Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown (
) 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 ...
in
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 ...
. It is in 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 ...
of
Leinster 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 in 1994. It is named after the former
borough of Dún Laoghaire and the
barony of
Rathdown.
Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council is the
local authority for the county. The population of the county was 233,860 at the time of the 2022 census.
Geography and subdivisions
Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown is bordered to the east by the
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...
, to the north by the city 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 ...
, to the west by the county of
South Dublin, and to the south by
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 ...
. With the city of Dublin,
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 ...
and South Dublin, it is one of four local government areas in the old County Dublin. Located to the south-east of the capital city of Dublin, 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 ...
of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown is
Dún Laoghaire
Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...
. Since 2015, the county is part of the
Eastern and Midland Region.
University College Dublin and
Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology are located in the county.
Towns, villages and suburbs
*
Ballinteer
*
Ballybrack
*
Ballyogan
*
Blackrock
BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational investment company. Founded in 1988, initially as an enterprise risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager ...
*
Booterstown
*
Belfield
*
Cabinteely
*
Carrickmines
*
Cherrywood
*
Churchtown
*
Clonskeagh
Clonskeagh or Clonskea (; , meaning "meadow of the Crataegus monogyna, Whitethorn"), is a small southern suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The district straddles the River Dodder.
Location and access
The district is adjacent to ...
*
Dalkey
Dalkey ( ; ) is a village in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown county southeast of Dublin, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement and became a port in the Middle Ages. According to chronicler John Clyn (c.1286–c.1349), it was one of the port ...
*
Deansgrange
*
Dundrum
*
Dún Laoghaire
Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...
*
Foxrock
*
Goatstown
*
Glasthule
Glasthule ( ; ) is a suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is along County Dublin, County Dublin’s south coast, between Dún Laoghaire, Sandycove, Glenageary and Dalkey.
Amenities
Sandycove and Glasthule are served by a number ...
*
Glenageary
Glenageary ( ) is an area on the Southside, Dublin, Southside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. While it has no formal boundary, it is surrounded by the areas of Dalkey, Dún Laoghaire, Glasthule, Johnsto ...
*
Glencullen
*
Johnstown
*
Killiney
*
Kilmacud
*
Kilternan
*
Leopardstown
*
Loughlinstown
*
Monkstown
*
Mount Merrion
*
Rathfarnham
*
Sandyford
*
Sandycove
*
Sallynoggin
Sallynoggin () is an area of Dublin in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, County Dublin. The area consists mainly of former local authority housing built between the late 1940s and the mid-1950s by the Corporation of D� ...
*
Shankill
*
Stepaside
*
Stillorgan
*
Ticknock
Administrative history
In 1986, the
administrative county 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 ...
was divided into three "electoral counties": Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Dublin—Fingal, and Dublin—Belgard. The city has been administered separately from County Dublin since 1548. An "area committee" for the electoral county was formed within
Dublin County Council under the Local Government Act 1991,
On 1 January 1994,
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 ...
and the
Borough of Dún Laoghaire were abolished and the three electoral counties became the administrative counties of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown,
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 ...
, and
South Dublin respectively.
[; ] Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown comprises the former Borough of Dún Laoghaire and the south-eastern part of the former County Dublin. Additionally, the powers of the former
Deansgrange Joint Burial Board were subsumed into the new authority. From 2002, all "administrative counties" in Ireland were redesignated as "counties". The three counties together with
Dublin city constitute the traditional County Dublin.
Naming
The coastal town of
Dún Laoghaire
Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...
(called ''Dunleary'' until 1821 and then ''Kingstown'' until 1920) gave its name to the larger
borough of Dún Laoghaire established in 1930.
Rathdown was the south-easternmost
barony in County Dublin, named after
Rathdown Castle. When
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 ...
was created south of County Dublin in 1606,
half of Rathdown was transferred to Wicklow, including Rathdown Castle, now a ruin. From the 1840s, the
poor law union
A poor law union was a geographical territory, and early local government unit, in Great Britain and Ireland.
Poor law unions existed in England and Wales from 1834 to 1930 for the administration of poor relief. Prior to the Poor Law Amendment ...
(PLU) of Rathdown covered all of the Wicklow barony and most of the Dublin barony, with part of
Uppercross. From the Dublin and Wicklow sections of the PLU, the
Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 created
rural district
A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. I ...
s respectively named Rathdown No. 1 and Rathdown No. 2, abolished in 1930 and 1925. Rathdown PLU survived as Rathdown Public Assistance District until 1960.
Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown was a
Dáil constituency created by the
Electoral (Amendment) Act 1947 coterminous with the former Rathdown No. 1 rural district.
The name "Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown" was given to the electoral county created in 1985. Before its establishment as an administrative county, possible alternative names before deciding to retain "Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown". The
Local Government (Dublin) Act 1993 named it "Dun Laoghaire–Rathdown" in English, omitting the on the "u" of "Dun", and in Irish.
The 1993 act empowered
Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council (DLRCC) to apply to change the county's name, but this was not invoked.
The spelling in English as "Dun Laoghaire–Rathdown", without the , is used in the list of counties in the Local Government Act 2001 (and as amended by the
Local Government Reform Act 2014). However, in the
Placenames Database of Ireland and the ministerial order under the
Official Languages Act 2003, the name of the county in English is "Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown".
This is followed by the County Council, with the used in English.
The placenames order also distinguishes between the use of "County" as a prefix for the
traditional counties, but not in the case of "Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown" and other counties listed as "administrative counties".
Local government and politics

Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council is the
local authority for the county. There are six
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 (LEAs) for the county which return a total of 40 councillors as follows:
Blackrock
BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational investment company. Founded in 1988, initially as an enterprise risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager ...
(6),
Dundrum (7),
Dún Laoghaire
Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...
(7),
Glencullen–
Sandyford (7),
Killiney–
Shankill (7), and
Stillorgan (6).
For elections to
Dáil Éireann, the county is split between 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
Dún Laoghaire
Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...
(4 TDs) and
Dublin Rathdown (3 TDs), with the division generally running along the
N11. These constituencies currently have three
Fine Gael TDs, two
Green Party TDs, one
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland.
Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...
TD and one
People Before Profit–Solidarity TD.
It is part of the 4-seat
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 ...
constituency in
European Parliament elections
Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by Universal suffrage, universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are the second largest democratic elections in the world after Electio ...
.
County motto
The motto on the insignia of the County Council reads, ,
Irish for "From Harbour to Mountain". The crown in the device is that of
Lóegaire mac Néill, a legendary 5th-century
High King of Ireland
High King of Ireland ( ) was a royal title in Gaelic Ireland held by those who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over all of Ireland. The title was held by historical kings and was later sometimes assigned anachronously or to leg ...
and the eponymous Laoghaire of "Dún Laoghaire".
Demographics
Transport
The
Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) system runs through the eastern coast of the county and connects to Dublin city centre to the north as well as other points north and south on the
Iarnród Éireann railway system, with connections to
Intercity
InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...
and
commuter
Commuting is periodically recurring travel between a place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regular o ...
trains. The
Luas Green Line runs through the centre of the county.
There is a medium-sized harbour at Dún Laoghaire, with now discontinued ferry crossings to and from
Holyhead in North
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
; this was a popular route for tourists travelling across the
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...
from
Britain. This service was suspended indefinitely in September 2014.
Footnotes
References
External links
Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County CouncilDún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Enterprise BoardDún Laoghaire–Rathdown Tourism
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown
Counties of the Republic of Ireland
County Dublin
Local government areas of the Republic of Ireland