placenames.ie
County

Cork

Corcaigh

Cork’s long maritime edge and older territorial divisions make a precise locality essential to understanding its placenames and family records.

Recorded locationCork51.72980° N · 9.15734° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
Recorded place location · Logainm.ieOpen in OpenStreetMap ↗

The name

A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.

Recorded forms

  • Corcaigh · Irish · main form · validated name
  • Cork · English · main form

Place & story

A county with a long coast

Lewis’s 1837 opening describes Cork as a large maritime county, adjoining Waterford, Tipperary, Limerick and Kerry. Its county-wide history then moves through several coastal and inland districts. That scale matters for a family reference: the word Cork can denote the city, the departure port or a county home far from either. A harbour association should not automatically be used to assign a birthplace or a parish. [2]

Older district names

The directory discusses Desmond, Carbery, Muskerry, Beara, Bantry, Duhallow and other territorial names in relation to different parts of the county. These are useful signposts in historical writing, although their exact extent changed with lordships and later administrative divisions. A name surviving in a barony or modern regional description may carry only part of its earlier meaning. Lewis’s elaborate claims about ancient peoples and their origins are not adopted here as established ethnic history or name evidence. [2]

Harbour town and river city

The city account describes Cork on the Lee, while the Cove entry places a separate maritime town on Great Island in the harbour. A record referring to Cork Harbour may therefore concern a port facility, anchorage or settlement beyond the city. For a household, preserve the townland, civil parish and denomination alongside the county. For shipping, keep the exact port name and date: maritime movement connected these places, but it did not make their addresses or communities identical. [3] [4]

Geographic information

Place type
County
County
Cork
Coordinates
51.72980, -9.15734
Mapped area
7,503.72 km²
Logainm ID
100010 ↗

People & family history

Census figures refer to the matched historical census area for each year. Boundaries and spellings can change over time.

Explore this county

Up to 50 places per page, ordered by name.

Sources & further reading

  1. Logainm.ie — Cork. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
  2. County Cork — A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) · Samuel Lewis · 1837
  3. Cork city — A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) · Samuel Lewis · 1837
  4. Cove of Cork — A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) · Samuel Lewis · 1837
  5. Boundary geometry retains its source attribution and licence in the downloadable geographic record. Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2026-09-19. How this page was prepared.