County Limerick, situated in the Mid-West of Ireland, dates back to the year 1210 when King John of England set up the first 12 Irish Counties, of which Limerick was one.   The County itself comprises an area of approximately 2,735 square kilometres and contains 119 civil(i.e. pre-Reformation) parishes, 58 ecclesiastical parishes, 136 electoral divisions, 1,938 townlands, 5 local government electoral areas and 2 Dáil Constituencies, East and West Limerick.   The total population of the County was 121,281(Census 2002) which showed an increase of 7.3% since 1996.