Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 in the context of "Counties of the Republic of Ireland"

The urban and rural districts of Northern Ireland were created in 1899 when the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 came into effect. They were based on the system of district councils introduced in England and Wales four years earlier. (See List of Irish local government areas 1898–1921 for a historical list of districts in all of Ireland.)

At the time of Northern Ireland's creation in 1921, Ireland as a whole was divided into thirty-three administrative counties and six county boroughs; the administrative counties were in turn subdivided into several boroughs, urban districts, and rural districts. Each district was divided into a number of district electoral divisions (DEDs). Northern Ireland received a total of six administrative counties, together with the county boroughs of Belfast and Derry. The six administrative counties all included a number of urban and rural districts in 1921, but no boroughs.

The functions of local government in the Republic of Ireland are mostly exercised by thirty-one local authorities, termed County, City, or City and County Councils. The principal decision-making body in each of the thirty-one local authorities is composed of the members of the council, elected by universal franchise in local elections every five years from multi-seat local electoral areas using the single transferable vote. Many of the authorities' statutory functions are, however, the responsibility of ministerially appointed career officials termed Chief executives. The competencies of the city and county councils include planning, transport infrastructure, sanitary services, public safety (notably fire services) and the provision of public libraries. Each local authority sends representatives to one of three Regional Assemblies.

Local government in the state is governed by Local Government Acts 1925 to 2024, the principal act of which is the Local Government Act 2001. The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 is the founding document of the present system. The Twentieth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland (1999) provided for constitutional recognition of local government for the first time in Ireland in a new Article 28A. The Local Government Reform Act 2014 changed the structure by the abolition of all town councils and the merger of certain county councils. The reforms came into effect in 2014, to coincide with that year's local elections.

The Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971 (c. 9 (N.I.)) was an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, passed in 1971 to replace the previous system of local authorities established by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. The system was based on the recommendations of the Macrory Report, of June 1970, which presupposed the continued existence of the Government of Northern Ireland to act as a regional-level authority.

Northern Ireland was to be divided into twenty-six local government districts, each consisting of a number of wards. The act did not define the Districts exactly, but provided a list of 26 existing local government areas which would form the basis of the pattern. It then gave the Governor of Northern Ireland the power to appoint a Local Government Boundaries Commissioner who was to report with proposed names and boundaries not later than 30 June 1972.

The Local Government Act 2001 (No. 37) was enacted by the Oireachtas on 21 July 2001 to reform local government in Ireland. Most of the provisions of the Act came into operation on 1 January 2002. The act was a restatement and amendment of previous legislation, which was centred on the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. The 2001 act remains in force, although significantly amended by the Local Government Reform Act 2014.

According to the explanatory memorandum issued before the passing of the Act, its purposes were to:

The system of local government Ireland, then wholly within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, was reformed by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, which came into force in 1899. The new system divided Ireland into the following entities:

Athlone (/æθˈloʊn/; Irish: Baile Átha Luain, meaning 'The town of Luan's ford' [ˌbʲlʲɑː ˈl̪ˠuənʲ]) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midlands Region with a population of 22,869 in the 2022 census.

Most of the town lies on the east bank of the river, within the townland of the same name; however, by the terms of the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, six townlands on the west bank of the Shannon, formerly in County Roscommon, were incorporated into the town, and consequently, into the county of Westmeath.

Carlow (/ˈkɑːrloʊ/ KAR-loh; Irish: Ceatharlach [ˈcahəɾˠl̪ˠəx]) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, 84 km (52 mi) from Dublin. At the 2022 census, it had a population of 27,351, the twelfth-largest urban center in Ireland.

The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic boundary between counties Laois and Carlow. However, the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 included the town entirely in County Carlow. The settlement of Carlow is thousands of years old and pre-dates written Irish history. The town has played a major role in Irish history, serving as the capital of the country in the 14th century. The town is in a townland and civil parish of the same name.

In Ireland, a barony (Irish: barúntacht, plural barúntachtaí) is a historical subdivision of a county, analogous to the hundreds into which the counties of England were divided. Baronies were created during the Tudor reconquest of Ireland, replacing the earlier cantreds formed after the original Norman invasion. Some early baronies were later subdivided into half baronies with the same standing as full baronies.

Baronies were mainly cadastral rather than administrative units. They acquired modest local taxation and spending functions in the 19th century before being superseded by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. Subsequent adjustments of county boundaries mean that some baronies now straddle two counties.