County Dossier
Leitrim
A quiet county of waterways, hills and woodland margins.
Leitrim is a small north-western county where the Shannon begins to broaden into one of Ireland's defining waterways. Much of its terrain is marked by low hills, woods, loughs and scattered settlement.
At a glance
Leitrim at a glance
A quiet county of waterways, hills and woodland margins.
- Formed from earlier West Bréifne territories
- Lakes, woods and Iron Mountains
- Birthplace of John McGahern, novelist
- Area: 613 sq mi 1,588 km²
- Population: 31,798
- County Top: Truskmore Cairn (2,070ft / 631m)
County Geography
Leitrim meets Donegal to the north, Fermanagh to the north-east, Cavan to the east, Longford to the south-east, Roscommon to the south, and Sligo to the west. The county is shaped by the upper Shannon, the hills and iron country of the north-west, and the chain of lakes and lower ground that lead toward the midlands.
Leitrim is easy to recognise through the upper Shannon, wooded hills, and north-western lake country.
Map Reference
View Leitrim on the map
Leitrim is the county. The map shows its boundary, places, and neighbouring counties.
The county.
The county boundary.
Nearby counties and places.
Places and routes
Carrick-on-Shannon, Manorhamilton, Mohill, Drumshanbo, and Kinlough show the county from its river axis and central lake country to its northern and western sides.
Connections
The county’s routes have long followed the Shannon through Carrick-on-Shannon, crossed the central lake country at Drumshanbo, and run north and west toward Manorhamilton, Mohill, and Kinlough. Movement follows the same river, lake, and hill pattern.
Names
- Leitrim
- County Leitrim
- County of Leitrim
- Liatroim
Liatroim is the Irish form of Leitrim. County Leitrim is the formal historical style, the county name means the grey ridge, and the older county background lies in Breifne and the frontier landscape between Ulster and Connacht.
Leitrim was a county by the sixteenth century, and the upper Shannon and lake-and-hill geography still keep the historic county’s shape clear.