The coastal town of Dún Laoghaire gave its name to the larger borough of Dún Laoghaire established in 1930 with powers nearly as great as a county borough. Rathdown was the south-easternmost barony in County Dublin, named after Rathdown Castle. When County Wicklow was created south of County Dublin in 1606, half of Rathdown was transferred to Wicklow, including Rathdown Castle, now a ruin. From the 1840s, the poor law union of Rathdown covered all of the Wicklow barony and most of the Dublin barony, with part of Uppercross. From the Dublin and Wicklow sections of the PLU, the Local Government Act 1898 created rural districts respectively named Rathdown No. 1 and Rathdown No. 2, abolished in 1930 and 1925. Rathdown PLU survived as Rathdown Public Assistance District until 1960. Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown was a Dáil Éireann constituency created by the Electoral Act 1947 coterminous with the former Rathdown No. 1 rural district. The name "Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown" was given to the "electoral county" created by the Local Government Act 1985. An "area committee" for the electoral county was formed within Dublin County Council under the Local Government Act 1991, and discussed possible alternative names before deciding to retain "Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown". The Local Government Act 1993 made it an "administrative county" on the same basis as those created by the 1898 act. The 1993 act named it "Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown" in English, omitting the síneadh fada on the "u" of "Dun", while retaining it in the Irish name Dún Laoghaire-Ráth an Dúin. The 1993 act empowered Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council to apply to change the county's name, but this was not invoked. The 1993 spelling is retained by the Local Government Act 2001, and the Local Government Reform Act 2014. Nevertheless, DLRCC and the Placenames Database of Ireland use "Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown" in English. Whereas it is common to refer to those Irish counties which predate 1898 with the word "County" before the name this is less so for those created later, and "County Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown" is rare.
Local government and politics
Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council is the local authority for the county. There are six Local Electoral Areas for the county which return a total of 40 councillors as follows: Killiney-Shankill, Blackrock, Dundrum, Dún Laoghaire, "Glencullen/Sandyford", Stillorgan. In 1986, the "administrative county" of Dublin was divided into three "electoral counties": Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Dublin — Fingal, and Dublin — Belgard. In 1994, Dublin County Council and the Corporation of Dún Laoghaire were abolished and the three electoral counties became "administrative counties", named Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Fingal, and South Dublin respectively. In 2001, the "administrative counties" were redesignated as simply "counties". The three counties together with Dublin city constitute the Dublin Region. The label "County Dublin" continues to be used informally for this area. For elections to Dáil Éireann, the county is split between the constituencies of Dún Laoghaire and Dublin Rathdown, with the division generally running along the N11. These constituencies currently have four Fine Gael TDs, one Green Party TD, one Solidarity–People Before Profit TD and one Independent TD. The Dublin region forms the Dublin constituency in European Parliament elections. The motto on the insignia of the County Council reads, Ó Chuan go Sliabh, Irish for "From Harbour to Mountain". The crown in the device is that of Lóegaire mac Néill, a legendary 5th-century High King of Ireland and the eponymous Laoghaire of "Dún Laoghaire".
Demographics
Nationality
Population
11,927
3,120
2,181
1,919
1,325
1,223
1,178
1,024
953
926
Transport
The Dublin Area Rapid Transit system runs through the eastern coast of the county and connects to Dublin city centre to the north as well as other points north and south on the Iarnród Éireann railway system, with connections to Intercity trains. The green Luas line runs through the centre of the county. There is a medium-sized harbour at Dún Laoghaire, with now discontinued ferry crossings to and from Holyhead in North Wales; this was a popular route for tourists travelling across the Irish Sea from Britain. This service was suspended indefinitely in September 2014.
