The South-West is a strategic planning area within the Southern Region in Ireland. It is a NUTS Level III statistical region of Ireland (coded IE053). It includes the city of

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

and the

counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

and Kerry. The South-West region spans , roughly 16% of the total area of the state and according to the 2022 census has a population of 736,489. From 1994 to 2014, the region was governed by the South-West Regional Authority. That body was abolished in 2014 and from 2015, it was succeeded by the Southern Regional Assembly. The South-West Region benefits from a mild climate and has a very scenic environment, which includes features such as

MacGillycuddy's Reeks MacGillycuddy's Reeks () is a sandstone and siltstone mountain range in the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. Stretching , from the Gap of Dunloe in the east, to Glencar, County Kerry, Glencar in the west, the Reeks is Ireland's high ...

(the highest mountain range in Ireland), the

Dingle Peninsula The Dingle Peninsula (; anglicised as Corkaguiny or Corcaguiny, the name of the corresponding barony) is the northernmost of the major peninsulas in County Kerry. It ends beyond the town of Dingle at Dunmore Head, the westernmost point of m ...

Mizen Head Mizen Head () is traditionally regarded as the most southerly point of mainland Ireland although Brow Head is the actual southernmost point. It is at the end of the Mizen Peninsula in the district of Carbery in County Cork. Geography Mizen ...

and the

Iveragh Peninsula The Iveragh Peninsula () is located in County Kerry in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the largest peninsula in southwestern Ireland. A mountain range, the MacGillycuddy's Reeks, lies in the centre of the peninsula. Carrauntoohil, its hig ...

, along with numerous small islands.

South-West Regional Authority

The South-West Region was administered by the South-West Regional Authority, which consisted of 24 elected representatives, including the region's representative on the EU Committee of the Regions. These representatives met once a month and were nominated from the three administrative councils of the region: *

Cork City Council Cork City Council () is the local authority of the city of Cork in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Before 1 January 2002, the council was known as Cork Corporation. The council is responsible for ho ...

(7) *

Cork County Council Cork County Council () is the local authority of County Cork, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001, as amended. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban pl ...

(9) *

Kerry County Council Kerry County Council () is the Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local authority of County Kerry, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and community, roa ...

(8) The Regional Authorities were dissolved in 2014 and were replaced by Regional Assemblies.

Demographics

The South-West region has experienced a steady increase in its population with migration to the region due to its strong educational infrastructure, scenery, mild climate, as well as its quality of life and work. According to the 2016 census, the South-West region had a population of 689,750, which constitutes 14.5% of the national population. Its population density was 52.5 persons per km². 78.6% of the south-west's population (542,196 people), reside in County Cork. The remaining 21.4% (147,554 people) live in County Kerry. The southwest is the home of

Munster Irish Munster Irish (, ) is the dialect of the Irish language spoken in the province of Munster. Gaeltacht regions in Munster are found in the Gaeltachtaí of the Dingle Peninsula in west County Kerry, in the Iveragh Peninsula in south Kerry, in ...

and contains a number of nationally significant

Gaeltacht A ( , , ) is a district of Ireland, either individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The districts were first officially recognised ...

areas, such as

Dingle Dingle ( or ''Daingean Uí Chúis'', meaning "fort of Ó Cúis") is a town in County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The only town on the Dingle Peninsula (known in Irish as ''Corca Dhuibhne''), it sits on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coa ...

, Cape Clear Island and

Muskerry Muskerry () is a central region of County Cork, Ireland which incorporates the baronies of Muskerry West

Economy

The region's economy consists of a range of multi-national companies that specialise in areas such as electronics and pharmaceuticals. The food industry also forms an important sector in the regional economy.

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

is also a major industry in the region. Eurostat figures for 2012 gave the region a

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance o ...

of €32.4 bn and a GDP per capita of €48,500 (second highest on the island of Ireland, second only to Dublin €57,200). According to CSO figures for 2014, the region then had a GDP of €33.8 bn and a GDP per capita of €50,544. By 2020, this had risen to a contribution of €103.2 billion towards Irish GDP. The workforce of the region in 2003 was 255,800, which equated to a 95.58% employment rate with services (59.9%), industrial employment (31.2%), and agriculture (8.9%) forming the key industries. The 2016 unemployment rate for the South-West region, at 5.7%, is the lowest of any other Irish NUTS region.

Transport

The South-West region contains two airports, Cork International Airport and Kerry International Airport, both of which provide a wide range of flights to locations across

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. The region also has ferry services operating between Cork, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Geography

Ireland's southernmost and westernmost points are located in the Southwest.

Tearaght Island Tearaght Island or Inishtearaght (, meaning 'the westerly') is an uninhabited steep rocky island west of the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. Geography At longitude 10° 39.7' Tearaght is the westernmost of the Blasket Islands, an ...

is the westernmost point located 12.5 km west of the Dingle Peninsula in Kerry. The southernmost point is

Fastnet Rock Fastnet Lighthouse is a lighthouse situated on the remote Fastnet Rock in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the most southerly point of Ireland and lies southwest of Cape Clear Island and from County Cork on the Irish mainland. The current lighthou ...

, which lies 11.3 km south of mainland County Cork. Including only mainland Ireland, Brow Head, County Cork is the southernmost point and

Dunmore Head Dunmore Head () is a promontory in the westernmost part of the Dingle Peninsula, located in the barony of Corca Dhuibhne in southwest County Kerry, Ireland. The headland, together with parts of Mount Eagle's northern slopes is formed from ste ...

, County Kerry is the westernmost point. Ireland's twelve highest mountains are located in County Kerry.

Killarney National Park Killarney National Park (), near the town of Killarney, County Kerry, was the first national park in Ireland, created when the Muckross Estate was donated to the Irish Free State in 1932. The park has since been substantially expanded and en ...

in Kerry has Ireland's only native herd of

Red Deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

and the most extensive covering of native forest remaining in Ireland. The southwest has a total of of forest and woodland area, larger than six different Irish counties. The area of the Southwest is , roughly 16% of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

's land area which is large enough to fit the 10 smallest counties inside it and almost as large as

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. The combined coastline of Cork and Kerry is , including islands.

Major settlements

A list of the ten largest settlements in the southwest County capitals are included and are shown in bold. Ch2crop

References

{{Regions of RoI NUTS statistical regions of the Republic of Ireland