Local Government Act, 1946

Changing of name of townland or non-municipal town.

77.—(1) Where a townland or a non-municipal town is situate wholly within one county, the council of that county may, after consultation with the prescribed authorities and with the consent of four-sevenths of the ratepayers in the townland or non-municipal town, apply to the Government to make an order under this section changing the name of the townland or non-municipal town.

(2) Where a townland or a non-municipal town is situate partly in one county and partly in another county, the councils of those counties may, after consultation with the prescribed authorities and with the consent of four-sevenths of the ratepayers in the townland or non-municipal town, jointly apply to the Government to make an order under this section changing the name of the townland or non-municipal town.

(3) The power conferred by subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section shall be a reserved function.

(4) (a) Where a non-municipal town is wholly situate in a particular county, the secretary of the council of the county shall, if and when so directed by the council, prepare and submit to the council a list of the ratepayers in the non-municipal town and such list when adopted, with or without alterations, by the council shall, for the purposes of this section, be the list of ratepayers in the said non-municipal town.

(b) Where part only of a non-municipal town is situate in a particular county, the secretary of the council of the county shall, if and when so directed by the council, prepare and submit to the council a list of the ratepayers in the part of the municipal town which is situate in the county, and such list when adopted, with or without alterations, by the council shall, for the purposes of this section, be the list of ratepayers in the said part.

(5) The Minister may make regulations prescribing the procedure to be followed in ascertaining for the purposes of this section whether not less than four-sevenths of the ratepayers in a townland or non-municipal town consent to an application being made under this section for an order changing the name of the townland or the non-municipal town.

(6) (a) Where an application, in relation to any townland or non-municipal town, is duly made under this section, the Government may by order change the name of the townland or non-municipal town to such other name as they think fit.

(b) An order under this subsection shall come into operation on the 1st day of January next following the expiration of six months from the date of the order.

(7) Every order made under subsection (6) of this section shall be published in such manner and as often as the Minister may direct and shall be notified to the prescribed persons.

(8) Where an order is made under this section changing the name of a townland or non-municipal town from its existing name to a new name, then, as on and from the date on which the order comes into operation, every reference in any instrument, document or map to the existing name shall be construed as a reference to the new name.

(9) A change of the name of a townland or a non-municipal town made by an order under this section shall not affect any rights or obligations of any authority or person or render defective any legal proceedings and any legal proceedings may be continued or commenced as if there were no change of name.

(10) In this section the expression “non-municipal town” means an area (not being a county borough, borough, urban district or town in which the Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act, 1854 , is in operation) which is designated a town in the report of the census of population which is for the time being the latest census of population.