County Offaly
County Offaly (
Irish Gaelic:
Uíbh Fhailí) is a
county in the
Republic of Ireland, bordered by
County Laois,
County Galway,
County Kildare,
County Meath,
County Roscommon,
County Tipperary and
County Westmeath. It was formed during the reign of
Mary I of England as
King's County, named for
Phillip II of Spain.
The southern part of the county is occupied by the Slieve Bloom Mountains, the northwestern part is the floodplain of the River Shannon and the remainder consists of large bogs including the Bog of Allen and Boora Bog.
The main town in the county is Tullamore, while smaller settlements include:
- Banagher, Birr
- Cadamstown, Clara, Clonmacnois
- Daingean
- Edenderry
- Ferbane
- Kinnitby, Kilcormac
- Shannonbridge, Shannon Harbour