Article

Offally County

Irish Gaelic: Contae Uibh Fhaili

Motto: Esto Fidelis (Be Faithful)

County Offaly is a county of the Midlands Region in Ireland and is located in the province of Leinster.  It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Ui Failghe and was formerly known as King’s County.  In Gaelic Ireland the area that now constitutes County Offaly was divided into a number of small kingdoms.  The Kingdom of Ui Failghe from which the name Offaly is derived, was ruled by the O Conchubhair Failghe (anglicised as: O’Conor Faly) whose territory extended from the east of the county into north Kildare.  

The Kingdom of Firceall ruled by the O’Molloy clan constituted much of the centre of the county.  The Kingdom of Firceall was part of the Kingdom of Meath while Ui Failghe was part of the Kingdom of Leinster.  

Much of the south of the present day county (as well as northern Tipperary) was ruled by O Cearbhaill of Eile (anglicised as: O’Carroll Ely).  Ely formed part of the Kingdom of Munster.  These Kingdoms were swept aside by the Tudor plantations.  

In 1556, an Act of Parliament of Ireland created ‘King’s County’, named after Philip, the then King of Ireland.  This replaced the old Kingdoms with Baronies and the present day County System.  Tartan designed by Viking Technology Limited (now Tartan Web Scotland Ltd) in 2005 as one of a set of Irish County and Irish National tartans. Ownership transferred to USA Kilts Inc in Dec 2012.

Choose from one of the Offally County tartans listed below: