Ndtyjky

County Leitrim Contae Liatroma
Coat of arms
Coordinates: 54°07′01″N 8°00′00″W / 54.117°N 8.000°W / 54.117; -8.000Coordinates: 54°07′01″N 8°00′00″W / 54.117°N 8.000°W / 54.117; -8.000
Country	Ireland
Province	Connacht
Dáil Éireann	Sligo–Leitrim
EU Parliament	Midlands–North-West
County town	Carrick-on-Shannon
Government
• Type	County Council
Area
• Total	1,590 km2 (610 sq mi)
Area rank	26th
Population (2016)[1]
• Total	32,044
• Rank	32nd
• Density	20/km2 (52/sq mi)
Vehicle index mark code	LM
Website	leitrim.ie

County Leitrim (/ˈliːtrəm/ LEE-trəm, Irish: Contae Liatroma) is a county in the Republic of Ireland. It is in the province of Connacht and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the county, which had a population of 32,044 according to the 2016 census.^[1] The county encompasses the historic Gaelic territory of West Breffny (Bréifne) corresponding to the northern part of the county,^[2][3] and Muintir Eolais or Conmaicne Réin, corresponding to the southern part.

Geography and political subdivisions

Leitrim is the 26th largest of the 32 counties by area and the smallest by population on the island.^[4] It is the smallest of Connacht's 5 counties in both size and population. Leitrim is bordered by the counties of Donegal to the north, Fermanagh to the north-east, Cavan to the east, Longford to the south, Roscommon to the south-west and Sligo to the west. Fermanagh is in Northern Ireland while all the other neighbouring counties are within the Republic of Ireland.

Baronies

There are five historic baronies in the county. While baronies continue to be officially defined units, they are no longer used for many administrative purposes. Their official status is illustrated by Placenames Orders made since 2003, where official Irish names of baronies are listed under "Administrative units". They are Carrigallen, Drumahaire, Leitrim, Mohill and Rosclogher.^[5]

Largest Towns in County Leitrim

As of the 2016 census:^[6]

1. 
   Carrick-on-Shannon*, 4,062 (A small part of Carrick-on-Shannon is in County Roscommon)
   


2. 
   Manorhamilton, 1,466


3. 
   Kinlough, 1,032


4. 
   Ballinamore, 914


5. 
   Drumshanbo, 902


6. 
   Mohill, 855


7. 
   Dromahair, 808


8. 
   Leitrim, 594


9. 
   Roosky*, 564 (Most of Roosky is in County Roscommon)
   


10. 
    Dromod, 555

Towns and villages in north Leitrim

A tour boat on Lough Gill. One of the many lakes in County Leitrim.

The ruins of Creevelea Friary, near Dromahair.

A typical country lane near Carrigallen.

• Allentown, County Leitrim


• Askill


• Ballinaglera


• Buckode


• Cloonsheerevagh


• Drumkeeran


• Dromahair


• Dowra


• Fivemilebourne


• Friarstown


• Glenfarne


• Glenade


• Kiltyclogher


• Kinlough


• Killarga


• Largydonnell


• Lurganboy


• Manorhamilton


• Rossinver


• Tullaghan

Towns and villages in south Leitrim

• Aghamore


• Ballinamore


• Carrick-on-Shannon


• Carrigallen


• Cloone


• Drumcong


• Dromod


• Drumshanbo


• Drumsna


• Fenagh


• Eslinbridge


• Jamestown


• Keshcarrigan


• Leitrim


• Mohill


• Newtowngore


• Roosky

Geography

Glencar Waterfall at Glencar Lough

Leitrim has a hilly and mountainous landscape in its north-west and is relatively flat in the south-east, each separated from the other by Lough Allen in the middle of the county. Leitrim has the shortest length of coastline of any Irish county that touches the sea. At Tullaghan, the coastline is only 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long.^[7] The Shannon is linked to the Erne via the Shannon-Erne Waterway. Notable lakes include:

• Lough Melvin


• Lough Allen


• 
  Lough Gill is to the northwest of Dromahair; Parke's Castle is located on the lake shore.


• 
  Belhavel Lough is also located in Dromahair, within the parish of Killargue.


• 
  Lough Scur, and Saint John's Lough, on the Shannon–Erne Waterway.


• Other lakes include Upper Lough MacNean, Glencar Lough, Glenade Lough, Garadice Lough, Rinn Lough, Lough Scannal, Lough Erril and Lough Machugh.

History

Leitrim countryside.

In ancient times Leitrim formed the western half of the Kingdom of Breifne. This region was long influenced by the O'Rourke family of Dromahair, whose heraldic lion occupies the official county shield to this day. Close ties initially existed with the O'Reilly clan in the eastern half of the kingdom, however a split occurred in the 13th century and the kingdom was divided into East Breifne, now County Cavan, and West Breifne, now County Leitrim. The Normans invaded south Leitrim in the 13th century but were defeated at the Battle of Áth an Chip in 1270.

Much of the county was confiscated from its owners in 1620 and given to Villiers and Hamilton. Their initial objective was to plant the county with English settlers. However, this proved unsuccessful. English Deputy Sir John Perrot had ordered the legal establishment of "Leitrim County" a half-century prior, in 1565. Perrott also demarcated the current county borders around 1583.

Long ago Ireland was covered in woodland,^[8][9] and five great forests are traditionally said to have stood in Leitrim, with a 19th century county survey stating- "a hundred years ago almost the whole country was one continued, undivided forest, so that from Drumshanbo to Drumkeeran, a distance of nine or ten miles, one could travel the whole way from tree to tree by branches".^[10] Many of these great forests were denuded for the making of charcoal for iron works around Slieve Anierin.^[8] Working of the county's rich deposits of iron ore began in the 15th century and continued until the mid 18th century. Coal mining became prominent in the 19th century to the east of Lough Allen at Slieve Anierin and also to the west in Arigna, on the Roscommon border. The last coal mine closed in July 1990 and there is now a visitor centre.^[11] Sandstone was also quarried in the Glenfarne region.

Writing in 1791, the geographer Beaufort suggested the county housing population encompassed 10,026 homes with "upwards of 50,000 inhabitants", the primary agriculture being cattle production, and the growth of flax sustaining the linen industry.^[12] Leitrim was first hit by the recession caused by the mechanisation of linen weaving in the 1830s and its 155,000 residents (as of the 1841 census) were ravaged by the Great Famine and the population dropped to 112,000 by 1851. The population subsequently continued to decrease due to emigration. After many years, the wounds of such rapid population decline have finally started to heal. Agriculture improved over the last century. Leitrim now has the fastest growing population in Connacht.

The Book of Fenagh is the most famous medieval manuscript originating here. In the 19th century the poet John McDonald (of Dromod) lived in the county, and William Butler Yeats spent the turn of the twentieth century fascinated with Lough Allen and much of Leitrim. Glencar Waterfall, 11 kilometres (7 mi) from Manorhamilton, inspired Yeats and is mentioned in his poem The Stolen Child.

Demographics

The Stone bridge at Drumsna that connects counties Leitrim and Roscommon.

• Leitrim has the fastest growing population of any county in Connacht. As measured by census, the population rose by 12.2% between 2002 and 2006 to 29,000.^[13]
  


• 2005 HEA statistics identified that Leitrim has the highest rate of participation in higher education in Ireland with 75% of 17- to 19-year-olds being admitted to a higher course.^[14]
  


• The county town is Carrick-on-Shannon (population 3,314).^[6] It is a highly developed, prospering river port on the River Shannon and many tourists hire cruising boats here to explore the Shannon and the Shannon-Erne Waterway -a 63 km canal linking the two river systems. It is amongst the fastest growing towns in Ireland having grown by 25% in the past few years.^[15]
  

Local government and politics

Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the administrative county. The county is divided into three Local Electoral Areas for the purpose of elections:^[17]Ballinamore (6 councillors), Carrick-on-Shannon (6 councillors), and Manorhamilton (6 councillors).

For elections to Dáil Éireann, Leitrim is in the Sligo–Leitrim constituency. This constituency existed from 1948 to 2007, but from 2007 until Sligo–Leitrim was re-created in 2016, County Leitrim was divided between two constituencies: Roscommon–South Leitrim and Sligo–North Leitrim. This proved controversial, and at the 2007 general election there was no TD elected whose domicile was in the county.

Transport

Bridge in Carrick-on-Shannon.

• Supplementing the local and regional road networks are the N15 (Sligo-Leitrim-Donegal), N16 (Sligo-Leitrim-Enniskillen) and N4 (Sligo-Leitrim-Dublin) national roads.


• Railway stations in Leitrim on the Dublin to Sligo line include Dromod and Carrick-on-Shannon.


• The Cavan and Leitrim Railway opened on 17 October 1887. It consisted of two branches, meeting at Ballinamore which connected Dromod and Arigna with Belturbet. Services carried goods, passengers and coal from around Lough Allen. Although protested, the line finally closed on 31 March 1959.


• Railway stations in Leitrim on the former Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway (which ran between Sligo and Enniskillen) included Dromahair, Manorhamilton and Glenfarne.


• The Shannon and Shannon-Erne Waterway give access to much of Leitrim by boat.

People

• 
  Margaret Haughery – Philanthropist, Margaret of New Orleans, known as "the mother of the orphans".


• 
  Katherine Lynch – comedian.


• 
  William Henry Drummond – Mohill-born Canadian poet.


• 
  John McGahern – award winning Irish author and novelist.


• 
  Pat Quinn – founder of Quinnsworth, Ireland's first supermarket chain.


• 
  Patrick McGoohan – actor.


• 
  Paul Williams – journalist.


• 
  Seán Mac Diarmada – political activist and revolutionary leader executed following the 1916 Rising.


• 
  Thomas Heazle Parke - doctor, explorer, soldier and naturalist.


• 
  Patrick Rogan – US Army soldier and Medal of Honor recipient.


• 
  James Gralton – Communist activist and only Irish person ever deported from independent Ireland.


• 
  John McDonald (of Dromod) – 19th century poet and nationalist
  


• 
  Charles Reynolds – posthumously attainted of treason for convincing the Pope to excommunicate Henry VIII.


• 
  Robert Strawbridge, American Methodist preacher born at Drumsna.


• 
  Eleanor Shanley - Singer


• 
  Gordon Wilson, peace campaigner and Irish senator


• Seamus O'Rourke - award-winning actor, writer, director and producer of award-winning plays such as Victor's Dung and Padraig Pott's Guide to Walking.


• 
  John Godley, 3rd Baron Kilbracken


• 
  Victor Costello, Ireland rugby international and Olympian, was a former resident of Keshcarrigan.


• 
  Turlough Carolan - harpist.


• 
  Carole Coleman, Raidió Teilifís Éireann broadcaster.


• 
  William Lendrim, Victoria Cross recipient.


• 
  John Willoughby Crawford QC (1817-1875), Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario (1873–75).


• 
  Charles Irwin VC (1824-April 8, 1873), Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross
  


• 
  Charlie McGettigan Singer songwriter and Eurovision winner has been a Drumshanbo resident since 1973.


• 
  Paschal Mooney RTÉ broadcaster and former member of Seanad Éireann
  


• 
  Colm O'Rourke - retired Gaelic footballer and current sports broadcaster is originally from Aughavas.


• 
  Ray O'Rourke (businessman) - chairman and CEO of the construction multinational Laing O'Rourke

Civil Parishes

• Kiltoghert


• Fenagh


• Cloone


• Mohill

See also

• Muintir Eolais


• Kingdom of Breifne


• Lord Lieutenant of Leitrim


• High Sheriff of Leitrim


• Wild Atlantic Way

References and notes

Notes

Primary references

Secondary sources

Historical

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for County Leitrim.

• Statusireland.com Leitrim Population Chart (1841–2006)


• http://www.leitrimgaa.ie/