East Kerry was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

from 1885 to 1922. Prior to the

1885 United Kingdom general election The 1885 United Kingdom general election was held from 24 November to 18 December 1885. This was the first general election after an Representation of the People Act 1884, extension of the franchise and Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, redistri ...

the area was part of the Kerry constituency. Representation at Westminster in this constituency ceased at the

1922 United Kingdom general election The 1922 United Kingdom general election was held on Wednesday 15 November 1922. It was won by the Conservative Party, led by Bonar Law, which gained an overall majority over the Labour Party, led by J. R. Clynes, and a divided Liberal Party. ...

, which took place on 15 November, shortly before the establishment of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...

on 6 December 1922. The successor constituency in the new

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland read ...

was Kerry–Limerick West first established under the Government of Ireland Act 1920 to elect members to the

House of Commons of Southern Ireland The Parliament of Southern Ireland was a Home Rule legislature established by the British Government during the Irish War of Independence under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It was designed to legislate for Southern Ireland,"Order in Cou ...

in 1921.

Boundaries

This constituency comprised the eastern part of

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

. 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

Notes

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

¹ This remains the largest majority by percentage of the vote in any contested UK Parliamentary election.

Elections in the 1890s

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.

Elections in the 1900s

In the closely fought contest of the 1906 election between two nationalist factions, Murphy was returned by a narrow margin:

Elections in the 1910s

In 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 William O'Brien (2 October 1852 – 25 February 1928) was an Irish nationalist, journalist, agrarian agitator, social revolutionary, politician, party leader, newspaper publisher, author and Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of ...

All-for-Ireland League The All-for-Ireland League (AFIL) was an Irish, Munster-based political party (1909–1918). Founded by William O'Brien MP, it generated a new national movement to achieve agreement between the different parties concerned on the historically d ...

. 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. The election was declared void, unseating O'Sullivan and creating a vacancy. 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 A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

, albeit for different constituencies. As earlier in the year, the election was marred by election violence, which included a riot at Castleisland.''The Times'' (London), Thursday, 15 December 1910; p. 6 col. D In accordance with his party's policy, Béaslaí declined to take his seat in the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

, sitting instead in the Irish revolutionary assembly,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerry East Westminster constituencies in County Kerry (historic) Dáil constituencies in the Republic of Ireland (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1922