The 1917

East Clare East Clare was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) from 1885 to 1922. Prior to the 1885 United Kingdom general election the area was part of the Clare (UK Parl ...

by-election was held on 10 July 1917. It followed the death of the incumbent MP,

Willie Redmond William Hoey Kearney Redmond (13 April 1861 – 7 June 1917) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP), was a lawyer and soldier Denman, Terence in: McGuire, James and Quinn, James (eds): ''Dictionary of Iris ...

of the

Irish Parliamentary Party The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish national ...

, who was killed in action during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The seat had been held since its creation in 1885 by constitutional nationalist MPs, and Redmond had been unopposed in every election since 1900. The result was announced on 11 July 1917. It was won by the

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

candidate

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of governm ...

who had campaigned in military

Irish Volunteers The Irish Volunteers ( ga, Óglaigh na hÉireann), sometimes called the Irish Volunteer Force or Irish Volunteer Army, was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists and republicans. It was ostensibly formed in respons ...

uniform. De Valera had recently been released from imprisonment as a result of his involvement in the 1916

Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

and 'made it crystal clear that he stood by the events of Easter Week' and for an independent Irish Republic. Though he said that another armed insurrection was 'not feasible' at the present time. His election posters said a vote for de Valera was, ‘a vote for Ireland a Nation, a vote against Conscription, a vote against partition, a vote for Ireland’s language, and for Ireland’s ideals and civilisation’. Patrick Lynch, his opponent was a barrister and Crown prosecutor. His campaign maintained that he was also against conscription, despite the IPP's support for Irish recruitment into British forces in the First World War. His party's energies were also distracted by another by-election Kilkenny. David McCullough writes, 'There was a lot of violence during the campaign, much of it apparently coming from Lynch's supporters' and 150 British Army soldiers had to be drafted in to help the police maintain order. Daith O Corrain writes, 'The East Clare by-election was a milestone for Sinn Féin because it secured a striking popular mandate which helped the organisation to continue its rapid growth ahead of the 1918 general election.

References

1917 elections in Ireland By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in County Clare constituencies 1917 elections in the United Kingdom {{Ireland-UK-Parl-by-election-stub