Connacht

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Connacht (disambiguation).

Connacht Cúige Chonnacht
Location
Statistics
Area:	17,713.18
Population (2006)	503,083

Connacht (In Ireland pronounced IPA: [ˈkɔnəxt] though Oxford dictionaries give a British pronunciation IPA: [ˈkɒnɔːt]; in Irish: Connachta (IPA: [ˈkɔnəxtə]), "(land of the) descendants of Conn", also known sometimes in English as Connaught^[1], is the western province of Ireland, comprising the counties of Galway (Co. na Gaillimhe), Leitrim (Liatroim), Mayo (Co. Mhaigh Eo), Roscommon (Co. Ros Comáin), Sligo (Sligeach). In Irish the province is usually Cúige Chonnacht i.e. the province (literally, fifth) of Connacht. Its main urban centres are Galway in the south, and Sligo in the north. It has a population of 503,083, the smallest of the four Irish provinces.

The Irish language is spoken in the Gaeltacht areas of west Mayo and west Galway, the largest being Connemara.

The highest point of Connacht is Mweelrea (814 metres), in Mayo. The largest island in Connacht is Achill, also the largest island of Ireland. The biggest lake is Lough Corrib.

Up to the early historic era, it was known as Cóiced Ol nEchmacht.

The "Republic of Connaught" had a brief existence in 1798 with French military support.

Connacht-Ulster was one of Ireland's four regional constituencies for elections to the European Parliament until it was superseded in 2004 by the new constituency of Ireland North West.

The largest (and only) city in Connacht is Galway with a population of 71,983 (2006) in the city proper.

[edit] See also

• Connacht Irish
• Cóiced Ol nEchmacht
• Duke of Connaught
• Kingdoms of ancient Ireland
• Kings of Connacht
• Provinces of Ireland
• Connachta
• The Peoples or Nations of Ancient Ireland
• Medb (Medhbh , Maeve), Queen of Connacht in the Ulster Cycle.
• Connacht GAA
• Connacht Rugby
• Lords of Connaught
• The Connaught Rangers

[edit] External links

• Connacht cycling clubs (Lakeland Cycle Club)

[edit] Note

1. ^ The spelling Connaught reflects the former English practice — in Ireland, though not in Scotland — of representing the Gaelic voiceless velar fricative /x/ as gh (compare lough for loch), gh having been used in Middle English for the same sound. Although this sound later disappeared from standard English, the spelling of words like "thought" and "caught" remained unaltered -- and in a further Anglicisation the "new" English pronunciation of -aught was even applied in England to titles like that of the Duke of Connaught. In Ireland, however, the original pronunciation having remained intact, the Gaelic-style spelling Connacht is now used more often in English. It may have gained currency by mistranslation of the Irish name into English: in Irish, the form Cúige Chonnacht 'province of Connacht' is almost always used, and this may have led to people misunderstanding genitive case Connacht as the Gaelic version instead of nominative case Connachta.