Munster 4.26

Munster is one of the provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, it was one of the "fifths" ruled by a "king of over-kings" rí ruirech. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into counties for administrative and judicial purposes. In later centuries, local government legislation has seen further sub-division of the historic counties.Munster has no official function for local government purposes. For the purposes of the ISO, the province is listed as one of the provincial sub-divisions of the State (ISO 3166-2:IE) and coded as "IE-M". Geographically, Munster covers a total area of 24675km2 and has a population of 1,246,088, with the most populated city being Cork. Other significant urban centres in the province include Limerick and Waterford.