30-561: Eóganacht Chaisil were a branch of the Eóganachta , the ruling dynasty of Munster between the 5th and 10th centuries. They took their name from Cashel (County Tipperary) which was the capital of the early Catholic kingdom of Munster. They were descended from Óengus mac Nad Froích (died 489), the first Christian King of Munster , through his son Feidlimid mac Óengusa . In the seventh century, they split into two main clans. Cenél Fíngin descended from Fíngen mac Áedo Duib (d. 618) and became
60-503: A total area of 24,675 km (9,527 sq mi) and has a population of 1,373,346, with the most populated city being Cork . Other significant urban centres in the province include Limerick and Waterford . In the early centuries AD, Munster was the domain of the Iverni peoples and the Clanna Dedad familial line, led by Cú Roí and to whom the king Conaire Mór also belonged. In
90-671: Is Metropolitan Cork , where a number of multinational firms are located in the Cork city area, including at Little Island . The Shannon Free Zone , in County Clare and near Limerick city, is also a centre of employment. A number of television companies and studios have (or had) a Munster-focus. These include RTÉ Cork (RTÉ's regional studio in Cork), South Coast TV and Channel South . The latter transmitted local programming to Cork, Limerick, and parts of Kerry, Waterford, Clare and Tipperary. Apart from
120-468: Is Mug Ruith and Tlachtga is his daughter. Another legendary figure is Donn . The province has long had trading and cultural links with continental Europe. The Corcu Loígde had a trading fleet active along the French Atlantic coast, as far south as Gascony, importing wine to Munster. The Eóganachta had ecclesiastical ties with Germany, which show in the architecture of their ceremonial capital at
150-600: Is the largest of Ireland's four provinces by land area, and the third largest by population. Munster has many large towns, including a number of growing satellite towns, and is the province with the most cities (three) in Ireland. The following is a list of urban areas in Munster in order of size (2022 census figures), with cities and county towns bolded: Urban areas over 10,000 inhabitants: Urban areas with 5,000–10,000 inhabitants: 2014 CSO figures indicated that GDP per capita in
180-648: The Earls of Ormond remained closer to England. The O'Brien of Thomond and MacCarthy of Desmond surrendered and regranted sovereignty to the Tudors in 1543 and 1565, joining the Kingdom of Ireland . The impactful Desmond Rebellions , led by the FitzGeralds, soon followed. The area of Munster was then colonized in the mid to late 16th century by the British plantations of Ireland during
210-699: The League of Ireland : Waterford FC in the League of Ireland Premier Division ; and Cobh Ramblers , Cork City F.C. , Treaty United F.C. and Kerry F.C. in the First Division . In Cricket, the province is represented by the Munster Reds in the Inter-Provincial Cup one-day competition and the Inter-Provincial Trophy Twenty20 competition. Munster does not currently participate in
240-595: The MacAuliffes are a sept of the MacCarthys. The Eóganacht Chaisil were considered part of the inner circle of Eoganachta dynasties which included the Eóganacht Glendamnach and Eóganacht Áine branches. These three branches rotated the kingship of Munster in the 7th and much of the 8th centuries. The Chaisil branch provided most of the kings in the 9th and 10th centuries in Munster. Kings of Cashel and Munster from
270-615: The MacCarthy dynasty (Eóganachta), and the short-lived Kingdom of Ormond under the O'Kennedys (another Dalcassian sept). The three crowns of the flag of Munster represent these three late kingdoms. There was Norman influence from the 14th century, including by the FitzGerald , de Clare and Butler houses, two of whom carved out earldoms within the Lordship of Ireland , the Earls of Desmond eventually becoming independent potentates, while
300-616: The Norman invasion of Ireland , the ancient kingdoms were shired into counties for administrative and judicial purposes. In later centuries, local government legislation has seen further sub-division of the historic counties. Munster has no official function for local government purposes. For the purposes of the ISO , the province is listed as one of the provincial sub-divisions of the State ( ISO 3166-2:IE ) and coded as "IE-M". Geographically, Munster covers
330-453: The O'Sullivans and MacGillycuddys . The McGillycuddy are a sept of the O'Sullivan's. A descendant of Fíngen was Feidlimid mac Cremthanin (d. 847). Clann Faílbe descended from Faílbe Flann mac Áedo Duib (d. 639) and became the MacCarthy dynasty , rulers of the Kingdom of Desmond following their displacement by the Normans. The O'Callaghans belong to the same line as the MacCarthys, while
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#1732845011232360-631: The Rock of Cashel . The majority of Irish ogham inscriptions are found in Munster, principally in areas occupied by the Iverni, especially the Corcu Duibne . Later, Europe's first linguistic dictionary in any non-Classical language, the Sanas Cormaic , was compiled by Munster scholars, traditionally thought to have been directed by the king-bishop Cormac mac Cuilennáin (d. 908). The School of Ross in Munster
390-682: The United Rugby Championship competition, winning in 2003, 2009, 2011 and 2023 and in the Heineken Cup , winning in 2006 and 2008. Until 2016, the Munster side was the only Irish side to have defeated the New Zealand All Blacks . Association football is also a popular game in Munster, with the Munster Football Association governing a number of aspects of the game in the province. In 2024 five Munster clubs play in
420-640: The first-class inter-provincial tournament, though Cricket Ireland does have plans to include Munster in the format. The Irish language , or more specifically Munster Irish , is spoken as a first language in Gaeltachtaí (Irish speaking areas) in a number of areas in the province. This includes West Kerry ( Corca Dhuibhne ), South Kerry ( Uíbh Ráthach ), West Cork ( Múscraí ), south-west Cork ( Oileán Cléire ), and parts of Waterford ( Gaeltacht na Rinne or Gaeltacht na nDéise ). There are about 35,000 Irish language speakers in Munster, with 9,737 native speakers in
450-825: The 5th century, Saint Patrick spent several years in the area and founded Christian churches and ordained priests. During the Early Middle Ages , most of the area was part of the Kingdom of Munster , ruled by the Eóganachta dynasty. Prior to this, the area was ruled by the Dáirine and Corcu Loígde overlords. Later rulers from the Eóganachta included Cathal mac Finguine and Feidlimid mac Cremthanin . Notable regional kingdoms and lordships of Early Medieval Munster were Iarmuman (West Munster), Osraige (Ossory), Uí Liatháin , Uí Fidgenti , Éile , Múscraige , Ciarraige Luachra , Corcu Duibne , Corcu Baiscinn , and Déisi Muman . By
480-631: The 6th century. They ruled over smaller kingdoms in west Munster such as the Ciarraige Luachra , Corcu Duibne and Corcu Loígde and at the height of their power may have ruled over areas of west Thomond including the Corcu Baiscinn and Corco Mruad and perhaps even had some sovereignty over the Uí Fidgenti of County Limerick and the Eóganacht Raithlind of County Cork . Their power
510-498: The 9th century, the Gaels had been joined by Norse Vikings who founded towns such as Cork , Waterford and Limerick , for the most part, incorporated into a maritime empire by the Dynasty of Ivar , who periodically would threaten Munster with conquest in the next century. Around this period Ossory broke away from Munster. The Eóganachta dominated Munster until the 10th century, which saw
540-486: The Eóganacht Chaisil were: See Annals of Inisfallen (AI) Munster Munster ( Irish : an Mhumhain [ə ˈwuːnʲ] or Cúige Mumhan [ˌkuːɟə ˈmˠuːnˠ] ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland , located in the south of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( Irish : rí ruirech ). Following
570-572: The Munster Gaeltacht areas of Cork, Kerry and Waterford. There are also 12,219 pupils attending 45 Gaelscoils (Irish language primary schools) and 15 Gaelcholáiste (Irish language secondary schools) in the province. As of the Census of Ireland 2011 there were 13,193 daily speakers outside the education system in Munster. The province is divided into six traditional counties : Clare , Cork , Kerry , Limerick , Tipperary and Waterford . Munster
600-569: The Tudor conquest of Ireland, a group known as the West Country Men played a role in the colonization of Munster, attempts to settle a joint stock colony at Kerrycurrihy in 1568 was made and Richard Grenville also seized lands for colonization at Tracton, to the west of Cork harbour. The Munster plantation was the largest colonial venture of the English at the time. By the mid-19th century much of
630-665: The area was hit hard in the Great Famine , especially the west. The province was affected by events in the Irish War of Independence in the early 20th century, and there was a brief Munster Republic during the Irish Civil War . The Irish leaders Michael Collins and earlier Daniel O'Connell came from families of the old Gaelic Munster gentry. Noted for its traditions in Irish folk music , and with many ancient castles and monasteries in
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#1732845011232660-725: The dairy cows of the region, and Glanbia is a food producer which operates an "innovation centre" in the region. Dawn Meats also operate from County Waterford. Irish-owned retailer Dunnes Stores was founded in Cork, and Ireland's largest supermarket group, the Musgrave Group , is also based in Munster. Large employers in the region include AOL , Bausch & Lomb , Dairygold, Dell , Amazon , Motorola , Amgen, Pfizer , Analog Devices, Fexco Financial Services, Vistakon, Waterford Crystal, Apple Computer , Intel , Novartis, O2, Lufthansa Technik, Kerry Group, Siemens , Sony and Blizzard Entertainment . The largest employment hub in Munster
690-404: The dominant teams in Munster football are Kerry GAA and Cork GAA , although Tipperary GAA and Limerick GAA have also won All-Ireland Senior Football Championships . Kerry in particular are the most successful county in the history of football. Rugby is a popular game in the cities of Limerick and Cork. Munster Rugby is an Irish Rugby Football Union representative side which competes in
720-616: The four most successful teams in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship are from Munster; Cork GAA , Tipperary GAA and Limerick GAA . The final of the Munster Senior Hurling Championship is one of the most important days in the Irish GAA calendar. Munster is Ireland's only province whose every single county has won at least one All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship . Traditionally,
750-629: The local city or regional newspapers, a number of print outlets focus or market themselves on a provincial basis. These include the Avondhu (covering parts of Cork, Waterford, Limerick and Tipperary), the Nationalist & Munster Advertiser , the Munster Express , and others. Iarmuman Iarmhumhain (older spellings: Iarmuman , Iarmumu or Iarluachair ) was a Kingdom in the early Christian period of Ireland in west Munster . Its ruling dynasty
780-743: The province ranged from €28,094 in the South Tipperary/Waterford (South-East) region, to €50,544 in Cork and Kerry (South-West). Disposable income in the province was approximately €22,000 per person in 2008 - behind the Eastern and Dublin region (€25,000 per person) and ahead of the Border, Midland and Western regions (€20,000 per person). Munster's agricultural industry centres around the Golden Vale pasturelands which cover counties Cork, Limerick and Tipperary. Kerry Group manufactures dairy products from
810-448: The province, Munster is a tourist destination. During the fifth century, St. Patrick spent seven years founding churches and ordaining priests in Munster, but a fifth-century bishop named Ailbe is the patron saint of Munster. In Irish mythology , a number of ancient goddesses are associated with the province including Anann , Áine , Grian , Clíodhna , Aimend , Mór Muman , Bébinn , Aibell and Mongfind . The druid-god of Munster
840-517: The rise of the Dalcassian clan, who had earlier annexed Thomond , north of the River Shannon to Munster. Their leaders were the ancestors of the O'Brien dynasty and spawned Brian Boru , perhaps the most noted High King of Ireland , and several of whose descendants were also high kings. By 1118, Munster had fractured into the Kingdom of Thomond under the O'Briens, the Kingdom of Desmond under
870-504: Was one of Europe's leading centres of learning in the Early Middle Ages. Several sports in Munster are organised on a provincial basis, or operate competitions along provincial lines. This includes traditionally popular sports such as hurling , Gaelic football , rugby union and soccer, as well as cricket ( Munster Cricket Union ), hockey ( Munster Hockey Union ), and others. Munster is noted for its tradition of hurling . Three of
900-537: Was related to the main ruling dynasty of Munster known as the Eóganachta . Its ruling branch was called the Eóganacht Locha Léin or Ui Chairpri Lúachra. Their center was around Killarney , County Kerry at Loch Léin . The name Iarluachair means west of the Sliabh Luachra mountains. The dynasty was established in the 5th century with the kingdom becoming semi-independent of the Munster kings at Cashel in
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