich foreign wares like silk or wine; the men of Leinster are noble in speech and their women are exceptionally beautiful.

Munster is the kingdom of music and the arts, of harpers, of skilled game players and of skilled horsemen. The fairs of Munster were the greatest in all Ireland.
:o)