CONNAUGHT STREET

CONNAUGHT STREET PHIBSBOROUGH DUBLIN 7

The spelling used on the street signs caught my attention as I was taught in school that the spelling was Connacht so I checked Wikipedia and while they agree with me I am still a bit uncertain.

Here is an extract from an online discussion “Connaught is to Connacht what Peking is to Beijing. In phases during the twentieth century a group of clumsily anglicised gaelic names (Leix for Laois, Dunleary for Dun Laoghaire) were phased out (in reality, binned) and replaced by their original gaelic anticedents. Connaught is one of these. It remained in usage until the mid-20th century before being respelt in the original gaelic, which is now the correct form in both Irish and English. Part of the change was linked to the introduction of a new latin alphabet into Irish.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AConnacht

According to Wikipedia: Connacht, formerly spelled Connaught, is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Since the early 17th century, there have been four Provinces of Ireland: Connacht, Leinster, Munster, and Ulster. The Irish word for this territorial division, cúige, meaning “fifth part”, indicates that there were once five; however, in the medieval period there were more. The number of provinces and their delimitation fluctuated until 1610, when they were permanently set by the English administration of James I. The provinces of Ireland no longer serve administrative or political purposes but function as historical and cultural entities.