County Cork

"Cork County" redirects here. For the former parliamentary constituencies, see County Cork (Parliament of Ireland constituency) and County Cork (UK Parliament constituency).

County Cork
Contae Chorcaí
County
Coat of arms of County Cork
Coat of arms
Nickname: 
The Rebel County
Location of County Cork
Coordinates: 52°0′N 8°45′W / 52.000°N 8.750°W / 52.000; -8.750
CountryIreland
ProvinceMunster
RegionSouthern
Established1606[1]
County townCork
Government
 • Local authorityCork County Council
 • Dáil constituencies
 • EP constituencySouth
Area
(incl. city) [2][3]
 • Total7,508 km2 (2,899 sq mi)
 • Rank1st
Highest elevation
(Knockboy)
706 m (2,316 ft)
Population
 (2022)[4]
 • Total584,156
 • Rank3rd
 • Density78/km2 (200/sq mi)
DemonymCorkonian
Time zoneUTC±0 (WET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (IST)
Eircode routing keys
P12, P14, P17, P24, P25, P31, P32, P36, P43, P47, P51, P56, P61, P67, P72, P75, P81, P85, T12, T23, T34, T45, T56 (primarily)
Telephone area codes02x, 063 (primarily)
ISO 3166 codeIE-CO
Vehicle index
mark code		C
Websitewww.corkcoco.ie
Map
Pulleen Strand, on the Beara peninsula

County Cork (Irish: Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are Mallow, Macroom, Midleton, and Skibbereen. As of 2022, the county had a population of 584,156, making it the third-most populous county in Ireland. Cork County Council is the local authority for the county, while Cork City Council governs the city of Cork and its environs. Notable Corkonians include Michael Collins, Jack Lynch, Roy Keane, Sonia O'Sullivan, Cillian Murphy and Graham Norton.

Cork borders four other counties: Kerry to the west, Limerick to the north, Tipperary to the north-east and Waterford to the east. The county contains a section of the Golden Vale pastureland that stretches from Kanturk in the north to Allihies in the south. The south-west region, including West Cork, is one of Ireland's main tourist destinations,[5] known for its rugged coast and megalithic monuments and as the starting point for the Wild Atlantic Way. The largest third-level institution is University College Cork, founded in 1845, and has a total student population of around 22,000.[6] Local industry and employers include technology company Dell EMC, the European headquarters of Apple, and the farmer-owned dairy co-operative Dairygold.

The county is known as the "rebel county", a name given to it by King Henry VII of England for its support, in a futile attempt at a rebellion in 1491, of Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York.

  1. ^ "What's your Irish County? County Cork". IrishCentral.com. 14 October 2016. Archived from the original on 14 August 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  2. ^ Local Government Arrangements in Cork – The Report of the Cork Local Government Committee (September 2015), section 2.1
  3. ^ "Report of the Expert Advisory Group on Local Government Arrangements in Cork". gov.ie. Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. 17 May 2017. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023. Area (Cork County: 7,467.91 km2 / Cork City: 39.61 km2
  4. ^ "Census 2022 - Summary Results - FY003A- Population". 30 May 2023. Archived from the original on 25 August 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  5. ^ "Ireland's most popular tourist counties and attractions have been revealed". TheJournal.ie. 23 July 2017. Archived from the original on 15 October 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017. the southwest, comprising Cork and Kerry, has the second-largest spend by tourists [after the Dublin region]
  6. ^ "International Office". Archived from the original on 13 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.