The
Irish Free State established in 1922 (which became Ireland in 1937) continued the
structure of local government which had been in place under United Kingdom law. Rural districts outside of County Dublin were abolished in 1925, and in County Dublin in 1930. The areas of former rural districts continue to be used to define electoral geography such as
Dáil constituencies. Changes to urban districts: • In 1900,
Clontarf,
Drumcondra, Clonliffe and Glasnevin, and
New Kilmainham, previously within the county of Dublin, were abolished and incorporated into the
city of Dublin • In 1930, the
borough of Dún Laoghaire was created as part of the reforms enacted in
County Dublin by the
Local Government (Dublin) Act 1930. The new borough was formed by amalgamating the four urban districts of
Blackrock,
Dalkey,
Dún Laoghaire, and
Killiney and Ballybrack • In 1930,
Pembroke and
Rathmines and Rathgar, previously within the county of Dublin, were abolished and incorporated into the city of Dublin in 1930 • In 1937, the urban district of
Galway was elevated to the status of a borough • In 1942,
Howth, which had become an urban district within the county of Dublin in 1918, was abolished and incorporated into the city of Dublin •
Passage West ceased to exist in 1942 •
Granard ceased to exist in 1944 •
Belturbet ceased to exist in 1950 The above changes left a total of 49 urban districts in being, which continued unchanged into the 1990s. Numerous changes to boundaries with adjoining local authorities were also made over the years. Urban districts were renamed as "towns" under the
Local Government Act 2001. These were in turn abolished in 2014 under the
Local Government Reform Act 2014. ==References==