East Kerry was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament from 1885 to 1922.
| East Kerry | |
|---|---|
| Former county constituency for the House of Commons | |
| 1885–1922 | |
| Seats | 1 |
| Created from | County Kerry |
| Replaced by | Kerry–Limerick West |
Prior to the 1885 United Kingdom general election the area was part of the Kerry constituency. Representation at Westminster in this constituency ceased at the 1922 United Kingdom general election, which took place on 15 November, shortly before the establishment of the Irish Free State on 6 December 1922. The successor constituency in the new Dáil Éireann was Kerry–Limerick West first established under the Government of Ireland Act 1920 to elect members to the House of Commons of Southern Ireland in 1921.
Boundaries
editThis constituency comprised the eastern part of County Kerry.
1885–1922: The barony of Magunihy and that part of the barony of Trughanacmy not included in the constituency of West Kerry.
Members of Parliament
edit| Election | Member [1] | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1885 | Jeremiah Sheehan | Irish Parliamentary Party | |
| 1891 | Irish National Federation | ||
| 1895 | Michael Davitt[a] | Irish National Federation | |
| 1895 | vacant[a] | ||
| 1896 | The Hon James Roche | Irish National Federation | |
| 1900 | John Murphy | Irish Parliamentary Party | |
| 1910 (January) | Eugene O'Sullivan | Irish Parliamentary Party[b] | |
| 1910 (June) | vacant[c] | ||
| 1910 (December) | Timothy O'Sullivan | Irish Parliamentary Party | |
| 1918 | Piaras Béaslaí | Sinn Féin | |
| 1922 | constituency abolished | ||
Notes
edit- ^ a b At the 1895 general election, Michael Davitt was also elected for South Mayo, and chose to sit for that seat. The East Kerry seat remained vacant until a by-election was held on 27 March 1896
- ^ Eugene O'Sullivan was elected as an Independent Nationalist but two days after beating the IPP John Murphy, he announced that he would join the IPP.[2]
- ^ After the general election in January 1910, John Murphy launched an election petition, alleging intimidation and irregularities at the election. The petition was heard in June 1910, at Killarney before Mr. Justices Madden and Kenny. After a hearing of 7 days the judges found for Murphy, and O'Sullivan was unseated.[3] However, the Irish Parliamentary Party failed to move the writ for a by-election, and the seat remained vacant until the December 1910 general election.[4]
Elections
editElections in the 1880s
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish Parliamentary | Jeremiah Sheehan | 3,169 | 99.1 | ||
| Irish Conservative | Charles Henry de Grey Robertson | 30 | 0.9 | ||
| Majority | 3,139 | 98.21 | |||
| Turnout | 3,199 | 53.6 | |||
| Registered electors | 5,971 | ||||
| Irish Parliamentary win (new seat) | |||||
1 This remains the largest majority by percentage of the vote in any contested UK Parliamentary election.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish Parliamentary | Jeremiah Sheehan | Unopposed | |||
| Irish Parliamentary hold | |||||
Elections in the 1890s
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish National Federation | Jeremiah Sheehan | 2,600 | 91.1 | N/A | |
| Irish Unionist | John McGillycuddy | 253 | 8.9 | New | |
| Majority | 2,347 | 82.2 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 2,853 | 48.5 | N/A | ||
| Registered electors | 5,885 | ||||
| Irish National Federation gain from Irish Parliamentary | Swing | N/A | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish National Federation | Michael Davitt | Unopposed | |||
| Irish National Federation hold | |||||
Davitt also stood unopposed in South Mayo. He took up the South Mayo seat and Kerry East remained vacant until the by-election the following year.
James Roche was returned but with fewer votes than his Nationalist predecessors. It was thought he lost some support because as a divorced man he was less popular with the Catholic vote.[6]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish National Federation | James Roche | 1,961 | 74.2 | N/A | |
| Irish Unionist | John McGillycuddy | 680 | 25.7 | New | |
| Majority | 1,281 | 48.5 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 2,641 | 46.9 | N/A | ||
| Registered electors | 5,629 | ||||
| Irish National Federation hold | Swing | N/A | |||
Elections in the 1900s
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish Parliamentary | John Murphy | Unopposed | |||
| Irish Parliamentary hold | |||||
In the closely fought contest of the 1906 election between two nationalist factions, Murphy was returned by a narrow margin:
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish Parliamentary | John Murphy | 2,185 | 50.6 | N/A | |
| Ind. Nationalist | Eugene O'Sullivan | 2,131 | 49.4 | New | |
| Majority | 54 | 1.2 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 4,316 | 76.9 | N/A | ||
| Registered electors | 5,611 | ||||
| Irish Parliamentary hold | Swing | N/A | |||
Elections in the 1910s
editIn the January 1910 election, the incumbent Murphy (Official Nationalist) was beaten by Independent candidate, Eugene O'Sullivan, who was a follower of William O'Brien's All-for-Ireland League. Shortly after being elected, O'Sullivan re-joined the official Nationalists, but Murphy petitioned the courts claiming that the vote had been rigged and that O'Sullivan had only won through violence and intimidation. The court cleared O'Sullivan of vote rigging but found him guilty of intimidation.[8] The election was declared void, unseating O'Sullivan and creating a vacancy.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ind. Nationalist | Eugene O'Sullivan | 2,643 | 55.1 | +5.7 | |
| Irish Parliamentary | John Murphy | 2,154 | 44.9 | −5.7 | |
| Majority | 489 | 10.2 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 4,797 | 83.2 | +6.3 | ||
| Registered electors | 5,766 | ||||
| Ind. Nationalist gain from Irish Parliamentary | Swing | +5.7 | |||
In the December 1910 election, Eugene O'Sullivan's cousin, Timothy O'Sullivan, stood for the Nationalists. The All-for-Ireland candidate, Patrick Guiney, contested both this seat and North Cork. Although he lost in East Kerry, he was elected unopposed in North Cork, so both candidates became Members of Parliament, albeit for different constituencies. As earlier in the year, the election was marred by election violence, which included a riot at Castleisland.[9]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish Parliamentary | Timothy O'Sullivan | 2,561 | 66.2 | +21.3 | |
| All-for-Ireland | Patrick Guiney | 1,308 | 33.8 | N/A | |
| Majority | 1,253 | 32.4 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 3,869 | 67.1 | −16.1 | ||
| Registered electors | 5,766 | ||||
| Irish Parliamentary gain from Ind. Nationalist | Swing | N/A | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sinn Féin | Piaras Béaslaí | Unopposed | |||
| Sinn Féin gain from Irish Parliamentary | |||||
In accordance with his party's policy, Béaslaí declined to take his seat in the British House of Commons, sitting instead in the Irish revolutionary assembly, Dáil Éireann.
References
edit- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "K" (part 1)
- ^ The Times (London), Friday, January 28, 1910 p. 7 col. E
- ^ The Times, 30 June 1910
- ^ The Times, 21 November 1910
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Walker, Brian M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 354–355, 391. ISBN 0901714127.
- ^ The Times (London) Friday, 27 March 1896, p. 7 col. F
- ^ The Constitutional Year Book, 1904, published by Conservative Central Office, page 190 (214 in web page)
- ^ The Times (London), Wednesday 22 June 1910, p. 10 col. B
- ^ The Times (London), Thursday, 15 December 1910; p. 6 col. D