In the nineteenth century the expanding Dublin middle class deserted the city for the suburbs, creating nine independent townships. This work examines the history of these suburban enclaves and the impact that they had on the development of the greater Dublin area. While the township of Rathmines and Rathgar is taken as the major case-study, the history of the other townships, Pembroke, Blackrock, Kingstown, Dalkey, Killiney, Kilmainham, Drumcondra and Clontarf is also recounted. The religious and political undercurrents at work in the creation and ongoing administration of the townships, and the part they played in the widening of the gulf between Dublin Corporation and the townships, are revealed. While the detrimental consequences to the city by the establishment of suburban local government units are made evident, the study records the almost forgotten achievements of the townships in the areas of water supply, main drainage, public lighting, road-building, refuse-disposal, electricity supply, and the provision of town halls, public libraries, technical schools and public baths.
The reaction at township level to huge political changes in the 1914-1922 period is also explored, as are attempts by Dublin Corporation to extend its boundaries. An account of the eventual success of this movement by the government of Saorstat Eireann in 1930 concludes the work.