Buolick (electoral division)
Buolick, sometimes written as Boolick or Baolick, is an electoral division in County Tipperary in Ireland.[1] It was originally an electoral division in the Thurles Poor Law Union[2] but is still used for various administrative purposes.
For the reason explained below, it is probably not co-extensive with the civil parish of the same name.
Background
When, on the basis of the Poor Law Act (enacted on 31 July 1838), Ireland was divided into Poor Law Unions (by 1847 there were 130 unions, some of which were divided later so that, by 1864, there were 163 unions), the areas used for electing member of the boards of guardians were not, as in England and Wales, civil parishes; instead, electoral divisions were formed by the agglomeration of townlands.) The boundaries of these divisions were drawn by a Poor Law Boundary Commission, the aim being to produce areas of roughly equal rateable value and population. This meant that, while the divisions were almost always contiguous areas, they might have little relation to natural community boundaries. Similarly, the boundaries of the poor law unions themselves often had no relation to those of counties, baronies or civil parishes.
The boundaries of these electoral divisions have largely remained unchanged since the nineteenth century, so their populations vary widely, ranging from 32,305 for the electoral division of Blanchardstown-Blakestown in Fingal to 16 for the electoral divisions of Arigna in County Leitrim and Lackagh in North Tipperary (figures from the 2006 Census of Population).[3] The terms for these divisions has changed over time. Over time, it has become District Electoral Division but Section 23 of the Local Government Act, 1994, changed the term to just Electoral Division. There are 3,440 divisions in the republic and they are the smallest administrative area for which population statistics are published).[4]