Counties of Ireland

The island of Ireland has 32 counties, with Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland being nicknamed respectively the six counties and the twenty-six counties. The counties are subdivisions of the ancient Provinces of Ireland, made up, in general, from smaller territories. While the provinces have existed in some form for many centuries, the counties developed under the Anglo-Norman and British administrations, with the first counties formed in the century after Strongbow's arrival and the last, Wicklow, finally formalised in 1606.

Local government

:Main articles: Districts of Northern Ireland, Local government in the Republic of Ireland

Related Topics:
Districts of Northern Ireland - Local government in the Republic of Ireland

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The original pattern of 32 counties evolved over many years from the original Norman conquest of Ireland.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 was a significant milestone in the framing of the counties and their status. Some of the 32 counties are no longer the main basis for local government, planning and community development purposes, although unlike the counties in Great Britain, the Republic's traditional county boundaries are still respected for other purposes (counties on occasion being sub-divided).

Related Topics:
Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 - Counties in Great Britain

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the Republic of Ireland, six of the original 26 counties have more than one local authority area, producing a total of 34 "county-level" authorities. County Tipperary has been split into North Tipperary and South Tipperary since 1898 and the formal adoption of the county system for local government. In 1994 County Dublin was split into Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, and South Dublin. By 2002 however, upon the establishment of County Development Boards, the definition of "local government" expanded to include the need for a proper identity in each of the new counties; the development of which is ongoing. Of the administrative structures established under the 1898 Local Government Act, the only type to have been completely abolished were the Rural Districts, which were rendered void in the early years of the Irish Free State amidst widespread allegations of corruption. On the other hand, administrative structures such as Town Councils and Regional Authorities (created to comply with requirements of the EU) exist in parallel with the county system.

Related Topics:
County Tipperary - North Tipperary - South Tipperary - 1898 - County Dublin - Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown - Fingal - South Dublin - Rural District - Irish Free State

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In Northern Ireland, a major re-organisation of local government in 1973 replaced the six traditional counties and two county boroughs (Belfast and Londonderry) by 26 "single-tier" districts for local government purposes, and these cross the traditional county boundaries. The six counties and two county-boroughs remain in use for purposes such as Lieutenancy, they are also used for the Royal Mail Postcode Address File.

Related Topics:
County borough - Belfast - Londonderry - Districts - Lieutenancy - Royal Mail - Postcode Address File

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Administration

Generally administration follows the 34 "county-level" counties and cities of Ireland. The counties are referred to as "county councils" and 29 fall into this category. The cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford have "city councils", previously as "corporations", and are administered separately from the counties bearing those names. The City of Kilkenny is the only city in the republic which does not have a "city council"; it is still a borough but not a county borough and is administered as part of County Kilkenny. The most recent local government legislation states that Kilkenny may retain the title of "city" for ornament only.

Related Topics:
County council - Dublin - Cork - Limerick - Galway - Waterford - City council - Corporation - City of Kilkenny - Borough - County borough - County Kilkenny

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Education

The Vocational Education Committee system is based on the traditional counties of the Republic of Ireland except that County Tipperary is separated into North Tipperary and South Tipperary. Also each of the cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford have their own committee separate from the county. Dún Laoghaire is unique in that it is the only town with a committee.

Related Topics:
Vocational Education Committee - County Tipperary - North Tipperary - South Tipperary - Dublin - Cork - Limerick - Galway - Waterford - Dún Laoghaire

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Institute of Technology system was organised on the committee areas or "functional areas", these still remain legal but are not as important as originally envisioned as the institutes are now more national in character and are only really applied today when selecting governing councils, similarly Dublin Institute of Technology was originally a group of several colleges of the City of Dublin committee.

Related Topics:
Institute of Technology - Dublin Institute of Technology - City of Dublin

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Elections

General election areas in the Republic of Ireland also mostly follow county boundaries - called "constituencies" in accordance with Irish law - maintaining links to the county system is a mandatory consideration in the re-organisation of constituency boundaries. This system usually results in more populated counties having several constituencies - while others, such as Sligo and Leitrim, constitute a single constituency of two counties - Dublin city and county is subdivded into twelve constituencies. Local councillors, elected to local government, are based on similar boundaries to the general election areas, however councillors generally run in a particular town council or borough council area which may often encompasses several smaller towns and villages.

Related Topics:
General election - Constituencies - Irish law - Local councillor - Town council - Borough council

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~