Battle of Knocknaclashy Boyle had inspired a mutiny among the English Royalist garrison in Cork, causing them to defect to the Parliamentarians. This had outflanked the defences of Irish Confederates and English Royalists, causing them to retreat behind the river Shannon into Connacht, where they held the fortified cities of Limerick and Galway. Henry Ireton went on to besiege Limerick. The only organised Irish forces remaining in south Munster were those of Donagh MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry, who held out in the mountainous area of west Cork and county Kerry – which was his clan’s native territory. In July 1651, Muskerry set out from
Counties of Ireland the passage of the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. This Act established a county council for each of the thirty-three Irish administrative counties. Elected county councils took over the powers of the grand juries.The boundaries of the traditional counties changed on a number of occasions. The 1898 Act changed the boundaries of Counties Galway, Clare, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo, Waterford, Kilkenny, Meath and Louth, and others. County Tipperary was divided into two regions: North Riding and South Riding. Areas of the cities of Belfast, Cork, Dublin, Limerick, Derry and Waterford were carved from their surrounding counties to become county boroughs in