North Armagh was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland which returned 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, using the

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 ...

electoral system.

Boundaries and boundary changes

This constituency comprised the northern part of

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and ha ...

. 1885–1922: The barony of Oneilland East, and that part of the barony of Oneilland West contained within the parishes of Clonfeacle, Drumcree, Killyman, Newry and Tartaraghan, the parish of Loughgall excluding the

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...

s of Drumnasoo and Turcarra, and the townlands of Annaboe, Annahugh, Ballintaggart, Ballyhagan, Ballytrue, Ballywilly, Bottlehill, Castleraw, Clonroot, Creenagh, Derryloughan, Drumard Primate, Kilmacanty, Kilmore, Kincon, Lissheffield, Lurgancot, Money and Tullymore in the parish of Kilmore. Until 1918 it was bounded to the north-east by South Antrim, to the north-west by East Tyrone, to the west by South Tyrone, to the south by Mid Armagh and to the east by West Down. From 1918 to 1922 the adjoining constituencies were the same, except that North-East Tyrone replaced East Tyrone. 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 ...

and from the dissolution of Parliament in 1922 the area was part of the

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

constituency.

Politics

The constituency was a predominantly

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

then Unionist area. There were few contested elections. In 1918 the Unionists defeated

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 ...

by about 3 to 1. This was the first contested election for the seat since a 1906 by-election.

The First Dáil

contested the general election of 1918 on the platform that instead of taking up any seats they won in the

United Kingdom Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...

, they would establish a revolutionary assembly in Dublin. In republican theory every MP elected in Ireland was a potential Deputy to this assembly. In practice only the Sinn Féin members accepted the offer. The revolutionary

First Dáil The First Dáil ( ga, An Chéad Dáil) was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 1919 to 1921. It was the first meeting of the unicameral parliament of the revolutionary Irish Republic. In the December 1918 election to the Parliament of the Unite ...

assembled on 21 January 1919 and last met on 10 May 1921. The First Dáil, according to a resolution passed on 10 May 1921, was formally dissolved on the assembling of the

Second Dáil The Second Dáil () was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 16 August 1921 until 8 June 1922. From 1919 to 1922, Dáil Éireann was the revolutionary parliament of the self-proclaimed Irish Republic. The Second Dáil consisted of members elected ...

. This took place on 16 August 1921. In 1921 Sinn Féin decided to use the UK authorised elections for the

Northern Ireland House of Commons The House of Commons of Northern Ireland was the lower house of the Parliament of Northern Ireland created under the ''Government of Ireland Act 1920''. The upper house in the bicameral parliament was called the Senate. It was abolished wit ...

and 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 ...

as a poll for the

Irish Republic The Irish Republic ( ga, Poblacht na hÉireann or ) was an unrecognised revolutionary state that declared its independence from the United Kingdom in January 1919. The Republic claimed jurisdiction over the whole island of Ireland, but by ...

. Armagh North, in republican theory, was incorporated in a four-member Dáil constituency of

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1880s

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Armagh North Westminster constituencies in County Armagh (historic) Dáil constituencies in Northern Ireland (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1922