Munster (Ireland)

Munster , province (1991 pop. 1,009,533), 9,315 sq mi (24,126 sq km), SW Republic of Ireland. The largest of the Irish provinces, it comprises the counties of Clare , Cork , Kerry , Limerick , Tipperary , and Waterford . One of the ancient kingdoms of Ireland, its control passed, after the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland, to the well-known families of the Fitzgeralds (earls of Desmond) and the Butlers (earls of Ormonde).

Munster Largest of the Republic of Ireland's four provinces, on the Atlantic coast. It includes the counties of Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, n and s Tipperary, and Waterford. Area: 24,126sq km (9315sq mi). Pop. (1996) 1,033,903.

Munster was ruled by the Eóganacht dynasty from the 7th to the mid‐10th cent., who were then overshadowed by Dál Cais, to whom Brian Boru (d. 1014) belonged. The province was directly affected by the Anglo‐Norman invasion of 1169 which saw widespread colonization, the O'Briens and Mac‐Carthys being confined in the far west. A Desmond revolt in 1579 led to its plantation by English protestant settlers, and the defeat of the Irish forces at the battle of Kinsale in 1601 meant the collapse of the Gaelic ascendancy throughout Ireland. Munster was the focus of much of the guerrilla warfare that characterized the War of Independence, 1919–21.