3.1 Municipal towns: These are towns with legally defined boundaries for purposes of Local Government. They comprise (a) the four county boroughs (Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford) and the borough of Dun Laoghaire, (b) six municipal boroughs, (c) 49 urban districts and (d) 31 towns under the Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act, 1854 (i.e., Towns with Town Commissioners). In these cases, population figures must always be compiled for the area within the legally defined boundary even though this may not coincide with the present built-up area which has often spread beyond that boundary.
3.2 Non-municipal towns and suburbs or environs of municipal towns: A. non-municipal town is a town without a legal boundary. The built-up areas which lie just outside the legal boundary of a municipal town are termed "Suburbs" in the case of a county borough or the Borough of Dun Laoghaire and as "Environ" in the case of the other municipal towns. For the purpose of the 1986 Census, the Central Statistics Office has assigned boundaries to the non-municipal towns and to the suburbs or environs of municipal towns and these boundaries must be meticulously observed in carrying out the enumeration.
5. Different types of Enumeration Areas
5.1 Urban E.A.s and rural E.A.s: E.A.s are divided into two main groups: urban E.A. and rural E.A. Rural E.A. may include all or part of a non-municipal town or of the environs of a municipal town as well as territory which is wholly rural in character.
5.2 E.A.s with more than one boundary: In the great majority of cases an E.A. consists of an area within one clearly defined boundary. An exception to this general rule is where an E. A. consists of all or part of the environs of a municipal town comprising geographically separate clusters of houses around the municipal boundary. Another exception is where a town, which has been designated as one or more urban E.A. is completely surrounded by a rural E.A. In such a case, the rural E.A. has, of course, both an outer and an inner boundary. Finally a small number of E.A.s in the larger cities may consist of two or more distinct smaller areas which are geographically separate.