This was despite the fact that proposals for extending the municipal borough had existed since the 1880s, in part to deal with the issue whereby residents of the Dublin suburbs had access to and benefited from city services, but were not subject to Dublin municipal taxation.

By 1899 Dublin was the only major city in the United Kingdom which had not seen an expansion of its municipal boundaries.

[1] A private members bill was raised in parliament, proposing to extend Dublin's municipal boundaries to include several neighboring townships, and was fiercely opposed by Irish Unionists, although the incumbent Conservative government took a neutral position.

Ultimately a deal was made whereby Clontarf, Drumcondra, Clonliffe and Glasnevin, and New Kilmainham, and some county land was added to the borough, although the more populous southern townships of Pembroke and Rathmines and Rathgar were not.

[1] This resulted in the creation of some 5 extra wards, and the total number of councillors was increased to 80.