1899 Limerick Corporation election

An election for Limerick Municipal Council was held in 1899 as part of the wider 1899 Irish local elections. Following the reforms of the 1898 Act Limerick's franchise had increased from 709 to 5,521.^[1]

A total of 79 candidates contested the 40 seats; with 27 of the outgoing councillors putting themselves forward for re-election, 34 Laborites putting themselves forward, 18 Merchants and large rate-payers.

The election saw Labour winning control of the council, with 24 of the councils 40 seats. Hand in hand with Labour's victory, went the victory of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Of the 40 councillors, 21 were members of the IRB. Of these 21 IRB members, 18 were Labourites.

Aggregate results

Limerick Corporation election, 1899^[1]
	Seats	Votes %	Votes
LEA	24	53.22	9,070
Re-elect	11	27.21	4,637
Merchant	5	19.58	3,337

The result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the council after the elections:

Party		Previous council		New council
Party		Cllr	Ald	Cllr	Ald
	Independent	32	8	12	4
	Labour	0	0	20	4
Total		32	8	32	8
Total		40		40
Working majority		32	8	8	0
Working majority		40		8

Ward results

Abbey Ward
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Re-elect	M. McDonnell	403
	LEA	W. Fitzgerald	356
	LEA	J. O'Brien	342
	LEA	M. Murphy	332
	LEA	P. Moloney	324
	Re-elect	J.J. Cleary J.P	205
	Re-elect	J. Kivlehan	179
	Merchant	W. Holliday	86
	Merchant	J. Power	54
Turnout			2,281

Castle Ward
Party		Candidate	Votes
	LEA	D. Gilligan	345
	LEA	J. Hassett	325
	LEA	J. Connery	318
	LEA	J. Vaughan	311
	Re-elect	T. Donnellan	290
	Re-elect	A. Hall J.P.	231
	Re-elect	R. Nash	156
	Re-elect	W. O'Connell	131
	Merchant	W. McDonnell	82
Turnout			2,189

Custom House Ward
Party		Candidate	Votes
	LEA	M. Joyce	276
	LEA	J. Kett	264
	Independent	T. Cleeve J.P	225
	Independent	S. Quin J.P	224
	Independent	L. Carr	197
	LEA	J. Maloney	194
	LEA	J. O'Neill	172
	Independent	R. Gleeson	102
	Independent	W. Frost	72
	Independent	D. Nelson	68
	Independent	J. McMahon	30
Turnout			1,824

References

^ ^a ^b McKay, Enda (1999). "The Limerick Municipal Elections, January 1899" (PDF). The Old Limerick Journal. 36: 3–10.

[McKay-1] McKay, Enda (1999). "The Limerick Municipal Elections, January 1899" (PDF). The Old Limerick Journal. 36: 3–10.

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