Dublin County was a

parliamentary constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

represented in

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...

, the lower house of the Irish parliament or

Oireachtas The Oireachtas ( ; ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the president of Ireland and the two houses of the Oireachtas (): a house ...

from 1921 to 1969. The method of election was

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

by means of the

single transferable vote The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vot ...

(PR-STV).

History and boundaries

The constituency was created in 1921 by the

Government of Ireland Act 1920 The Government of Ireland Act 1920 ( 10 & 11 Geo. 5. c. 67) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act's long title was "An Act to provide for the better government of Ireland"; it is also known as the Fourth Home Rule Bi ...

as a 6-seat constituency for the

Southern Ireland House of Commons 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 Counc ...

and a two-seat constituency for the United Kingdom House of Commons at Westminster, combining the former Westminster constituencies of Dublin Pembroke, Dublin Rathmines, North Dublin and

South Dublin South Dublin () is a county in Ireland, within the province of Leinster and the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which was disestablished for administrative purposes in 1994. South Dublin Cou ...

. At the 1921 election for the Southern Ireland House of Commons, the four seats were won uncontested by Sinn Féin, who treated it as part of the election to the

Second Dáil The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

. It was never used as a Westminster constituency; under s. 1(4) of the

Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922 The Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922 ( 12 & 13 Geo. 5. c. 4) was an act of the British Parliament passed on 31 March 1922. It gave the force of law to the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which was scheduled to the Act. Main provisions Section 1(1) of ...

, no writ was to be issued "for a constituency in Ireland other than a constituency in Northern Ireland". Therefore, no vote was held in County Dublin 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 Prime Minister Andrew Bonar Law, which gained an overall majority over the Labour Party, led by J. R. Clynes, and ...

on 15 November 1922, shortly before the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

left the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

on 6 December 1922. It was restructured by the

Electoral Act 1923 The Electoral Act 1923 was a law in Ireland which established the electoral law of the Irish Free State and provided for parliamentary constituencies in Dáil Éireann. Franchise Article 14 of the Constitution of the Irish Free State adopted ...

, the first electoral act of the new state, becoming an 8-seat constituency, first used at the 1923 general election to the 4th Dáil. It was revised at subsequent revisions, taking into account changes in the boundary and city, before its abolition at the 1969 general election. It was replaced by Dublin County North and Dublin County South. Throughout its history the constituency consisted primarily of the area of

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

, excluding the area of

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

city. However, at various points it also included some territory from within the boundaries of Dublin City.

TDs

Elections

1965 general election

1961 general election

1957 general election

1954 general election

1951 general election

1948 general election

1947 by-election

A by-election was held to fill the seat left vacant by death of the Fianna Fáil TD Patrick Fogarty. It was won by

Seán MacBride Seán MacBride (26 January 1904 – 15 January 1988) was an Irish Republican activist, politician, and diplomat who served as Minister for External Affairs from 1948 to 1951, Leader of Clann na Poblachta from 1946 to 1965 and Chief of Staff o ...

of Clann na Poblachta.

1944 general election

Full figures of the last nine counts are unavailable. Ó Droighneáin, Lynch, Bennett and FitzGerald all lost their deposits.

1943 general election

Full figures for the third to the fourteenth counts are unavailable. Hickey, Costelloe, Ennis, Owens, Bobbett, Roe, O'Farrell and Watkins all lost their deposits.

1938 general election

1937 general election

1935 by-election

A by-election was held to fill the seat left vacant by death of the

Fine Gael Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, Christian democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann. The party had a member ...

TD Batt O'Connor. It was won for Fine Gael by Cecil Lavery.

1933 general election

1932 general election

1930 by-election

A by-election was held on 9 December 1930 to fill the seat in the 6th Dáil which had been left vacant by the death of

Cumann na nGaedheal Cumann na nGaedheal (; ) was a political party in the Irish Free State, which formed the government from 1923 to 1932. It was named after the original Cumann na nGaedheal organisation which merged with the Dungannon Clubs and the National Co ...

TD Bryan Cooper. It was won for Cumann na nGaedheal by Thomas Finlay.

September 1927 general election

1927 by-election

A by-election was held on 14 August 1927 to fill the seat in the 4th Dáil which had been left vacant by the assassination on 10 July of the

Minister for Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

Kevin O'Higgins Kevin Christopher O'Higgins (; 7 June 1892 – 10 July 1927) was an Irish politician who served as Vice-President of the Executive Council and Minister for Justice from 1922 to 1927, Minister for External Affairs from June 1927 to July 1927 a ...

. The election was won for Cumann na nGaedheal by Gearóid O'Sullivan, who won nearly 70% of the first-preference votes.

June 1927 general election

Full figures for counts 5 to 18 are not available. Eight candidates lost their deposits (Tench, Morris, Byrne, Brennan, Guinness, McCabe, Rooney and Lynn).

1926 by-election

A by-election was held on 18 February 1926 to fill the seat in the 4th Dáil which had been vacated by the death of the

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

TD Darrell Figgis. It was won by the Labour Party candidate

William Norton William Joseph Norton (2 November 1900 – 4 December 1963) was an Irish Labour Party politician who served as Tánaiste from 1948 to 1951 and from 1954 to 1957, Leader of the Labour Party from 1932 to 1960, Minister for Social Welfare from ...

. Norton's win was the first by a Labour Party candidate at any by-election since the establishment of the

First Dáil First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

. Labour would next win a seat from another party in a by-election 72 years later, when Seán Ryan won the Dublin North by-election in March 1998.

1924 by-election

A by-election was held on 19 March 1924 to fill the seat in the 4th Dáil which had been left vacant by the death of the

TD Michael Derham. It was won for Cumann na nGaedheal by Batt O'Connor.

1923 general election

1922 general election

1921 general election

In the 1921 general election to the 2nd Dáil, no constituencies were contested. As in other constituencies, all 6 candidates in County Dublin were returned unopposed.

References

External links

Dublin Historic Maps: Parliamentary & Dail Constituencies 1780-1969 (a work in progress.)Oireachtas Members Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dublin County (Dail constituency) Dáil constituencies in County Dublin (historic) 1921 establishments in Ireland 1969 disestablishments in Ireland Constituencies established in 1921 Constituencies disestablished in 1969