Identity Statement
| Title | Dublin County Council Minute Books |
| Archive Reference | IE FCCA/DCC/1 |
| Web Link to this Entry | https://iar.ie/archive/dublin-county-council-minute-books |
| Creation Dates | 1898-1993 |
| Extent Medium | 53 bound volumes + boxes |
Context
Creator(s): Dublin County Council
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Administrative History ↴
Dublin County Council was established in 1899 after the passing of the Local Government Act of 1898.It held its first meeting on the 2nd of May 1899 in Kilmainham Courthouse. Mr Patrick J. O’Neill was elected Chairman. The Council’s first Resolution it passed is recorded as follows: “That the people of Ireland are a free people with a national right to govern themselves; that no Parliament is competent to make laws for Ireland except an Irish Parliament sitting in Ireland; and that we repudiate the claim of any other Legislature or Government to legislate for or govern the people of this country”. Special Meetings were held at the County Grand Jury Rooms at the Four Courts. After renovations had been carried out in 1901, the Council meetings moved to No. 11 Rutland Square, which subsequently became Parnell Square. The Council moved its meetings to new premises at No. 46-49 Upper O’Connell Street on 12th June 1978, and continued to meet there until the establishment of the three new Councils in 1993. In 1993, the County was split, administratively speaking, into three-Fingal, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown, and South County. -
Archival History ↴
In 1993 with the administrative division of Dublin County into three new Councils, the decision was made not to split up the records, which at the time were held in various locations around Parnell Square. An archivist had been appointed to collect what records had survived, and Fingal County Council became the guardian of the records of what had been Dublin County Council, including the Minute Books. -
Immediate Source Acquisition ↴
Official Transfer
Content & Structure
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Scope & Content: Dublin County Council ↴
The Minute books record the major decisions and resolutions made by Dublin County Council between 1898-1993. The volumes illustrate the development of Dublin County Council as the Local Authority, before and after the establishment of the Irish Free State, and its gradual accumulation of responsibilities and functions, through various local government acts such as the taking over of the functions of the Rural District Councils in the late 1920s, and with the County Management Act of 1940.
The Minute books record the proceedings of the full Council meetings, and quarterly and monthly meetings, and special meetings. The include decisions on community services such as libraries, finance, general purposes, housing, law, planning, public health, roads, sanitation and water services, often based on submissions from sub-committees representing these functions. In the 70s and 80s there were also regional committees reporting to the Council, before the county was split into three. There were also joint committees between Dublin City and County.
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Appraisal Destruction ↴
Permanent Retention -
Arrangement ↴
Chronological
A number of Minute books were never found:
August, 1922 – January 1924; June 1934 – October 1936; and a large gap, May 1961 – December 1967.Also, on the 26th September 1941 the Minister for Local Government & Public Health transmitted an Order made by him dissolving the Dublin County Council and transferring their powers and duties to Mr. J. O’Donovan, County Commissioner. This situation prevailed until the 13th October 1948.
Conditions of Access & Use
| Access Conditions | Available on request |
| Conditions Governing Reproduction | By Application |
| Creation Dates | 1898-1993 |
| Extent Medium | 53 bound volumes + boxes |
| Material Language Script | English |
| Finding Aids | Descriptive list/MS Access Database Archive Web Link → |
Allied Materials
| Related Material | Indexed copies available from 1926 – 1993. Minutes of Fingal County Council 1993 – Present Records of Dublin County Council, including Agenda, Vote Records, Financial Resolutions, Managers’ Orders, Minutes of Council Committees |
Descriptive Control Area
| Archivist Note | Fingal County Archives Archivist |
| Rules/Conventions | ISAD(G): General International Standard Archival Description. 2nd ed. Ottawa: International Council on Archives, 2000. |
| Date of Descriptions | 1993, Revised |