South Dublin () is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, within the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

and the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

, which was disestablished for administrative purposes in 1994. South Dublin County Council is the

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

for the county. The county contains both dense suburbs of

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and stretches of unpopulated mountains. In 2022 it had a population of 301,705, making it the fourth most populous county in the state.

Geography and population

South Dublin has an area of , making it the second-largest of the four local government areas in Dublin. It is bounded by Dublin City ( to the northeast), the

River Liffey The River Liffey (Irish language, Irish: ''An Life'', historically ''An Ruirthe(a)ch'') is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major Tributary, tributaries include t ...

(separating it from

Fingal Fingal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which ...

to the north),

Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown () is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which was disestablished in 1994. It is named after the former ...

(to the east),

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

(to the west) and its hills adjoin the mountains of

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...

to the south. The

county town In Great Britain and Ireland, a county town is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county, and the place where public representatives are elected to parliament. Following the establishment of county councils in ...

is Tallaght. Other important centres of population are Lucan and Clondalkin. Much of the county is heavily urbanised but small rural settlements exist in the southern and western parts. South Dublin's population increased from 278,767 in 2016 to 301,075 in 2022, according to the latest census.

Towns and villages

Several urban areas in South Dublin County are also traditionally suburbs of Dublin city. For the purposes of planning and management, the County Council designates the status of towns, villages and suburbs in three tiers – town, district centre and local centre. In the 2022 development plan, the towns and district centres are listed as: * Tallaght, the county seat and the location of The Square Shopping Centre which was opened in October 1990 * Clondalkin ("to be facilitated and developed as a Town Centre ... including northward development") * Lucan (with notes on the Liffey Valley Centre, and the developing Adamstown area – a future "district centre" – and a stated aim to avoid Lucan merging with Leixlip) * and with a proposal to develop a Town Centre around the Liffey Valley Centre at Quarryvale while the more local centres are noted in three groups: * city suburbs including at least Rathfarnham, Ballyroan,

Palmerstown Palmerstown (; officially Palmerston, see #Name origin and spelling, spelling) is a Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and suburb in western Dublin, Ireland on the banks of the River Liffey. It forms part of the South Dublin local authorit ...

, Terenure,

Templeogue Templeogue is a southwestern suburb of Dublin in Ireland. It lies between the River Poddle and River Dodder, and is about halfway from Dublin's centre to the mountains to the south. Geography Location Templeogue is from Dublin city centre t ...

, Knocklyon,

Firhouse Firhouse () is an outer suburb of Dublin, in the county of South Dublin, in the south of the traditional County Dublin in Ireland. It developed from a rural village by the River Dodder, with a second settlement, Upper Fir-house, nearby. It is ju ...

, Ballycullen and Greenhills * villages such as Rathcoole, Newcastle(-Lyons), and Saggart * new neighbourhoods, some within bigger, older areas – including such as Kilnamanagh, Ballyowen, Finnstown, and, in development, Adamstown (mentioned in the county plan as an extension of Lucan).

Residential areas

* Adamstown * Ballyboden * Ballycullen * Ballyroan * Belgard * Citywest * Clondalkin * Edmondstown *

* Greenhills * Jobstown * Kingswood * Kilnamanagh * Knocklyon * Lucan * Newcastle *

* Rathcoole * Rathfarnham * Rockbrook * Ronanstown * Saggart * Tallaght *

* Walkinstown, southernmost part

Terminology

In Ireland, the usage of the word ''county'' nearly always comes before rather than after the county name; thus " ''County'' Clare" in Ireland as opposed to " Clare ''County''" in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, USA. In the case of those counties created after 1994, they often drop the word ''county'' entirely, or use it after the name; thus for example internet search engines show many more uses (on Irish sites) of "South Dublin" than of either "County South Dublin" or "South Dublin County". The 2003 placenames order lists South Dublin without any modification.

History

In 1985,

was divided into three electoral counties: Dublin–Fingal, Dublin–Belgard, and Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. At the 1991 local election, the area of Dublin–Belgard was renamed as South Dublin. The name Belgard did have a historical association with the area, being the designation of one of the border fortresses of the Pale that existed in that area. It was altered due to a view that the name Belgard might create associations with areas of modern development in Tallaght that now also uses that name. On 1 January 1994, under the provisions of the Local Government (Dublin) Act 1993, County Dublin ceased to exist, and was succeeded by the counties of Fingal, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown and South Dublin in the areas of the electoral counties. The boundaries of South Dublin were finalised in 1993, to accommodate the M50 motorway. Various organs of state use alternative subdivisions of Dublin for administrative reasons, for example, the Dublin postal codes.

Local government and politics

South Dublin County Council is the

for the county. It was established on 1 January 1994 with the establishment of the county. It is one of local authorities in

. The county is divided into seven

local electoral area A local electoral area (LEA; ) is an electoral area for elections to Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local authorities in Ireland. All elections in the Republic of Ireland, elections use the single transferable vote. Republic of Ir ...

s: Clondalkin (7 councillors), Firhouse–Bohernabreena (5 councillors), Lucan (5 councillors), Rathfarnham–

(7 councillors), Tallaght Central (6 councillors), and Tallaght South (5 councillors). The

Dáil constituencies There are 43 multi-member electoral districts, known as Dáil constituencies, to elect 174 Teachta Dála, TDs to Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas, Republic of Ireland, Ireland's parliament, on the system of propor ...

of Dublin Mid-West (4 seats) and Dublin South-West (5 seats) are wholly within South Dublin, and the constituency of Dublin South-Central is partially within South Dublin. In 2015, South Dublin became part of the Eastern and Midland Region. South Dublin County Council sends three members to the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly.

Demographics

Symbols

The heraldic crest for South Dublin has the inscription "This We Hold in Trust" in both English and Irish, while incorporating elements relating to the history, geography and present day infrastructure of the area.

Sport

The

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

club Shamrock Rovers plays at Tallaght Stadium. The stadium hosted the 2009 FAI Cup final and the Setanta Sports Cup final in 2010 & 2011. The National Basketball Arena in Tallaght is the home venue for both the Ireland national basketball team and Ireland women's national basketball team. The arena also hosts various National Cup & League matches.

Flora and fauna

In 2024, South Dublin County Council managed 195 hectares of meadows across the entirety of South Dublin including 175 hectares of long-flowering meadows and 20 hectares of short-flowering meadows.

Twinning

South Dublin is twinned with the

London Borough of Brent Brent () is a London boroughs, borough in north-west London, England. It is known for landmarks such as Wembley Stadium, the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir London, Swaminarayan Temple and the Kiln Theatre. It also contains the Brent Reservoir, W ...

, United Kingdom.

References

External links

*
Lucan St. Patrick's Day Parade
{{Authority control South Dublin (county) Counties of the Republic of Ireland County Dublin Local government areas of the Republic of Ireland