Administrative county

Infobox subdivision type
name= Administrative county


category= County
territory= England and Wales and Ireland
start_date= flagicon|England flagicon|Wales 1889
start_date1=
start_date2= flagicon|Ireland 1899
start_date3=
start_date4=
legislation_begin= Local Government Act 1888
legislation_begin1=
legislation_begin2= Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898
legislation_begin3=
legislation_begin4=
legislation_end= Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971
legislation_end1= Local Government Act 1972
legislation_end2=
legislation_end3= Local Government Act 2001
legislation_end4=
end_date= flagicon|Northern Ireland 1973
end_date1= flagicon|England flagicon|Wales 1974
end_date2=
end_date3= flagicon|Ireland 2002
end_date4=

current_number=
number_date=

type=
type1=
type2=
type3=
type4=
status=
status1=
status2=
status3=
status4=
exofficio=
exofficio1=
exofficio2=
exofficio3=
exofficio4=

population_range=
area_range=

government= County council
government1=
government2=
government3=
government4=

subdivision= Rural district
subdivision1= Urban district
subdivision2= Municipal borough
subdivision3= Metropolitan borough
subdivision4= An administrative county was an administrative division in England and Wales and Ireland used for the purposes of local government. They are now abolished, although in Northern Ireland their former areas are used as the basis for lieutenancy.

History

England and Wales

The term was introduced for England and Wales by the Local Government Act 1888, which created county councils for various areas, and called them 'administrative counties' to distinguish them from the continuing statutory counties.

In England and Wales the legislation was repealed in 1974, and entities called 'metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties' in England and 'counties' in Wales were introduced in their place. Though strictly inaccurate, these are often called 'administrative counties' to distinguish them from both the historic counties, and the ceremonial counties.

cotland

In Scotland they were never established as separate entities as they were in England and WalesFact|date=April 2008. For local government purposes Scottish counties were replaced in 1975 with a system of regions and island council areas.

Ireland

The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 created administrative counties in Ireland on the same model that had been used in England and Wales.

In Northern Ireland the administrative counties were replaced by a system of 26 districts on 1 October 1973. Section 131 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 stated that "every county and every county borough shall cease to be an administrative area for local government purposes". [Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972, (1972 C.9)]

The areas of the former administrative counties (and county boroughs) remain in use for Lieutenancy purposes, being defined as the areas used "for local government purposes immediately before 1st October 1973, subject to any subsequent definition of their boundaries...". [The Northern Ireland (Lieutenancy) Order 1975 (S.I. 1975 No.156)]

In the Republic of Ireland the legislation that created them remained in force until the Local Government Act 2001 was passed, which renamed them 'counties'.

New entities

The administrative counties that did not share the names of previous counties:

England

Scotland
*Ross and Cromarty (Ross-shire and Cromartyshire)

Republic of Ireland
*South Tipperary and North Tipperary (County Tipperary)

and, created in 1994 -

*Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, South Dublin (County Dublin)

ee also

*List of articles about local government in the United Kingdom

References

External links

* [http://www.boundarycommittee.org.uk/ The Boundary Committee for England]
* [http://www.bcomm-scotland.gov.uk/ The Boundary Committee for Scotland]
* [http://www.bcomm-wales.gov.uk/ The Boundary Committee for Wales]