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Originally Posted by BobK  The island of Ireland is made up of Provinces, each of which includes a number of counties. |
These are historical divisions, and no longer have any legal or political status -- and haven't done so since the 12th century. They're only really important in that Ireland's four professional rugby teams play under the names of these provinces.
Confusingly, when the British talk about Northern Ireland as "the province", they are using a completely different definition of the word; they mean a territory governed as a political unit of the United Kingdom.
Strictly speaking, the United Kingdom is actually a country made up of four different countries. That sounds paradoxical, but it is so, and the reason why England, Scotland and Wales can have their own separate national soccer teams when (for example) Spain is only allowed one. These different countries are called the "constituent countries" (sometimes "constituent nations").
England and Scotland were both separate kingdoms, but for a while they shared the same monarch (who was James the First of England and Sixth of Scotland); later (in 1707) they merged into one kingdom, but Scottish law remains separate in many areas from English law. If you go to Scotland, for example, you'll find that the banknotes are issued by different banks, even though the currency is the same.
Wales is a principality and came under the English crown long before the kingdoms of England and Scotland were united. In the 16th century England formally annexed Wales, and since then English law has applied in Wales -- this is why you will often find references to "the law of England and Wales".
The recently devolved government of the UK reflects the different statuses of the constituent countries. Scotland, with its own set of laws, gets a parliament; Wales, which has to abide by English law, only gets a National Assembly; while Northern Ireland, which is a province, is still struggling to get its Assembly to work properly (Northern Ireland's political situation is extremely sensitive) -- it's currently suspended, and Northern Ireland is currently governed directly from London.