Belfast was a

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

in the Irish House of Commons, the house of representatives of the

Kingdom of Ireland The Kingdom of Ireland ( ga, label=Classical Irish, an Ríoghacht Éireann; ga, label=Modern Irish, an Ríocht Éireann, ) was a monarchy on the island of Ireland that was a client state of England and then of Great Britain. It existed from ...

, until 1800.

History

Belfast in County Antrim was enfranchised as a

borough constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by ...

in 1613. It continued to be entitled to send two Members of Parliament to the Irish House of Commons until the Parliament of Ireland was merged into the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 1 January 1801. During the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland Belfast was represented from 1654 in the Westminster Parliament as part of the Carrickfergus and Belfast constituency. Belfast was the place of election in this single-member constituency. See First Protectorate Parliament for further details. In 1661, following the restoration of the King, the Parliament of Ireland was re-established as it had existed before the Protectorate. In the Patriot Parliament of 1690 summoned by King James II, Belfast was represented by one member. Under the Acts of Union 1800 the Parliament of Ireland was merged with the

Parliament of Great Britain The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Acts ratified the treaty of Union which created a new unified Kingdo ...

to form the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The 300 members of the Irish House of Commons were reduced to 100 Irish members of the United Kingdom House of Commons. As part of that process ''Belfast'' lost one of its seats.

Members of Parliament, 1613–1801

;Notes

References

Bibliography

* * {{coord, 54.597, -5.930, display=title, region:GB_scale:50000 Constituencies of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) Historic constituencies in Belfast 1613 establishments in Ireland 1800 disestablishments in Ireland Constituencies established in 1613 Constituencies disestablished in 1800