Traditionally, Ireland is divided into four provinces: Connacht in the west, in the east lies Leinster, Munster and Ulster in the north and south. Ireland has a traditional thirty-two counties of which twenty-six counties are in the Republic of Ireland and six counties are in Northern Ireland. The six counties that form Northern Ireland are all in the province of Ulster. As such, Ulster is often used as a synonym for Northern Ireland, although the two are not coterminous.
The counties Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford and Tipperary are still considered the official ones. Traditional borders are still used for informal as well as sports leagues, tourism, etc. addresses. The largest coast is Carrauntoohil in the County of Kerry up to 1038 m above the sea level. The river Shannon is the longest river of the island. Due to the lush island vegetation and its mild climate with frequent rainfall, Ireland received the name "Emerald Isle".
The northern and eastern regions have the highest number of lightning incidents recorded annually, with lightning that occurred approximately five to ten days a year. Ireland is sometimes affected by heat waves, most recently in 1995, 2003 and 2006. In common with the rest of Europe it has very low temperatures up to -13 ° C in some parts, and the snow falls up to one meter in mountainous areas.
The highest temperature was 33.3 ° C in June 1887 and the lowest was -19.1 ° C in January 1881. The longest period of absolute drought was in Limerick, when there was no precipitation for over 38 days in April and May 1938.
The fauna of Ireland is made up of red fox, hedgehog and badger, very common species, but the Irish hare and deer are rare species. Approximately 400 species of birds have been recorded in Ireland. Many of these are migratory, including the Barn Swallow. Most bird species in Ireland came from Iceland, Greenland and Africa.