| Connacht |  | | Statistics | | Area: | 17,713.18 km² | | Population: | 464,296 (2002) | | Map |  | - Connaught redirects here. For the racing team, visit Connaught (racing team).
Connacht (Irish: Connachta), also known by the English spelling: Connaught1, is a western province of Ireland, comprising the counties of Galway (Gaillimh), Leitrim (Liatroim), Mayo(Maigh Eo), Roscommon (Ros Comáin), Sligo (Sligeach). Its capital and main city is Galway, in the south of the province. Sligo is the second largest urban area.
Irish is spoken in the Gaeltacht areas of west Mayo and west Galway, with Connemara the region where Irish is strongest.
The highest point of Connacht is Mweelrea (814 metres), in Mayo. Its largest island is Achill, which is also the largest in Ireland. The biggest lake is Lough Mask.
Connacht-Ulster was one of Ireland's four regional constituencies for elections to the European Parliament until it was superseded in 2004 by the new constituency of Ireland North West.
See also Footnote 1 The spelling Connaught reflects the former English practice -- in Ireland, though not in Scotland -- of representing the Gaelic voiceless velar fricative ch as ugh (compare lough for loch), (u)gh having been used in Middle English for the same sound. Although this sound later disappeared from English, the spelling of words like "thought" and "caught" remained unaltered -- and in a further Anglicization the "new" English pronunciation of -aught was even applied in England to titles like that of the Duke of Connaught. In Ireland, however, the original pronunciation having remained intact, the Gaelic-style spelling Connacht is now used more often in English. It may have gained currency by mistranslation of the Irish name into English: in Irish, the form "Cúige Chonnacht" (province of Connacht) is almost always used, and this may have led to people misunderstanding "Connacht" as the Gaelic version instead of "Connachta".
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