The historical development of these councils dates back to medieval times.
[1] The wards were revised by order under the Dublin Corporation Act 1849 (12 & 13 Vict.
Urban areas in county Dublin formed townships governed by town commissioners over the course of the nineteenth century, either under the Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act 1854 or by local acts: The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 reformed local government throughout the country, with first-tier division between administrative counties and county boroughs, and a second-tier division of administrative counties into urban areas and rural areas.
Each of the townships in the administrative county of Dublin, with the exception of Balbriggan, became an urban district.
[8] In reorganisation shortly after the implementation of the 1898 Act, the urban districts of Clontarf, of Drumcondra, Clonliffe and Glasnevin, and of New Kilmainham were incorporated into the city.
The added area became the wards of Clontarf East, Clontarf West, Drumcondra, Glasnevin, and New Kilmainham, each elected one alderman and three councillors (with a further portion added to the South Dock Ward).
This was an expansion of the number of members of the City Council from sixty to eighty.
However, they continued to be used and defined as fundamental geographical units, both to define the borough electoral areas and county electoral areas, and as census tracts.
[25] At the 1991 local election, the electoral counties of Dublin–Belgard and Dublin–Fingal were renamed as South Dublin and Fingal respectively.
[27] The 2014 Act allowed for a plebiscite to be held to on whether there should be a directly elected mayor for Dublin city and county.
[30] There was a Dublin citizens assembly in 2022 to consider reform of local government, including a directly elected mayor.
[31] Under the Electoral Act 1963, the Minister for Local Government had the authority to divide a county borough into wards and a county into district electoral districts, with previous divisions remaining in place prior to the first such order.