The following table gives all the urban areas in Ireland listed in the Central Statistics Office (CSO) report of the 2011 census. This includes cities, boroughs, and towns with local government councils, and other places identified by the CSO with at least 50 occupied dwellings. Census towns are required to have a local area plan if they have a population over 5,000, and are permitted to have one with a population over 1,500.
Explanation of table Column name Meaning Explanation Sources Name(s) Names of the town, or of each settlement grouped into a single census town The first name listed is the commonest English name, and links to the relevant article. Alternative names are listed in parentheses. If the official name used in census reports is not the linked name, it is in italics. For municipal areas, only the name of the municipality is given, not that of any suburban areas (e.g. Tallaght is not named separately from Dublin). For multiple non-municipal settlements forming a single census town, the settlements are linked separately (e.g. Aghada–Farsid–Rostellan).Census 2011 Population Classified by Area Table 12 "Alphabetical list of towns with their population, 2006 and 2011" Council Type of municipal council (1898–2014) The Local Government Act 2001 defined three types of municipal council, namely "City", "Borough", and "Town". The "Town council" label replaced the earlier "Urban district council" and "Town commissioners", but did not abolish the distinction in their respective powers. The Local Government Reform Act 2014 abolished all Borough and Town Councils, and merged some City councils with an adjoining county council. Values listed in this column are as follows: City For the pre-2001 county boroughs which retain the same powers as county councils. City merged For the pre-2001 county boroughs which were merged with county councils in 2014.Borough For the few ancient boroughs whose charters were not extinguished by the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840 or promoted to the status later. Their powers are practically identical to those of the former urban districts, but the label "borough" is more prestigious. Abolished in 2014.UD Town council which was formerly an urban district council under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. Abolished in 2014.Comm Town council which was formerly town commissioners, less powerful than an urban district council. Abolished in 2014. (Sched) Non-municipal town, with no council of its own, entirely governed by the county council, but listed in Part II of the First Schedule to the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963. This Act treated these areas as urban rather than rural for planning purposes. Though the 1963 Act is now repealed the scheduled list is still used under the Land Act, 1965 for conveyancing. — Non-municipal town, with no council of its own, entirely governed by the county council.Local Government Act 2001, section 10 Irish Statute BookCensus 2011 Population Classified by Area Appendix 2 "Towns with Legally Defined Boundaries"Local Government Act 2001, Schedule 5 Part 2, and Schedule 6 Irish Statute Book Core County Core county for town For municipal towns, the core county is that in which the municipal area is entirely located. In the case of cities, the namesake county is considered the core county even though the city is administratively separate from it. For non-municipal towns which span a county boundary, the core county is the one in which the majority of the population lives. The administrative counties created from counties Dublin (Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Fingal, and South Dublin) are sorted separately but adjacently for convenience.Census 2011 Population Classified by Area Table 5 "Population of towns ordered by county and size, 2006 and 2011" Other Counties Other counties For towns which span a county boundary (including suburbs/environs of municipal towns), any county other than the core county.Census 2011 Population Classified by Area Appendix 4 "Population of Towns or Environs/Suburbs which are located in more than one County" 2006 pop Total population in 2006 For municipal towns, the total is the sum of the municipal population and the suburban population. The municipal population is within the legally defined municipal boundary. The suburban population is defined as "the continuation of a distinct population cluster outside its legally defined boundary in which no occupied dwelling is more than 200 metres distant from the nearest occupied dwelling. In applying the 200-metre criterion, industrial, commercial and recreational buildings and facilities are not regarded as breaking the continuity of a built-up area. New suburbs or environs are defined only where there are at least twenty occupied dwellings outside the legal boundary within the new limit." For non-municipal towns, the total area was defined by the CSO as "a cluster of fifty or more occupied dwellings where, within a radius of 800 metres there was a nucleus of thirty occupied dwellings (on both sides of a road, or twenty on one side of a road), along with a clearly defined urban centre e.g. a shop, a school, a place of worship or a community centre. Census town boundaries were extended over time where there was an occupied dwelling within 200 metres of the existing boundary."Census 2011 Population Classified by Area Appendix 1 "Census Geographic Definitions" Blank for the 102 new census towns created for the 2011 census. 2011 pop Total population in 2011. The total area was defined more restrictively than in 2011. This change was in response to low-density ribbon development in rural areas. For municipal towns, the 2011 suburban definition was changed from the 2006 definition by reducing the limit from 200 metres to 100. For non-municipal towns, the definition was "a cluster of 50 or more occupied dwellings, with a maximum distance between any dwelling and the building closest to it of 100 metres, and where there was evidence of an urban centre (shop, school etc)." % change Change in total population As a percentage of 2006 population. Blank for the 102 new census towns created for the 2011 census. Calculated Area Total area of the town 2011 area in square kilometres (km2). The CSO report only gives a figure for towns with a total population of at least 1,500.Census 2011 Population Classified by Area Table 7 "Population of each town with 1,500 population and over, distinguishing those within legally defined boundaries and in the surrounding suburbs or environs, 2006 and 2011" (Interactive table) Density Population density of total area Persons per km2. Based on 2011 total area and population. Calculated
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