Historic county of Ireland
Dublin
County of Dublin
Province: Leinster
Bay and Liffey below, mountains rising south of the capital.
Dublin is far more geographically varied than the capital-city name suggests. The Liffey runs eastwards through the county and city into Dublin Bay, whose great curve gives the central coast its unmistakable form.
North of the bay lies lower coastal and agricultural country; southwards, the metropolitan landscape rises increasingly towards the Dublin Mountains. The geographic county therefore contains city, river, bay, coast, lowland and upland rather than merely one vast urban area.
- Province of Leinster
- Viking founding (c. 841)
- Formed from earlier Norse kingdom + Leinster territories
- Area: 356 sq miles / 922 km²
- Population: 1,270,603
- County top: Kippure 2,484 ft / 757 m
County geography
The Liffey and the bay
The Liffey provides Dublin with its central east–west line before widening into the port and bay.
The city grew around this meeting of river, sheltered east-coast waters and inland routes, making the physical geography inseparable from Dublin’s urban development.
North and south of the city
Northern Dublin remains predominantly lower country facing the Irish Sea.
To the south, the land rises sharply towards the mountain edge, producing an abrupt transition from dense metropolitan settlement to upland.
One geographic county, several councils
Local government divides the territory among several local-authority areas.
Those administrative arrangements do not divide the geographic county itself. Dublin remains one county beneath a changing administrative layer.
County questions
Questions about Dublin
Does geographic Dublin still exist?
Yes. Changes to local government did not abolish or subdivide the geographic county.
Are Fingal, South Dublin and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown geographic counties?
No. They are local-government areas within geographic Dublin.
County record
Names and continuity
- Formal name
- County Dublin
- Province
- Leinster
- Alternative name
- County of Dublin
- Foundation
- c.1190
Dublin is one of the twelve geographic counties of Leinster. The capital city dominates its modern image, but the county remains a wider geography of bay, river, coastal plain and mountain edge.