Iveagh ( ) was a constituency of the

Parliament of Northern Ireland The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended because of its inability to restore ord ...

Boundaries

Iveagh was a

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

comprising part of northern

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

, south west of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

. It was created when the

House of Commons (Method of Voting and Redistribution of Seats) Act (Northern Ireland) 1929 The House of Commons (Method of Voting and Redistribution of Seats) Act (Northern Ireland) 1929 was an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland at Stormont which changed the usual voting system used for the House of Commons of Northern Ireland f ...

introduced

first-past-the-post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

elections throughout

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Iveagh was created by the division of Down into eight new constituencies. The constituency survived unchanged until 1969, when its eastern part became part of the new Lagan Valley constituency. It returned one Member of Parliament until the Parliament of Northern Ireland was temporarily suspended in 1972, and then formally abolished in 1973. The original seat was centred on the town of Dromore and also included parts of the rural districts of

Banbridge Banbridge ( , ) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road (Northern Ireland), A1 road and is named after a bridge built over the River Bann in 1712. It is situated in the Civil parishes in Ireland, c ...

, Hillsborough,

Waringstown Waringstown is a large village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies southeast of Lurgan, within the parish of Donaghcloney, and the barony of Iveagh Lower, Lower Half. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 3,683 people. Over the years, ...

and Moira.

Politics

The seat had a substantial unionist majority and was always won by

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movem ...

candidates. It was often contested by

independent Unionist Independent Unionist has been a label sometimes used by candidates in elections in the United Kingdom, indicating a support for British unionism (not to be confused with trade unionism). It is most popularly associated with candidates in electi ...

s, and once by a member of the

Protestant Unionist Party The Protestant Unionist Party (PUP)Not to be confused with the Progressive Unionist Party. was a unionist political party operating in Northern Ireland from 1966 to 1971. It was the forerunner of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and emerged ...

, some of whom were able to take more than 40% of the votes cast.

Members of Parliament

Election results

At the

1933 Northern Ireland general election The 1933 Northern Ireland general election was held on 30 November 1933. Like all previous elections to the Parliament of Northern Ireland, it produced a large majority for the Ulster Unionist Party. 33 of the 52 seats were uncontested, the la ...

John Charles Wilson John Charles Wilson (1892–1968) was a Northern Irish physician and Ulster Unionist Party politician. Wilson was educated at Queen's University of Belfast, and qualified as a physician. He served in World War I, from 1914 to 1918, in the RAMC. ...

was elected unopposed. At the

1945 Northern Ireland general election The 1945 Northern Ireland general election was held on 14 June 1945. The election saw significant losses for the Ulster Unionist Party, though they retained their majority. Mirroring the result across the rest of the UK in the 1945 UK general ...

Brian Maginess William Brian Maginess, QC (10 July 1901 – 16 April 1967), was a member of the Government of Northern Ireland, who was widely seen as a possible successor to The 1st Viscount Brookeborough as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. Life He was ...

was elected unopposed. At the

1962 Northern Ireland general election The 1962 Northern Ireland general election was held on 31 May 1962. While the Ulster Unionist Party lost three seats, they retained a large majority as in all previous elections to the Parliament of Northern Ireland. Results ''A ...

was elected unopposed. At the 1964 by-election and the

1965 Northern Ireland general election The 1965 Northern Ireland general election was held on 25 November 1965. Like all previous elections to the Parliament of Northern Ireland, it produced a large majority for the Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a u ...

Samuel Magowan Samuel Magowan (5 February 1910 – 1976Ian McAllister and Richard Rose, ''United Kingdom Facts'', p.56) was an Ulster Unionist member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland. He represented Iveagh Iveagh ( ; ) is the name of several historical ...

was elected unopposed.

References

{{County Down constituencies Historic constituencies in County Down Northern Ireland Parliament constituencies established in 1929 Constituencies of the Northern Ireland Parliament Northern Ireland Parliament constituencies disestablished in 1973