Original: Originally , in continental Europe , a county ( contea or contado , comté , comtat , condado , Grafschaft , Gau ) was the land under the jurisdiction of a count ( conte , comte , conde , Graf ) .
Simplified: The counties were in 4 provinces - Leinster ( 12 counties ) , Munster (/O6/O) Connacht (/O5/O) and Ulster (/O9/O) .