Down County Council

Down County Council was formed under orders issued in accordance with the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 which came into effect on 1 April 1899 for the administrative county of County Down.^[1][2][3] Its area on establishment consisted of the judicial county of Down, except the portion of the city of Belfast and of the town of Lisburn; and so much of the judicial county of Armagh as comprised the portion of the town of Newry.^[4] It was based at Downpatrick Courthouse throughout its existence.^[5][6]

The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1919 introduced proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV) for the 1920 Down County Council election.^[7] The area became part of Northern Ireland from 1921 under the Government of Ireland Act 1920.^[8] PR-STV was abolished in Northern Ireland under the Local Government Act 1922, with a reversion to first-past-the-post for the 1924 Northern Ireland local elections, the first local elections held in the new jurisdiction.^[9][10]

It was abolished in accordance with the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 on 1 October 1973.^[11]