The

urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (his ...

s and

rural district Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the a ...

s of

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

had their origin in 1899, when the

Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 (61 & 62 Vict. c. 37) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that established a system of local government in Ireland similar to that already created for England, ...

came into effect. They were based on the system of district councils introduced in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

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 borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent te ...

s; the administrative counties were in turn subdivided into a number of

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

s, urban districts, and rural districts. Each district was itself divided into a number of district electoral divisions. Northern Ireland received a total of six administrative counties, together with the county boroughs of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

and

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

. The six administrative counties all included a number of urban and rural districts in 1921, but no boroughs.

Evolution and reform

Urban District Councils could petition for a charter of incorporation, changing the status of the urban district to that of a Borough. The following districts became boroughs in this way: * Bangor by letters patent dated 30 December 1927, taking effect on 23 January 1928; *

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern ...

by letters patent dated 29 December 1928, taking effect on 23 January 1929; *

Newtownards Newtownards is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles (16 km) east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. It is in the civil parish of Newtownards and the historic baron ...

by letters patent dated 8 November 1937, taking effect on 23 May 1938; *

Ballymena Ballymena ( ; from ga, an Baile Meánach , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is part of the Borough of Mid and East Antrim. The town is built on land given to the Adair family by King Charles I i ...

by letters patent dated 21 December 1937, taking effect on 23 May 1939; *

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight roll-on roll-off port. Larne is administered by Mid a ...

by letters patent dated 15 November 1938, taking effect on 23 May 1939; *

Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...

by letters patent dated 24 July 1947, taking effect on 2 October 1947; *

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,823 a ...

by letters patent dated 29 April 1949, taking effect on 30 May 1949; *

Carrickfergus Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,998 at the 2011 Census. It is County Antrim's oldest ...

by letters patent dated 27 May 1949, taking effect on 1 July 1949; *

Lurgan Lurgan () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh. Lurgan is about south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin railway line. It had a population ...

by letters patent dated 27 May 1949, taking effect on 7 July 1949; and *

Lisburn Lisburn (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with ...

by letters patent dated 24 March 1964, taking effect on 2 June 1964. A small number of districts were abolished or created after 1921. The entire system of local government in Northern Ireland was overhauled by the

Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 The Local Government (Northern Ireland) Act 1972 (1972 c. 9) was an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland that constituted district councils to administer the twenty-six local government districts created by the Local Government (Boundaries ...

, which replaced the county boroughs, administrative counties, urban districts, and rural districts with 26 local government

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

. The new system came into effect on 1 October 1973.

Urban and rural districts by administrative county

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population ...

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of an ...

§ Lurgan Rural District was abolished on 1 April 1967, and a small part transferred to Lurgan Borough. The rest was assigned to the new Craigavon Urban District, but Craigavon Development Commission rather than Lurgan Rural District Council became Craigavon Urban District Council.

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to th ...

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 ...

† All district councils in Fermanagh were abolished in 1968, merging with

Fermanagh County Council Fermanagh County Council was the authority responsible for local government in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, between 1899 and 1973. It was originally based at the Enniskillen Courthouse, but moved to County Buildings in East Bridge Street, ...

to create a unitary county council.

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. ...

† The district is now known as Derry. ‡ In 1969 Londonderry Rural District was redesignated as Londonderry Urban District, its council was abolished, and its municipal governance transferred to the Londonderry Development Commission, which had also replaced the corporation of Londonderry County Borough (which the rural district surrounded).

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an administrative division for local government but retai ...

Sources

* Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971, (Eliz II 19 & 20 c.9) * Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 (Eliz II 20 & 21 c.9) * Local Government (Boundaries) Order (Northern Ireland) 1972 (S.R. & O. 1972, No. 131).

External links

* {{cite web, url=https://www.logainm.ie/Eolas/Data/Brainse/logainm.ie-map-ordnance-survey-1935-boundaries-north-east.jpg, title=North-east sheet, date=1961 , orig-year=1935, work=Boundaries of Administrative Counties, Co. Boroughs, Urban & Dispensary Districts & District Electoral Divisions, publisher=Ordnance Survey Ireland, access-date=31 December 2017

References

Districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...