Leinster
Leinster (Laighin) (pop.2,292,939) has the most counties (12) and the largest population, but with an area of 19,774.23km / 7,634.87mi it is the second smallest of Ireland’s four historical Provinces.
The province has existed in its current form sine the early C13th, when the former Cuigi of Mide / Meath and Laighin / Leinster were amalgamated. Both of these former kingdoms traced their origins to the quasi-mythical Fir Bolg / Érainn people, who some say were related to the Belgae.
The name Leinster derives from a word meaning “land” or “territory” in either Old Norse (“staðr“) or Gaelic (“tír” preceded by the Nordic S-genitive), and thus translates loosely as: “the country of the Laighin” (but some contend that it really means “Land of the men of the Llyn Peninsula”).
(More soon!)