Old English (Ireland) in the context of Walsh (surname)

The counties of Ireland (Irish: Contaetha na hÉireann) are historic administrative divisions of the island. They began as Norman structures, and as the powers exercised by the Cambro-Norman barons and the Old English nobility waned over time, new offices of political control were established at a county level. The number of counties varied depending on the time period, however thirty-two is the traditionally accepted and used number.

In 1921, upon the partition of Ireland, six of the traditional counties became part of Northern Ireland. In Northern Ireland, counties ceased to be used for local government in 1973. Districts are instead used. In the Republic of Ireland, some counties have been split, resulting in the creation of new counties: there are currently 26 counties, 3 cities and 2 cities and counties that demarcate areas of local government in the Republic.

The Parliament of Ireland (Irish: Parlaimint na hÉireann) was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until the end of 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chambers: the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The Lords were members of the Irish peerage ('lords temporal') and bishops ('lords spiritual'; after the Reformation, Church of Ireland bishops). The Commons was directly elected, albeit on a very restricted franchise. Parliaments met at various places in Leinster and Munster, but latterly always in Dublin: in Christ Church Cathedral (15th century), Dublin Castle (to 1649), Chichester House (1661–1727), the Blue Coat School (1729–31), and finally a purpose-built Parliament House on College Green.

The main purpose of parliament was to approve taxes that were then levied by and for the Dublin Castle administration. Those who would pay the bulk of taxation, namely the clergy, merchants, and landowners, also comprised the members. Only the "English of Ireland" were represented until the first Gaelic lords were summoned during the 16th-century Tudor reconquest. Under Poynings' Law of 1495, all Acts of Parliament had to be pre-approved by the Irish Privy Council and English Privy Council. Parliament supported the Irish Reformation and Catholics were excluded from membership and voting in penal times. The Constitution of 1782 amended Poynings' Law to allow the Irish Parliament to initiate legislation. Catholics were re-enfranchised under the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1793.

The Irish nobility could be described as including persons who do, or historically did, fall into one or more of the following categories of nobility:

• Gaelic nobility of Ireland: descendants in the male line of at least one historical grade of king (Rí).
• Hiberno-Norman or Old English (Ireland) nobility: descendants of the colonisers who came to Ireland from Wales, Normandy and England after the Norman invasions of England and Ireland in 1066 and 1169–71, respectively.
• Peerage of Ireland, whose titles were created by the English and later British monarchs of Ireland in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland.

These groups are not mutually exclusive. There is some overlap between the first two groups (prior to the Treaty of Limerick), and a lesser degree of overlap between the last two groups (prior to independence from the United Kingdom). Such overlaps may be personal (e.g. a Gaelic noble who was "regranted" his titles by King Henry VIII of England), or they may be geographical (i.e. different noble traditions co-existing in neighbouring parts of the country, which were only distinguished by the date when they finally fell under the Dublin Castle administration).