South Dublin

Geography and political subdivisions

The county town 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 of the county. South Dublin had a population of 246,935 according to the 2006 census. The heraldic crest for South Dublin reads "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.

South Dublin has an area of 222.74 square kilometres. It is bounded by Dublin City (15 km to the north east), the River Liffey (separating it from Fingal to the north), Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown (to the east), County Kildare (to the west) and its hills adjoining the mountains of County Wicklow to the south.

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 current development plan, the towns and district centres are listed as:

while the more local centres are noted in three groups:

Legal status and 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, US. 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". There appears to be no official guidance in the matter, as even the local authority uses all three forms.

In 2015, South Dublin became part of the Eastern and Midland Region.

Local government in the region is further regulated by the Local Government Act 1994. This provided for the legal establishment of the following local government administrative areas:

and also recognised the extant Dublin Corporation area, vesting its powers in a renamed entity - Dublin City Council. The statutory instrument giving effect to the Act came into force on 1 January 1994 The instrument also provided for the abolition of Dublin County Council - the entity that had proviously had responsibility for Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin. The four entities collectively comprise the former entity known as County Dublin. This entity, which had been created during the Norman invasion of Ireland, was abolished under the Acts.

South Dublin was based on an existing electoral division, Belgard (An Bealach Ard), whose boundaries were only finalized in 1993, to accommodate the M50 motorway, and then used when it was made an Administrative County in 1994 (Fingal and Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown's boundaries and names were both set in 1985). The name of 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 however due to a view that the name Belgard might create associations with areas of modern development in Tallaght that now also use that name. Various organs of state use alternative subdivisions of the Dublin region for administrative reasons, for example the Dublin postal codes.

Local government and politics

South Dublin County Council is the local authority for the county. It was established at the same time that Dublin County Council and the Corporation of Dún Laoghaire were abolished in 1994, by an Act of the Oireachtas, the Local Government (Dublin) Act 1993. It is one of four councils in the Dublin Region. The county is divided into five local electoral areas for the purpose of elections: Clondalkin (6 councillors), Lucan (5 councillors), Rathfarnham (4 councillors), Tallaght Central (6 councillors), and Tallaght South (5 councillors).

Parts of four constituencies for elections to Dáil Éireann are contained within the county's borders. They are: Dublin Mid-West, Dublin South-West, Dublin South and Dublin South-Central. From 1885 to 1922, much of the area of the present county was encompassed by the historic Westminster constituency of South County Dublin.

Sport

The League of Ireland 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.

Town twinning

South Dublin is twinned with: