Irish County Flags

There has been an effort in recent years to recognise the county flags of Great Britain. Which has me thinking why no such idea seems to exist for Ireland. Of course the counties of the emerald isle do have their own flags that are used by the Gaelic Athletics Association (GAA):

There are various problems with these:

1. Not everyone follows GAA sports (especially in Northern Ireland where for various reasons its seen as primarily Nationalist activity) 
2. Common theames with colours, overlapping eg: Clare, Longford, Roscommon, Tipperary and Wicklow all have the same blue and gold colour scheme.
3. The overwhelmingly unimaginative way coats of arms are simply used in the centre.
4. Many of the coat of arms are either outdated, made up or simply wrong. eg Down is outdated and Dublin uses the city of Dublin coat of arms rather than the county arms, and Tyrone and Derry are made up team arms rather than county arms.

All these points and more make these flags inappropriate at least for use outside of GAA sport. So here are my proposals for county flags, some are original ideas(some better than others), others mealy heraldic banners of arms. So here are the county flags by province:

Galway

The coat of arms of County Galway feature a boat on a night time backdrop.

The flag design is based on this but I added more stars and arranged them into the big dipper formation that can be seen from the northern hemisphere.

Leitrim

The arms of county Leitrim feature a passaent lion and three "fountains" :

The flag is based on the coat of arms, with the chief of the arms making up the hoist end of the flag in an arrow shape. The blue and white waved stripes were inspired by the 'fountains'.

Mayo

The arms of county Mayo feature four crosses and a ship, with a boarder of yew trees.

the flag feature three god and red bars with the county's yew tree in the centre.

Roscommon

The arms of county Roscommon feature a gold cross and other symbols such as a crown, rams head and  oak leaves:

The flag is clearly based on the arms keeping the dominant symbol of the cross.

Sligo

The current arms used by Sligo County Council feature an open book with a Celtic cross and rose. A boars head and sea shells.

The flag is in the colours of the arms, with the sea shell being used as the emblem of the county, primarily because it was also used on the old county arms.

Carlow

The coat of arms of county Carlow feature an ermine shield with a lion rampant and two peasant lions in the centre. 

the flag feature the two arms in the centre of the shield quartered, with an ermine boarder.

Dublin

The arms of County Dublin feature a raven, possible reference to the area's Viking past;

I have two designs, first is like the flag of the city of Dublin, a green harp flag with the arms in the canton, the other a simple banner of arms:

Kildare

The arms of county Kildare feature a cross of St Patrick (although probably a reference to the Fitzgerald Clan) with various symbols on and around the saltire. 

 The flag is simply a banner of arms.

Kilkenny

Like that of Carlow the arms of Kilkenny feature an ermine shield, but with different arms in the centre:

The flag features the arms quartered with an ermine boarder. (see the pattern).

Laois

The arms of County Laois feature a red chevron black lion rampant and two 'fountains'.

Initially I made the flag with the two fountains in the fly, but decided to change it to the current design which i think is more aesthetically pleasing. 

Longford

The arms of county Longford feature  a castle of two towers counter changed.

The flag is a banner of arms.

Louth

The arms of County Louth feature two white ships on a black field and a white hand on a tan disk:

 

The flag features a Cross of St Patrick on a green and black field (representative of the arms) with the hand a disk in the centre and flanked by the two ships. 

Meath

The prime feature arms of County Meath is an "antique Crown" symbolising the ancient hill of Tara, where in Irish mythology many of the mythological "High Kings of Ireland" were crowned:

 The flag is a green, gold, blue tricolour design reflective of the colours in the coat of arms, (but darkened) with a crown in the centre. 

Offaly

The arms of County Offaly are green, white and gold, with a lion rampant holding a cross and sprig bog rosemary:

based on the arms, the bog rosemary is in the canton while the lion's cross is in the centre.

Westmeath

The arms of County Westmeath feature the shield counter changed in red and blue saltire shape, with a gold ring in the centre. The wring is flanked by two lions, above and below it are a swan and a horned helmet. 

The flag features the ring from the arms with a cross of St Patrick going through it, attempting to make an elongated Celtic cross effect. 

Wexford

The arms of County Wexford feature a lighthouse and a lion rampant armed with a pike, between two spear heads:

The two designs for Wexford are a simple banner of arms, or thanks to the design of the coat of arms a simple banner with the elements removed also works:

Wicklow

The arms of County Wicklow feature a church and a lion passant:

The first flag proposal is a simple banner of arms, the second is a St Patrick's Cross with the lion and church:

Clare

The coat of arms of County Clare is quite interesting, divided up into seven equal parts:

The flag is based on the coat of arms

Cork

County Cork has no arms but the seal features the Arms of Cork City as its central emblem.

The flag features a cross of St Patrick (the flag on the towers of the Cork City arms) with the towers on each side and a ship in the centre.

Kerry

The arms of Kerry feature a green, white and gold shield, with a ship, crown and cross. 

The flag is a simple banner of arms.

Limerick

The arms of County Limerick feature a cross patee on a green and white wavy field.

the flag is based on the arms but turned 90 degrees. 

Tipperary 

The arms of County Tipperary is Ermine a fesse quarterly 1 and 4 Or a chief indented azure 2 and 3 gules three covered cups gold.

The flag follow the pattern for this type of flag.

Waterford

The arms of County Waterford feature three Galleys on weaves.

The flag is based on the coat of arms.

Antrim

The coat of arms of County Antrim feature two towers, the red hand of Ulster and a red lion rampant:

The flag proposals of my favourite county feature a banner of arms, or as Antrim is the Ulster-Scots heartland, as well as a prominent Irish speaking population, a combination of St Andrew's and Patrick's Crosses:

Armagh

Historically County Armagh has never received a grant of Arms, but the Arms of Armagh City (a gold harp) were used, the design here appears on Northern Ireland bank notes:

 The flag is based on both coats of arms used to represent the county.

Cavan

The arms of county Cavan feature two gold disks, a tower and a green lion rampant.

the flag is based on the coat of arms.

Donegal

The coat of arms for the largest county feature a red cross on an ermine inner shield on green and gold waves:

The flag is also based on the coat of arms, and similar to one already in use.

Down

The arms of County Down feature a variety of symbols:

The flag is based on that of Down District Council who administer about a third of the county including the county capital Downpatrick. 

Fermanagh

I don't know about the rest of the island but every Ulster county has its own county tartan. I used this as inspiration for some of the flags.

The flag is a cross in the colours of the county tartan, I call it a tartan cross (perhaps something that might catch on, in Irish or Scottish vexillology) defaced with the county arms:

Londonderry

The coat of arms of County Londonderry feature a red hand of Ulster, and two wheat sheaves.

 The flag is a cross between the cross of the Burkes on the Province arms and the flag of the city of London as appears on the city of Derry arms. The bottom right has an oak leaf, symbolising the county's name.

Monaghan

The arms of County Monaghan feature a horse head, sword and shield and a bucket.

The flag is a banner of arms.

Tyrone

The coat of arms of County Tyrone feature a red hand of Ulster and a fleur-de-lys:

The flag is a 'tartan cross' defaced with the fleur-de-lys.