The 1872 Galway County by-election was held on 8 February 1872. The byelection was held due to the resignation of the incumbent MP of the Liberal Party,

William Henry Gregory Sir William Henry Gregory PC (Ire) KCMG (13 July 1816 – 6 March 1892) was an Anglo-Irish writer and politician, who is now less remembered than his wife Augusta, Lady Gregory, the playwright, co-founder and Director of Dublin's Abbey Theatre, ...

, as he became

Governor of Ceylon {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The Governor of Ceylon can refer to historical vice-regal representatives of three colonial powers: Portuguese Ceylon * List of Captains of Portuguese Ceylon (1518–1551) * List of Captain-majors of Portuguese ...

. It was won by the Home Rule candidate

John Philip Nolan Lieutenant-Colonel John Philip Nolan (1838 – 30 January 1912) was an Irish nationalist landowner and Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and as member of the Irish Parliamentary P ...

but this was overturned on petition. Nolan beat his opponent,

William Le Poer Trench Colonel The Hon. William Le Poer Trench CVO, JP (17 June 1837 – 16 September 1920) was an Anglo-Irish politician and British army officer. He was the third son of William Trench, 3rd Earl of Clancarty and Lady Sarah Juliana Butler. He ...

, the third son of the

Earl of Clancarty Earl of Clancarty is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland. History The title was created for the first time in 1658 in favour of Donough MacCarty, 1st Earl of Clancarty, Donough MacCarty, 2nd Viscount Muskerry, of th ...

, winning by a large majority. Of the 4,686 available electors, who were chiefly

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, 2,823 voted for Nolan and 658 for Le Poer Trench. Le Poer Trench appealed the result, claiming on petition that there was widespread intimidation during the election campaign. The local Catholic bishops and clergy had strongly supported Nolan, chiefly because the Clancartys were active in

proselytism Proselytism () is the policy of attempting to convert people's religious or political beliefs. Proselytism is illegal in some countries. Some draw distinctions between ''evangelism'' or '' Da‘wah'' and proselytism regarding proselytism as invol ...

. The trial of the Galway County election petition was held before Judge

William Keogh William Nicholas Keogh PC (1817– 30 September 1878) was an unpopular and controversial Irish politician and judge, whose name became a byword in Ireland for betraying one's political principles. Background He was born in Galway, son of Wil ...

, a Catholic and former MP for the pro Home-Rule

Independent Irish Party The Independent Irish Party (IIP) was the designation chosen by the 48 Members of the United Kingdom Parliament returned from Ireland with the endorsement of the Tenant Right League in the general election of 1852. The League had secured their ...

. The trial started on 1 April and ended on 21 May 1872. Keogh found that Nolan had been elected by the undue influence and intimidation. In his report stated that he found 36 persons guilty of undue influence and intimidation, including the Archbishop

John MacHale John MacHale ( ir, Seán Mac Éil; 6 March 1789 (or 1791) – 7 November 1881) was the Irish Roman Catholic Archbishop of Tuam, and Irish nationalist. He laboured and wrote to secure Catholic Emancipation, legislative independence, justice for te ...

, the

Archbishop of Tuam The Archbishop of Tuam ( ; ga, Ard-Easpag Thuama) is an archbishop which takes its name after the town of Tuam in County Galway, Ireland. The title was used by the Church of Ireland until 1839, and is still in use by the Catholic Church. Histor ...

, the Bishop of Clonfert, Patrick Duggan, and the

Bishop of Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in t ...

John McEvilly John McEvilly (1818–1902) was an Irish Roman Catholic Church clergyman who served as the Archbishop of Tuam from 1881 to 1902. He was born on 15 April 1818 in Louisburgh, a small town near Westport, County Mayo, Ireland., ''The Episcopal Succ ...

, and twenty-nine named priests, the majority of Catholic parish priests in the constituency. They were held to have used all influence to overthrow all free will. A special case decided that notices put up by Le Poer Trench alerting voters to Nolan's previous involvement in treating were sufficient to inform voters that he was disqualified. The findings were that there was an undue election as there had been treating, undue influence and that the candidate was disqualified as he had previously been guilty of corrupt practices. As a result, Captain Nolan was unseated on 13 June, the seat going to Captain Le Poer Trench.2 O'M & H 46
HCP 1872 268 p. 20-85 The judgement caused an uproar; the judge was threatened with removal from the bench and his reputation never recovered. Nolan retook the seat at the 1874 election. He remained MP after the 1885 constituency reforms as MP for Galway North until 1895.

Results

References

1872 elections in the United Kingdom By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in County Galway constituencies 1872 elections in Ireland {{Ireland-UK-Parl-by-election-stub