[1] The area of the North Liberties was originally part of Bunratty barony, now in County Clare.
[3] The rural areas, called the "liberties", were inside the county of the city but outside the borough boundary.
[2] The Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840 detached all the liberties from the county of the city and attached them to the county-at-large.
The 1846 Parliamentary Gazetteer and the census through to 1871 regarded the North Liberties as having been annexed to the barony of Pubblebrien, the rest of which was adjacent but south across the Shannon.
[4][5] A 2008 extension to the boundary of Limerick city encompasses some of the entire area of the North Liberties, however some still remains within the County of Clare.