I just learnt that black pepper is NOT made from the dried seeds of bell peppers...

[LylaLee]

I'm really surprised. I wonder what else I think I 'know' which is wrong.

That's not true. There's not lots of counties names County x. There's 32 counties in Ireland, none called County x. It's just Cork or Dublin or Mayo etc. What county are you from, answer, Longford. No idea where you've got that idea from.

Wikipedia seems to be promulgating the idea....

People do say 'County Cork' etc if it's not clear from context if they mean the town or the county, don't they? In your example you wouldn't need to - and the same would apply to Durham. 'What county are you from?' - 'Durham'.

I think Durham is unique in England, Scotland and wales for having a county with the same name as a city and therefore needing 'County...' as disambiguation. Other counties named after cities are usually (always?) -shires. Durham perhaps isn't a 'shire' because of its history as a 'county palatine' with 'Prince bishops'?

@LadyBeth I said island of Ireland which includes NI. Rightly or wrongly, TV news reports always referred to e.g. County Armagh.

No, not in general conversation they wouldn't. If asked where you were from, you'd just say Galway, or Galway city if you lived in the city and wanted to be more specific. You'd say I'm going to Dublin, which could mean anywhere in the county, and you'd specify further if you meant Dublin city or somewhere else. It would be quite odd to say I'm going to County Dublin, sure that could mean anywhere in the county so would be pointless.

Saying County Cork does not give any information as to whether it's Cork city or elsewhere in Cork.

People would generally write Co. X on their postal address but that's it. It's not usual unless in a slightly jokey context, as in "you'll never guess where I've just been, County Donegal". To emphasise it. If that makes any sense. And would sometimes be used in news sites etc more to do with the flow of coversation, as in "now we're heading over to County Mayo where..."

So County is never needed and doesn't give any additional information at all.

I see what you're saying, but those of us living in places where cities/towns have the same name as the county (eg Galway, Cork, Dublin, Waterford, Wexford etc) do tend to use county to distinguish between the two.
Although I often say county (or town) after the name rather than before.
eg where are you from? I'm from Cork, county.
Or I'd say Kildare town rather than just Kildare.
And people often say North Co Dublin and similar, don't they?

Wouldn't Longford have the same county vs town issues?

I don't think so. It would be more usual to say I'm from Galway, in the countryside, or I'm from Galway (the) city. Saying I'm from County Galway doesn't tell you whether it's the city or not.

Think people from Longford would just say Longford if asked where they were from. And Longford town / random village in Longford if asked further questions about exactly where. Again if I said to you I'm from County Longford you wouldn't know if I meant Longford town or not. Right?

Sorry I don't understand what you mean. There's 32 counties on the island of Ireland. I'm including NI. Just because English news reports always referred to it as County Armagh doesn't mean that's what it's actually always called...

Referring to County Armagh isn't incorrect. But if I said I was going on holiday and was asked where to, I'd just say Armagh. Adding County does not add anything to the meaning (especially with Armagh) and it isn't usually added on for no reason.

I have never thought it sounded Irish - it’s pronounced Billericky (more or less). But then I’ve known for ages that it’s in Essex. IIRC it used to be famous on general election nights, for often being the first to finish the count.

Sure.
However, in the context of the original issue which was why some people think County Durham is in Ireland - the form 'County ....' does exist, for many counties in Ireland but only for Durham in GB.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_Longford

People would generally write Co. X on their postal address but that's it. It's not usual unless in a slightly jokey context, as in "you'll never guess where I've just been, County Donegal". To emphasise it. If that makes any sense. And would sometimes be used in news sites etc more to do with the flow of coversation, as in "now we're heading over to County Mayo where..."

So County is never needed and doesn't give any additional information at all.

It may not be needed, but - as your examples show - it is used. Whereas for English counties apart from Durham it is never used. County Devon, County Yorkshire doesn't happen - not in jokes, not in postal addresses, not to help the flow of conversation. The construction simply doesn't exist.

I don't get your point. I never said that people couldn't get mixed up with County Durham (apart from the Durham bit 😄). Of course it is used in Ireland but County x is not necessary and more often than not is not used.

I first posted because of Billericky, which nobody can say sounds remotely Irish! And then just responded to further posts saying county is necessary, nothing to do with how people do or do not get confused with Durham.

@LadyBeth I really don't have knowledge or preference as to what's correct and I am
genuinely finding it interesting how places are or aren't referred to.

I'm simply adding meat to the bones of why the OP might (quite fairly IMHO, given what I've said about how counties were referred to on news in GB) think County Durham was Irish.

That's where the chat started...

I think my daftest moment was realising that the USA and Russia are basically almost next to each other.

I think at one point Alaska was russian.

Yes, '1867 for US$7.2 million (equivalent to $151 million in 2022)' according to Wikipedia. I bet the Russians regret that now!

Just like Welsh dragons and Irish leprechauns. And we all know of St George’s close involvement with England. 😆