County Offaly which had declined following the Norman Conquest of Ireland. Both Laois (Leix) and Offaly (Uí Failghe) were petty kingdoms in Gaelic Ireland located just outside the Pale (a region around Dublin and the mid east of Ireland that remained loyal to the English Crown following the Norman Conquest). The older kingdoms of Leix and Uí Failghe are not coterminous with the present day counties that were formed. The Kingdom of Uí Failghe from which the name Offaly is derived, was ruled by the Ó Conchobhair Failghe (anglicised as: O'Conor Faly) whose territory extended from the east of the county into
County Offaly 2011 general election Offaly was part of the Laois–Offaly constituency which elected 5 TDs to the Dáil. Between 1921 and 2011 this consisted of the full territory of both counties. For the 2011 general election some electoral divisions in South Offaly where part of Tipperary North. The Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2013 established a new constituency called Offaly for the 2016 general election. The constituency incorporates all of Offaly from the existing Laois–Offaly constituency, and twenty four electoral divisions from Tipperary North. This constituency elects 3 TDs to the Dáil. There are five main news outlets for the county