Galway hookers, a Viking raven, St Brendan’s boat, the Hook Lighthouse and a bog plant from Offaly. Most of these were designed after 1956; three are three hundred years older.
In the Republic the arms belong to county councils and were granted or certified by the Chief Herald of Ireland, whose office was set up in 1943. In Northern Ireland five of the six county councils were granted arms by the College of Arms in London; all became obsolete when the councils were abolished under the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972, though the Armorial says they are still occasionally used. There are no official county flags.
The pictures are not reproduced here. Each shield is described in words, with the formal blazon underneath, and the images can be seen on the Armorial of Ireland ↗. The sources explain the symbolism of only 9 of them. For the rest the blazon is given and no meaning is invented: a lion on a shield could stand for a family, a saint or nothing in particular, and guessing is how wrong answers spread.
Gold with a red lion holding a blue cross; a green band at the top with two towers and the red hand; St Patrick as the crest.
Or a lion rampant gules holding a cross crosslet fitchée azure; on a chief vert between two towers a pale argent thereon a dexter hand appaumée gules. Crest: a demi-figure of St Patrick holding shamrock and a crook. Supporters: two red wolves holding flax and wheat, on a compartment of basalt representing the Giant’s Causeway.
Garter and Norroy & Ulster Kings of Arms (College of Arms).
County Armagh never received a grant. The reputed arms of the city of Armagh were used: a gold harp on blue (the arms of Ireland), sometimes shown on green. It has been suggested this is because Armagh is the ecclesiastical capital (Nicholas Williams, Armas, 2001, cited in the Armorial).
Split gold and black, with two fountains down the middle, two lions facing each other above and one walking below, each in the opposite colour.
Party per pale Or and Sable two fountains palewise between in chief two lions counter-rampant and in base a lion passant guardant all counter-changed.
Chief Herald of Ireland.
Wavy stripes of green and gold, with a small ermine shield bearing a red cross; four quills and a dove as the crest.
What it means: The County Donegal article says the arms, dating from the early 1970s, were influenced by the design of the old O’Donnell royal arms. It does not say which elements.
Barry wavy of eight vert and or, on an inescutcheon ermine a cross crosslet fitchée gules. Crest: in front of four quill pens a dove proper.
Chief Herald of Ireland.
Green, with a gold band carrying a silver fish, three wheatsheaves above, a ship between flax flowers below; Irish elk as supporters.
Vert, on a fess Or fretty Gules a fish naiant Argent, in chief three garbs Or, in base on water barry wavy a lymphad sail furled between two flax flowers. Crest: out of an ancient crown a hand grasping a Celtic crozier with a snake about the shaft. Supporters: two Irish elk.
Garter and Norroy & Ulster Kings of Arms (College of Arms).
Wavy silver and blue stripes between green sides, with the Watergate at Enniskillen in gold; a knight on horseback as crest, badgers as supporters.
Barry wavy argent and azure, two flaunches vert; over all a representation of the Watergate at Enniskillen Or, flying a banner of St Patrick. Crest: a mounted knight in armour. Supporters: two badgers.
Garter and Norroy & Ulster Kings of Arms (College of Arms).
Red over gold, with a flax flower between two wheatsheaves and a red hand below, under a mural crown; sea dragons as supporters.
Per chevron Gules and Or, in chief a flax flower proper between two garbs, in base a dexter hand appaumée couped at the wrist; the shield ensigned with a mural crown. Supporters: two sea dragons.
Garter and Norroy & Ulster Kings of Arms (College of Arms).
Split blue and silver, with an ancient gold shield and a black horse’s head; a sword and a mether (a wooden drinking cup) across the top.
Per pale azure and argent, an ancient Irish shield or and a horse's head erased sable; on a chief per pale a sword in bend sinister and an ancient Irish drinking cup (mether).
Chief Herald of Ireland.
Black over silver with a toothed line; an eight-pointed star with a fleur-de-lys above and the red hand below.
Per fesse indented Sable and Argent, in chief a mullet of eight points charged with a fleur-de-lys, in base a dexter hand appaumée Gules. Crest: an armoured arm with a sword issuing from a two-towered castle. Supporters: two lions.
Garter and Norroy & Ulster Kings of Arms (College of Arms).
Ermine (white with black tails), with a band across the middle: a red lion rampant on one half, two gold lions walking on the other.
What it means: The County Carlow article: the arms reflect the Butlers of Ormond. The red lion is the emblem of the Carlow branch of the Butlers; the two lions passant come from the arms of Normandy, for the Butlers’ authority from the Angevin crown. Ermine was fur reserved for high-ranking peers.
Ermine on a fess per pale argent and gules on the dexter a lion rampant gules and on the sinister two lions passant guardant Or.
Recorded by Richard Carney, Ulster King of Arms.
Gold, with a black raven standing on a woven hurdle; a lit beacon as the crest.
What it means: The Armorial notes the grant was remarked on for its Norse symbolism and Irish-language motto (citing Susan Hood, Royal Roots – Republican Inheritance, 2002). It does not say which element is Norse; the raven is the obvious candidate, but that is not stated.
Or, a raven standing upon a hurdle sable; crest, a beacon proper.
Chief Herald of Ireland (one of the office’s first grants).
Obsolete since 1994, when County Dublin was divided. The three successor councils have their own arms:
Silver, with a red saltire bearing two crossed gold swords; a green St Brigid’s cross, an oak sprig, a harp and a horse’s head in the spaces.
Argent on a saltire gules between in chief a St Brigid's cross vert in base a sprig of oak fructed proper and in fess a harp and a horse's head erased, two swords in saltire points upward gold.
Chief Herald of Ireland.
Ermine, with a band across the middle: three silver wheatsheaves on black on one half, a quartered silver and red field with a gold fret on the other.
What it means: The Armorial says the three 17th-century county arms (Carlow, Kilkenny, Tipperary) put the devices of local families on the central band; the Carlow article ties all three to the Butlers. Which family each Kilkenny device belongs to is not stated in these sources.
Ermine a fess party per pale dexter sable three garbs argent sinister quarterly 1st and 4th argent 2nd and 3rd gules a fret Or.
Recorded by Richard Carney, Ulster King of Arms.
Gold, with a red chevron carrying seven silver ermine spots; two fountains above and a black lion below.
Or on a chevron gules between in chief two fountains and in base a lion rampant sable seven ermine spots argent.
Chief Herald of Ireland.
Split blue and gold, with a two-towered castle in the opposite colours; a running hound across a wavy band at the top.
Per pale azure and or a castle of two towers counterchanged on a chief wavy per pale of the second and of the first a hound courant also counterchanged.
Chief Herald of Ireland.
Green, with a gold disc bearing a hand; two silver ships on a black band at the top; barley and a sword as the crest.
What it means: From Harold O’Sullivan’s account of the grant (Journal of the County Louth Archaeological and Historical Society, 1978, cited in the Armorial): the barley and green stand for agriculture; the two ships for the ports of Dundalk and Drogheda; the black field recalls Muirthemne, ‘darkness of the sea’; the hand is taken from Muiredach’s High Cross at Monasterboice; and Lugh is in the motto because the village of Louth, which gave the county its name, is named after him.
Vert a bezant charged with a dexter hand aversant couped at the wrist proper, on a chief sable two ancient ships sails set argent. Crest: between two ears of barley or a sword erect point downwards proper.
Chief Herald of Ireland.
Green and blue, divided by a silver-edged arch, with an ancient gold crown at the centre, a spiral and a Celtic cross above, a swimming salmon below, inside a gold border.
Per pile enarched reversed vert and azure fimbriated argent, at the fess point an antique crown or, in chief a spiral and a Celtic cross and in base a salmon naiant all argent, the whole within a bordure gold.
Chief Herald of Ireland.
Three bands, green, silver and gold, with a gold lion holding a cross inside a ring; a sprig of bog rosemary (Andromeda polifolia) on black at the foot.
What it means: The motto is the source of Offaly’s nickname, the Faithful County (Wikipedia, county infobox, as used on this site’s nicknames page). The sources do not explain the other elements.
Tierced in fess vert, argent and or, a lion rampant holding between the paws a cross patée concave all of the last, the cross within an annulet of the second, on a point pointed in base sable a sprig of Andromeda polifolia proper.
Chief Herald of Ireland.
Quartered diagonally blue and red, with two gold lions facing each other across a ring; a swimming swan above and a Norse helmet below.
Per saltire azure and gules, in the fess point an annulet between two lions rampant respecting each other all or, in chief a swan swimming and in base a Norse helmet both proper.
Chief Herald of Ireland.
Purple and gold, split diagonally by a wavy silver band with two spearheads; a lion holding a pike above, and the Hook Lighthouse on its rocks below.
Per bend purpure and or, on a band wavy argent two spear heads bendwise points upwards proper, between in chief a lion rampant holding in the paws a pike argent and on rocks in base a representation of the Hook Lighthouse proper.
Chief Herald of Ireland.
Blue over green with a zigzag line; a gold lion looking back between two oak branches above, and St Kevin’s Church at Glendalough below.
Per fess dancetée azure and vert, in chief a lion passant to the sinister reguardant Or between two oak branches proper, in base a representation of St Kevin's Church at Glendalough proper.
Chief Herald of Ireland.
Blue over gold with a zigzag, a vertical band in the opposite colours; a rose, an ancient crown, a rayed ring and a red stag’s head in the corners; a tau cross, and wavy water at the foot.
Per fesse dancetée azure and or on a pale counter-changed between in chief a rose and an antique crown and in base an annulet rayonée and a stag's head erased gules, in chief a tau cross proper and in base a pile reversed fleuried at the point argent; a point pointed barry wavy.
Chief Herald of Ireland.
The county council has no arms. Its seal, adopted in 1899, has the arms of Cork city in the centre and six shields for Youghal, Castlemartyr, Bandon, Midleton, Kinsale and Charleville, none of them officially recorded (Cork County Guide, c.1990, cited in the Armorial).
Green over gold, with a toothed silver and blue band; an ancient crown between two crosses above, and St Brendan’s boat below.
Per fess vert and or a fess indented point in point argent and azure between in chief an antique crown between two cross crosslets fitchée and in base a representation of the boat of St Brendan.
Chief Herald of Ireland.
Green with three wavy silver stripes and a gold cross in a ring; Patrick Sarsfield with a sword as the crest.
Vert three pallets wavy argent, a cross patée convexed within an annulet Or. Crest: a figure of Patrick Sarsfield, the right hand grasping a sword, the left outstretched and pointing.
Chief Herald of Ireland.
Ermine, with a quartered band: gold under a toothed blue chief, alternating with three gold covered cups on red.
What it means: Recorded when Tipperary was a county palatine of the Earls of Ormond (Armorial). The Carlow article says all three 17th-century county arms reflect the Butlers.
Ermine a fesse quarterly 1 and 4 Or a chief indented azure, 2 and 3 gules three covered cups gold.
Recorded by Richard Carney, Ulster King of Arms.
The Armorial says these arms went out of use when the county was divided into ridings in 1838. North Tipperary County Council used them anyway; South Tipperary was granted its own on 6 July 1990, based on Carney’s (motto Vallis Aurea Suirensis, the Golden Vale of the Suir). The reunited Tipperary County Council, created in 2014, ‘does not yet have a coat of arms’ according to the Armorial.
Blue, with a silver wedge rising from the base carrying Ardmore round tower; an eagle’s head with wheat and a stag’s head with a cross either side; a gold galley on the sea below.
Azure on a pile reversed throughout argent a representation of the round tower of Ardmore proper, between an eagle's head erased holding in its beak three stalks of wheat and a stag's head erased with a Latin cross between the attires, on a point in base barry-wavy a lymphad sail set oars in action gold.
Chief Herald of Ireland.
Blue, with five silver stars, and a Galway hooker under full sail on the sea below.
Azure thereon five mullets argent, on waves of the sea in base a Galway hooker in full sail sailing to the sinister all proper.
Chief Herald of Ireland.
Gold over green, divided by a double arch; a black lion walking above, three heraldic fountains below.
Per fess double arched or and vert in chief a lion passant sable and in base three fountains.
Chief Herald of Ireland.
Red over silver: four gold crosses above (one double-barred), a galley on the sea below, inside a gold border with nine yew trees.
Per fess gules and argent in chief four crosses one and three the first patriarchal the others passion crosses or, in base on waves of the sea a lymphad proper, the whole within a bordure of the third charged with nine yew trees also proper. Crest: on a mount vert a garden rose slipped or.
Chief Herald of Ireland.
Blue, with a gold-edged green wedge carrying a gold cross; a silver ram’s head and an oak branch either side; an ancient crown below.
What it means: In February 2023 the county council passed a motion that the ram should be of the Roscommon sheep breed (Shannonside FM and Agriland, cited in the Armorial).
Azure, on a pile vert fimbriated or, between on the dexter a ram's head argent and on the sinister an oak branch proper, a cross patée concave of the third, in base an antique crown also gold.
Chief Herald of Ireland.
Black, scattered with silver scallop shells; an open book bearing a Celtic cross and a red rose; a boar’s head on a silver point at the foot.
What it means: The County Sligo article: the book with cross and rose stands for Sligo’s literary and cultural history, the Books of Ballymote and Lecan, and the rose of Yeats’s poetry; the scallop shells for Sligeach, ‘a place abounding in shells’; the boar’s head for the boar of Benbulben in the tale of Diarmuid and Gráinne; the black and white for the Sligo GAA colours.
Sources disagree. The Sligo article says the arms were adopted by the council in 1980; the Armorial gives the grant as 8 September 1982. Adoption and formal grant may simply be two different events.
Sable semée of escallops argent an open book proper thereon in the dexter a Celtic cross and in the sinister a rose gules, on a point in base of the second a boar's head erased of the first armed of the fourth.
Chief Herald of Ireland.
Grant dates and blazons come from the Armorial, which cites the Chief Herald’s register of grants. That register, the Genealogical Office’s Grants and Confirmations of Arms, is digitised by the National Library and is the place to check a blazon word for word. The Northern Ireland arms are historic: the councils that held them were abolished in 1973, and the arms of the district councils that replaced them are not covered here. Tipperary County Council, created in 2014, had no arms when the Armorial was last updated. The GAA county crests are a separate thing and are not covered either.