KINGS AND QUEENS COUNTY?

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The island of Ireland is divided into four provinces made up of 32 counties (26 in the Republic and 6 in Northern Ireland).  During your research you may see references to Queen's County, King's County and Londonderry. 

 

In 1556, Laois (Queens) and Offaly (Kings) were renamed Queen Mary Tudor of England.  In 1561 a commission was appointed to divide Ireland into baronies and as part of this process a map outlining the boundaries was prepared and completed in 1563 (click here to view Laois).  Following Derry was renamed Londonderry in 1613 upon the award of its Royal Chapter by King James I.  On the 19 June 1920, King's County was renamed to Offaly and similarly around this time Queen's County became Laois.  To this day, Derry is also known as Londonderry, much of this ambiguity is as a result of the religious divide.