The system of local government Ireland, then wholly within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, was reformed by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, which came into force in 1899. The new system divided Ireland into the following entities: At the county level: * Administrative counties; and * County boroughs Within the administrative counties: * Municipal boroughs, governed by the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840; * Urban districts; and * Rural districts Some counties contained rural districts only, with no municipal boroughs or urban districts.