Waterford City was a
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
parliamentary 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 (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...
, in southeast
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.
Boundaries and boundary changes
As the constituency for the
parliamentary borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
of
Waterford
"Waterford remains the untaken city"
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in
County Waterford
County Waterford ( ga, Contae Phort Láirge) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is part of the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region. It is named ...
, it returned one
MP 1801–1832, two in 1832–1885 and one 1885–1922. It was an original constituency represented in Parliament when the Union of Great Britain and Ireland took effect on 1 January 1801.
In 1918, the boundary was redefined to exclude the Kilculliheen area which had been transferred to County Kilkenny under the 1898 Local Government (Ireland) Act. It was defined as consisting of the county borough of Waterford and the
district electoral division
An electoral division (ED, ) is a legally defined administrative area in the Republic of Ireland, generally comprising multiple townlands, and formerly a subdivision of urban and rural districts. Until 1996, EDs were known as district electora ...
s of Ballynakill, Kilbarry, Killoteran and Waterford Rural in the rural district of Waterford.
Following the dissolution of parliament in 1922 the area was no longer represented in the
United Kingdom 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 ...
.
Politics
The constituency was a predominantly
Nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
area in 1918. The seat was contested by
William Redmond, the son of the IPP leader John Redmond whom he replaced in the Waterford City constituency in a by-election held in March 1918. In the general election of December 1918, it was the only Irish seat the IPP won outside Ulster.
The First Dáil
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 ...
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 ...
's
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 area, in republican theory, was part of the five-seat Dáil constituency of
Waterford–Tipperary East.
Members of Parliament
MPs 1801–32
MPs 1832–85
Representation increased to two members
MPs 1885–1918
Representation reduced to one member''
Elections
The single-member elections in this constituency took place 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. Multi-member elections used the
plurality-at-large voting
Plurality block voting, also known as plurality-at-large voting, block vote or block voting (BV) is a non- proportional voting system for electing representatives in multi-winner elections. Each voter may cast as many votes as the number of sea ...
system.
Elections in the 1830s
Wyse was appointed as a Commissioner of the Treasury, requiring a by-election.
Elections in the 1840s
On petition, Christmas and Reade were unseated and Wyse and Barron were declared elected on 13 June 1842.
O'Connell resigned by accepting the office of
Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds
Appointment to the position of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds is a procedural device to allow Members of Parliament to resignation from the British House of Commons, resign from the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. S ...
, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1850s
Elections in the 1860s
Blake resigned after he was appointed inspector of Irish fisheries, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1870s
Barron was unseated on petition, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1880s
Elections in the 1890s
Power died, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1900s
Elections in the 1910s
See also
*
*
Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act 1918
The Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act 1918 was an Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom which redistributed the parliamentary constituencies in Ireland for the House of Commons. The new constituencies were used for the 1918 g ...
*
*
Historic Dáil constituencies
This page lists Dáil constituencies that have been used for elections to Dáil Éireann from the 1918 election to the next general election.
Overview of legislation and seat distribution
In the case of the First Dáil, the constituencies wer ...
*
Members of the 1st Dáil
The members of the First Dáil, known as Teachtaí Dála (TDs), were the 101 Members of Parliament (MPs) returned from constituencies in Ireland at the 1918 United Kingdom general election. In its first general election, Sinn Féin won 73 se ...
References
Sources
*GITHENS-MAZER, Jonathan. ''Myths and Memories of the Easter Rising, Cultural and Political Nationalism in Ireland''. Dublin and Portland, OR: Irish Academic Press, 2006, 238p.
*''The Parliaments of England'' by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), 2nd edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973)
*
*
*
*
External links
History of Parliament: Constituencies 1790–1820
Notes and References
{{County Waterford constituencies
Westminster constituencies in County Waterford (historic)
Waterford City
"Waterford remains the untaken city"
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Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1801
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1922
History of Waterford (city)
Politics of Waterford (city)