Electoral Divisions (EDs) are the smallest legally defined administrative area in the state. In general, they were formed by aggregating townlands. EDs in turn are combined to create Local and National Constituencies. EDs originated as subdivisions of poor law unions (Poor Relief (Ireland) Act 1838). In Dublin, the current EDs (formerly District Electoral Divisions and Wards) were redrawn under S.I. 12/1986 & S.I. 12/1986.   Wards and DEDs became known as EDs under the 1994 Local Government Act. There are currently 3,455 Electoral Divisions. This dataset is provided by Tailte Éireann.