Queen's County, an inland county of Leinster, Ireland, is bounded N. by King's County, S. by Kilkenny, and W. by Tipperary, and measures 33 miles by 37 in its extreme dimensions. Area, 424,854 acres. Pop. (1841) 153,988; (1861) 90,650; (1881) 73,124; (1891) 64,639, of whom 56,743 were Catholics. The number of acres under crop in 1890 was 131,680, and of these 45,312 were under grain-crops (chiefly oats and barley), 36,538 were permanent grass, 30,650 under green-crops (mostly potatoes and turnips), and 19,180 were meadows. Nearly 14½ per cent. of the total area is barren. Queen's County is, for the most part, within the basin of the Barrow, and is flat and, except where bogs prevail, fertile. It is also drained by the Nore and crossed by the Grand Canal. On the north-western border lie the Slieve Bloom Mountains, reaching 1734 feet. Coal occurs in the south-east. Agriculture is the principal occupation; there is much dairy-farming, and a little woollen and cotton weaving. This district was made a shire in honour of Queen Mary, from whom also the chief town, Maryborough (pop. 2872), was called. The antiquities include a round tower and some ecclesiastical and feudal remains, the most important being a castle on the picturesque rock of Dunamase. The county embraces two parliamentary districts, each returning one member.
Queen's Evidence. See APPROVER.