Offaly - Definition and Overview

County Offaly
Area:	1,999 km²
Capital:	Tullamore
Code:	OY
Population:	63,663 (2002)
Province:	Leinster

County Offaly (Irish: Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Leinster, Ireland, bordered by seven other counties: Galway, Roscommon, Westmeath, Meath, Kildare, Laois, and Tipperary. Formed during the reign of Mary I of England, it was originally named King's County, after King Phillip II of Spain.

The southern part of the county is occupied by the Slieve Bloom Mountains, the northwestern part is the floodplain of the River Shannon and the remainder consists of large bogs including the Bog of Allen and Boora Bog.

The main town in the county is Tullamore, while smaller settlements include:

Banagher, Birr

Cadamstown, Clara, Clonmacnois

Daingean

Edenderry

Ferbane

Kinnity, Kilcormac

Shannonbridge, Shannon Harbour

	Traditional counties of Ireland
Connacht: Galway | Leitrim | Mayo | Roscommon | Sligo
Munster: Clare | Cork | Kerry | Limerick | Tipperary | Waterford
Leinster: Carlow | Dublin | Kildare | Kilkenny | Laois | Longford | Louth | Meath | Offaly | Westmeath | Wexford | Wicklow
Ulster: Antrim * | Armagh * | Cavan | Donegal | Down * | Fermanagh * | Londonderry * | Monaghan | Tyrone *
* Counties in Northern Ireland (other counties are in the Republic of Ireland)
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