The Greater Dublin Area (GDA;

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

: ''Mórcheantar Bhaile Átha Cliath''), or simply Greater Dublin, is an informal term that is taken to include the city of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

and its hinterland, with varying definitions as to its extent. As of 2022, its estimated population is 2,073,459. The Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008 defines the Greater Dublin Area as including the counties of

( Dublin City,

South Dublin , image_map = Island of Ireland location map South Dublin.svg , map_caption = Inset showing South Dublin (darkest green in inset) within Dublin Region (lighter green) , area_total_km2 ...

Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown ( ga, Dún Laoghaire–Ráth an Dúin) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three s ...

and

Fingal Fingal ( ; ) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which was disestablished for administrative purposes in 1994. ...

), Meath,

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional cen ...

, and

Wicklow Wicklow ( ; ga, Cill Mhantáin , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; non, Víkingaló) is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. It is located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island. According to the 2016 census, it has ...

. The area is defined for transport and strategic planning and is not a formal political unit. The term can also apply more narrowly to the Dublin urban area and nearby suburban towns.

Former boundaries

The urban part of Dublin and surrounding areas has been defined by various statutory instruments, mainly those referring to the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace"), more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards", is the national police service of Ireland. The service is headed by the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Gover ...

and

Courts of the Republic of Ireland The Courts of Ireland consist of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court, the Circuit Court, the District Court and the Special Criminal Court. With the exception of the Special Criminal Court, all courts exercise both civil ...

. The city and five counties were grouped together in the order creating the Dublin Transportation Office, giving functions and representations to the office in this area, although not using the term. The office was purely advisory and had no executive powers. The term was later defined in section 3 of the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008. On 1 December 2009 the DTO became the National Transport Authority, with a remit expanding beyond the Greater Dublin Area.

Garda usage

The Garda used the term the Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR) which was formerly the jurisdiction, within the eastern part of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, of the

Dublin Metropolitan Police The Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) was the police force of Dublin, Ireland, from 1836 to 1925, when it was amalgamated into the new Garda Síochána. History 19th century The Dublin city police had been subject to major reforms in 1786 and ...

, which was subsequently merged into the

, the national police force of Ireland. The term originated from the Police Forces Amalgamation Act 1925, which amalgamated the Dublin Metropolitan Police and Garda Síochána as one national police force. This jurisdiction covered parts of the old

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

(except the northern part around

Swords A sword is a cutting and/or thrusting weapon. Sword, Swords, or The Sword may also refer to: Places * Swords, Dublin, a large suburban town in the Irish capital * Swords, Georgia, a community in the United States * Sword Beach, code name for ...

) as well as the

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the 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 authority for the county, ...

town of

Leixlip Leixlip ( or ; , IPA: �lʲeːmʲənˠˈwɾˠad̪ˠaːnʲ is a town in north-east County Kildare, Ireland. Its location on the confluence of the River Liffey and the Rye Water has marked it as a frontier town historically: on the border between ...

and the

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by t ...

towns of Bray,

Greystones Greystones () is a coastal town and seaside resort in County Wicklow, Ireland. It lies on Ireland's east coast, south of Bray, County Wicklow, Bray and south of Dublin city centre and has a population of 18,140 (2016). The town is bordered ...

and

Enniskerry Enniskerry (historically ''Annaskerry'', from ) is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. The population was 1,889 at the 2016 census. Location The village is situated on the Glencullen River in the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains in the ea ...

. Swords was covered by the Meath Garda Division. In this way, it differed from the usual definition of County Dublin and did not even conform to the looser definition of the Greater Dublin Area. The definition no longer applies, as during 2008 the Garda divisions were realigned along Regional and county boundaries. As of 2009, the Dublin Metropolitan Region is co-extensive with the combined area of the city of Dublin, and the counties of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin.

was moved to the

Division and became the district headquarters for the new Leixlip District. Bray moved into the new

Division and became district headquarters for the Bray District.

Planning usage

The 2003 Regional Planning Guidelines referred to the Greater Dublin Area as a planning district separated into a "metropolitan area" and a "hinterland area". The "metropolitan area" included both

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

s and

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

s, covering the area from

and

Malahide Malahide ( ; ) is an affluent coastal settlement in Fingal, County Dublin, Ireland, situated north of Dublin city. It has a village centre surrounded by suburban housing estates, with a population of over 17,000. Malahide Castle dates from th ...

, to Greystones in County Wicklow in the south, and as far west as

Kilcock Kilcock () is a town and townland in the north of County Kildare, Ireland, on the border with County Meath. Its population of 6,093 makes it the ninth largest town in Kildare and 76th largest in Ireland. The town is located 35 km (22 ...

in County Kildare. This area differs from the Garda "metropolitan region" scope, in that it stretches approximately 20 km further west. The Dublin Metropolitan Area is now defined as: The Dublin "Hinterland" area is aligned with the Draft National Planning Framework, which defines city regions or urban hinterlands as those EDs where at least 15% of the workforce (Full POWCAR) are employed in the Dublin Metropolitan Area (NTA boundary).

Gallery

File:O'Connell Street.jpg, alt=, Upper

O'Connell Street O'Connell Street () is a street in the centre of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, running north from the River Liffey. It connects the O'Connell Bridge to the south with Parnell Street to the north and is roughly split into two sections ...

in central Dublin city File:Dún Laoghaire Harbour (42045566592).jpg, alt=,

Dun Laoghaire A dun is an ancient or medieval fort. In Ireland and Britain it is mainly a kind of hillfort and also a kind of Atlantic roundhouse. Etymology The term comes from Irish ''dún'' or Scottish Gaelic ''dùn'' (meaning "fort"), and is cognate ...

harbour in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown File:LUAS tram no. 3013 at Tallaght, Dublin - geograph.org.uk - 2540478.jpg, alt=, Central

Tallaght ) , image_skyline = TallaghtDublinD24.jpg , image_caption = Tallaght, Dublin , image_flag = , flag_size = , pushpin_map = Dublin#Ireland , pushpin_label_position = left , ...

in South Dublin File:Swords in Dublin K67.jpg, Main Street in

, Fingal File:New Shopping District Ashbourne 2006-4-30.jpg, Killegland Street in Ashbourne, Meath File:MAYNOOTH UNIVERSITY LIBRARY FEBRUARY 2016.jpg, The National University of Ireland at

Maynooth Maynooth (; ga, Maigh Nuad) is a university town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to Maynooth University (part of the National University of Ireland and also known as the National University of Ireland, Maynooth) and St Patrick's ...

, Kildare File:Bray Station - geograph.org.uk - 2234474.jpg, alt=, Bray Daly

DART Dart or DART may refer to: * Dart, the equipment in the game of darts Arts, entertainment and media * Dart (comics), an Image Comics superhero * Dart, a character from ''G.I. Joe'' * Dart, a ''Thomas & Friends'' railway engine character * Dar ...

station in Bray, Wicklow

Population

The population of the Dublin City and County (Dublin City, Fingal, South Dublin and Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown) and Outer Greater Dublin (Meath, Kildare and Wicklow) as of the 2022 census was 2,073,459 persons. This equates to 40.5% of Ireland's population. Estimates published by the Central Statistics Office suggest that the population will reach 2.4 million by 2026. The figures are based on a regional breakdown of previously published national population projections and assume that current demographic trends will continue. The CSO also uses the narrower definition which comprises Dublin City and its suburbs within the 3 local Dublin authorities. The boundaries for suburbs are not legally defined, but drawn and revised by the CSO in accordance with United Nations recommendations. The population distribution of the Greater Dublin Area as of the 2011, 2016 and 2022 censuses was as follows:

Historical

References

External links

Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly

Dublin Regional Authority

Greater Dublin population to reach two million, from RTÉ News

Regional Planning Guidelines for the Greater Dublin Area

CSO page with links to

Shapefile The shapefile format is a geospatial vector data format for geographic information system (GIS) software. It is developed and regulated by Esri as a mostly open specification for data interoperability among Esri and other GIS software product ...

data for the boundary of the CSO-defined Greater Dublin Area; readable by

Geographic information system A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing Geographic data and information, geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with Geographic information system software, sof ...

s {{coord missing, County Dublin

Leinster