BOUNDARIES AND DIMENSIONS
Dublin, a maritime county, in the province of Leinster, is bounded on the north by Co. Meath, on the east by the Irish Sea, on the south by Co. Wicklow and on the west by counties Kildare and Meath. Its greatest length from Kippure Mountain on the south to the Delvin River near Balbriggan is 32 miles; and its greatest breadth from Howth Head to Clonee near Lucan is 18 miles.

NAME AND FORMER DIVISIONS.
The name of the county is derived from that of the city, the origin of which is dealt with in the description of the City of Dublin.

The old district of Cualann extended from Wicklow to within a short distance of Dublin; the district between Dublin and Howth was called Moy-Ealta-Eadar, and the part of the county north of Howth was called Fingall or the tribe of the Galls or Danes, and to this day it retains the name, and its people are popularly known as Fingallians. The Hill of Howth was the ancient Ben Eadar

PHYSICAL FEATURES
Minerals: At Ballycorus, about 3 miles from Bray, is a lead mine which also yields small quantities of silver.

The Mountains are situated in the south and south-west of the county. On the boundary between Dublin and Wicklow is Kippure (2,473’) about 12 miles due south from the city; also on the boundary is Seefingan (2,364’); four miles farther north on the west side of Glennasmole is Knockannavea (1,289’) and 2 miles west of this are Saggart Hill (1,308’) and Knockandlinny (1,025’); nearer the city are a number of hills, the chief of which are Killakee (1,761’), Glendoo (1,929’), Prince William’s Seat (1,825’), Tibradden (1,540’) and Kilmashogue (1,339’). The latter two project towards Dublin. The Three Rock Mountain (1,479’) and the Two Rock Mountain (1,699’) slope eastwardly towards Kingstown (Dun Laoghaire); the beautiful Hill of Killiney forms the terminating spur of the range.

The Headlands are not numerous. In the north the rocky peninsulas of Kilrush and Portraine stand at opposite sides of the small bay of Turvey; the Hill of Howth (560’) to the north of the city and Killiney to the south command extensive views of land and sea.

The Islands beginning from the north are the Skerries, opposite the town of that name, consisting of St. Patrick’s Island, Shenick’s Island and Colt’s Island. The Rockabill Rock, on which is a lighthouse is about 4 miles from the coast at Skerries. Lambay Island is 2 ½ miles from Rush and is 418’ high. Ireland’s Eye is about 1 mile from Howth and contains the ruins of the Church of the Three Sons of Nessan, it dates from the 7th century. Dalkey Island also has the ruin of a very ancient church.

The Bays and Harbours from the north are Loughshinny Harbour, a mile north of Rush; Rogerstown or Turvey Bay directly opposite Lambay Island. Malahide Bay, Baldoyle Bay and Howth Harbour. Dublin Bay celebrated for its fine scenery is enclosed on the north by Howth Head and on the south by Dalkey Hill which is about 6 miles across; Kingstown (Dun Laoghaire) Harbour from which the Mail boat starts for Holyhead (Wales) is on the south of Dublin Bay, then Bullock Harbour is near Dalkey and Killiney Bay.

The chief Rivers are the Liffey which enters the county near Leixlip (Co. Kildare) and flows through Dublin city into the Bay; the River Dodder which rises on the slopes of Kippure and enters the Liffey at Ringsend; the Tolka River which rises in co. Meath and passes through the north of Co. Dublin, flows into Dublin Bay near Clontarf; the Broad Meadow Water and the Ward River both of which rise in co. Meath flow into Malahide Bay; the Delvin River forms for nearly its whole course the northern boundary between Dublin and Meath. The Bray River on the south lies between Dublin and co. Wicklow.

ANALYSIS OF THE CENSUS FOR COUNTY, 1821-1926

 

Families and Houses in 1926
The number of families in the county was 38,725 the average number in each family being 4.4. The number of inhabited houses was 34,128, showing an average of 5.5 persons to each house. The special inhabitants of public institutions are omitted from these calculations.

There were in the county 23,520 Occupiers or Heads of Families, who were in occupation of less than five rooms, being 62.3% of the total for the county. Of these 3,696 or 9.6% of the families in the county occupied one room; 6,759 or 18.4%, two rooms; 7,201 or 18.6%, three rooms; and 5,864 or 15.4%, occupied four rooms.

There were in the county 1,398 tenements in which the room had only one occupant; 1,763 cases where the room had 2-4 occupants, 451 cases in which there were 5-7 occupants and 84 cases where the occupants of one room exceeded 7 in number, including nine cases where ten persons, and five cases where eleven persons occupied the same room.

Birthplace of Inhabitants
Of the population in 1926, 53.6% were born in the county, 37.4% in other counties in Saorstat Eireann. 3.0% in Northern Ireland, 4.7% in Great Britain, and 1.2% were born abroad.

Education:
In 1911 there were in the county 144,376 persons aged 9 years and upwards; of these 137,313 or 95.1% could read and write; 2,163 or 1.5% could read only and 4,900 or 3.4% were illiterate. As this census is the starting point where the age was raised from 5 years to 9 years; no comparison can be made with previous figures from other censuses. The report states that the percentage of those of 5 years and upwards who were unable to read and write was 10.1% in 1891, 7.3% in 1901 and in 1911 had fallen to 6.2%.

IRISH SPEAKING (1861-1911)

RELIGIONS, 1871-1926 (% of population)

 

EMIGRATION (1861-1911)

 

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©Jane Lyons December 2003