Carlow County was a

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 ...

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, which from 1801 to 1885 returned two

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 ...

(MPs) to the House of Commons of Great Britain and Ireland, and one MP from 1885 to 1922.

Boundaries and boundary changes

This constituency comprised the whole of County Carlow, except for Carlow Borough 1801–1885. It returned two MPs 1801–1885, but only one from 1885 to 1922. This was the only Irish county not divided for Parliamentary purposes in the redistribution of 1885. It was thus the only Irish

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 " constitue ...

to exist at every general election from the union with Great Britain to the partition of Ireland. The constituency ceased to be entitled to be represented in the UK

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

on the

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of 26 October 1922, shortly before 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 ...

came into legal existence on 6 December 1922.

Politics

In the 1918 election the Sinn Féin candidate was unopposed.

Dáil Éireann 1918–1922

The constituency was, in Irish republican theory, entitled to return one

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

(known in English as a Deputy) in 1918 to serve in the

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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 United ...

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used the

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in 1918 to elect the Dáil. The revolutionary body assembled on 21 January 1919. The list of members read out on that day included everyone elected in Ireland. Only the Sinn Féin Deputies participated in the Dáil, but the other Irish MPs could have done so if they had chosen to adhere to the Republic. The First Dáil, passed a motion at its last meeting on 10 May 1921, the first three parts of which make explicit the republican view. * 1. That the Parliamentary elections which are to take place during the present month be regarded as elections to Dáil Éireann. * 2. That all deputies duly returned at these elections be regarded as members of Dáil Éireann and allowed to take their seats on subscribing to the proposed Oath of Allegiance. * 3. That the present Dáil dissolve automatically as soon as the new body has been summoned by the President and called to order. 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 elect ...

first met on 16 August 1921, thereby dissolving the First Dáil. Sinn Féin had decided to use the polls for the Northern Ireland House of Commons 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 Coun ...

as an election for the Irish Republic's

. No actual voting was necessary in Southern Ireland as all the seats were filled by unopposed returns. Except for Dublin University all other constituencies elected Sinn Féin TDs. As with the First Dáil, the other Deputies could have joined the Dáil if they chose. From the

Third Dáil The Third Dáil was elected at the general election held on 16 June 1922. This election was required to be held under the Anglo-Irish Treaty signed on 6 December 1921. It first met on 9 September and until 6 December 1922, it was the Provisio ...

onwards the Dáil represented only the twenty-six counties which formed the

. In the 2nd and 3rd Dála Carlow formed part of the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1801–1885

Notes:- * ^a Vigors was a supporter of the Whig/Repealer pact, 1835–1841, who in 1832–1835 had been MP for the borough of Carlow Borough as a member of the

Repeal Association The Repeal Association was an Irish mass membership political movement set up by Daniel O'Connell in 1830 to campaign for a repeal of the Acts of Union of 1800 between Great Britain and Ireland. The Association's aim was to revert Ireland to th ...

MPs 1885–1922

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

On petition, Bruen and Kavanagh were unseated and a by-election was called. After a further petition, the poll was amended and 105 votes for Vigors and Raphael were struck off. Kavanagh and Bruen were declared elected. Kavanagh's death caused a by-election.

Elections in the 1840s

Vigors' death caused a by-election. Bunbury's death caused a by-election.

Elections in the 1850s

Bruen's death caused a by-election.

Elections in the 1860s

McClintock Bunbury resigned, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1870s

Elections in the 1880s

* Gray elects to sit for Dublin St Stephen's Green * Death of Blake

Elections in the 1890s

* Death of the O’Gorman Mahon

Elections in the 1900s

Hammond's death causes a by-election.

Elections in the 1910s

References

*''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

Oireachtas Members Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carlow Westminster constituencies in County Carlow (historic) Carlow Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1801 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1922