Waterford County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Phort Láirge) was the authority responsible for

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loc ...

in County Waterford,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. The remit of Waterford County Council also included some suburbs of the

Waterford city "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

not within the remit of Waterford City Council. As a

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

, it was governed by the Local Government Act 2001. When disestablished in 2014, the council was responsible for

housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether ...

and community, roads and transportation,

urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

and development, amenity and

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

, and

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

. It had 23 elected members. Elections were held every five years and were by

single transferable vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...

. The head of the council had the title of

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. The county administration was headed by a County Manager. The county town was

Dungarvan Dungarvan () is a coastal town and harbour in County Waterford, on the south-east coast of Ireland. Prior to the merger of Waterford County Council with Waterford City Council in 2014, Dungarvan was the county town and administrative centre ...

Origins

Waterford County Council was one of those created by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, an Act of the Westminster parliament. It took over the administrative business until then dealt with by the county grand jury, such as the maintenance of highways and bridges, the upkeep and inspection of lunatic asylums, and the appointment of

coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within the coroner's jur ...

s. The new county council also took over some duties of the poor law boards of guardians and of the

justices of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or '' puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission (letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sam ...

to regulate explosives. The county was divided by the Local Government Board for Ireland into district electoral divisions, each returning one councillor for a three-year term. 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 ...

of Waterford also elected county councillors, and "additional members" included the chairman of each rural district in the county, unless already elected or disqualified, when the RDC was to appoint another member. The council could also co-opt one or two additional members for a three-year term. The first county council elections were held on 6 April 1899, and the first business was to appoint additional members. Waterford County Council held its first meeting in

Waterford Courthouse Waterford Courthouse is a judicial facility in Catherine Street, Waterford, County Waterford, Ireland. History The current building is the second courthouse to occupy the site. It replaced a courthouse designed by James Gandon which was cons ...

, but agreed that later meetings would be held at Dungarvan Courthouse. The county council established a County Secretary's Office at Arus Brugha at Davitt's Quay in the early-20th century before moving into the modern Civic Offices, Dungarvan, at Davitt's Quay in 1999. The triennial elections were postponed in 1914, on the outbreak of the

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Proportional representation, 1919

The Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1919 introduced

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

to county councils: all councillors were to be elected by

from multi-member electoral areas. There was only one election under the new system, held in January 1920 (in urban areas) and on 2 June 1920 (in rural areas), during the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

Merger with Waterford City Council

In late 2012, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government Phil Hogan announced the proposed merger of Waterford County Council and Waterford City Council. It was abolished in June 2014 when the

Local Government Reform Act 2014 The Local Government Reform Act 2014 (No. 1) is an act of the Oireachtas which provided for a major restructuring of local government in Ireland with effect from the 2014 local elections. It merged some first-tier county and city councils, ...

was implemented. It was succeeded by

Waterford City and County Council Waterford City and County Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach agus Contae Phort Láirge) is the authority responsible for local government in the City of Waterford and County Waterford in Ireland. It came into operation on 1 June 2014 after the ...

. In 2009, the county was divided into four local electoral areas: Comeragh (6),

(6), Lismore (4) and

Tramore Tramore (; ) is a seaside town in County Waterford, on the southeast coast of Ireland. With humble origins as a small fishing village, the area saw rapid development upon the arrival of the railway from Waterford City in 1853. Initially, the t ...

(7).

References

{{Local government in the Republic of Ireland Politics of County Waterford Former local authorities in the Republic of Ireland 2014 disestablishments in Ireland