Dublin College Green (UK Parliament constituency)

College Green, a division of the parliamentary borough of Dublin, was a parliamentary constituency which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1922. From 1918 to 1921, it was also used as a constituency for Dáil Éireann

College Green
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Dublin College Green constituency within Dublin, as it existed from 1885 to 1918.
18851922
Seats1
Created fromDublin
Replaced byDublin Mid

From the dissolution of 1922, the area was no longer represented in the UK Parliament.

Boundaries

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This constituency comprised part of the city of Dublin. It was predominantly on the northside of the city, but crossed the River Liffey to include College Green.[1]

From 1885 to 1918, it was defined as:[2]

Arran Quay Ward, Inns Quay Ward, North City Ward and South City Ward, and that part of Rotunda Ward lying south-west of a line drawn along the centre of North Frederick Street and a line drawn along the centre of East Cavendish Row.

From 1918 to 1922, it was defined as:[3]

The Inns Quay, North City, South City and Rotunda wards of the Borough.

History

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Prior to the 1885 general election, the city was the undivided two-member Dublin City constituency. Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Dublin was divided into four divisions: College Green, Dublin Harbour, St Stephen's Green and St Patrick's. This was a strongly Nationalist area, which moved after the 1916 Easter Rising to supporting Sinn Féin. In the 1918 election, Sinn Féin got more than three-quarters of the vote.

Under the Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act 1918, the city was allocated seven seats: in addition to the four existing constituencies, the new divisions were Clontarf, St James's and St Michan's.[4]

At the 1918 general election, Sinn Féin issued an election manifesto in which it called for a "establishment of a constituent assembly comprising persons chosen by Irish constituencies". After the election, Sinn Féin invited all those elected for Irish constituencies to sit as members of Dáil Éireann, termed Teachta Dála (or TD, known in English as a Deputy). In practice, only those elected for Sinn Féin attended. This included Seán T. O'Kelly, elected for College Green. He was the presiding officer of the First Dáil (with the title Ceann Comhairle) from 22 January 1919.[5] His appointment as Ceann Comhairle was confirmed 1 April 1919.[6]

Under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, the area was combined with the Dublin Harbour Division to form Dublin Mid, a 4-seat constituency for the Southern Ireland House of Commons and a single constituency at Westminster.[7] 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.[8] Seán T. O'Kelly was one of the four TDs for Dublin Mid.

Under s. 1(4) of the Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922, no writ was to be issued "for a constituency in Ireland other than a constituency in Northern Ireland".[9] Therefore, no vote was held in Dublin Mid at the 1922 United Kingdom general election on 15 November 1922, shortly before the Irish Free State left the United Kingdom on 6 December 1922.

Members of Parliament

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Year MP[10] Party
1885 Timothy Daniel Sullivan Irish Parliamentary
1890 Irish National Federation (Anti-Parnellite)
1892 J.E. Kenny Irish National League (Parnellite)
1896 James Laurence Carew Irish National League (Parnellite)
1900 Joseph Nannetti Irish Parliamentary
1915 John Dillon Nugent Irish Parliamentary
1918 Seán T. O'Kelly Sinn Féin
1922 constituency abolished

Elections

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Elections in the 1880s

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1885 general election: Dublin College Green[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish Parliamentary Timothy Daniel Sullivan 6,548 81.2
Liberal David Sherlock 1,518 18.8
Majority 5,030 62.4
Turnout 8,066 74.7
Registered electors 10,797
Irish Parliamentary win (new seat)
1886 general election: Dublin College Green[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish Parliamentary Timothy Daniel Sullivan Unopposed
Irish Parliamentary hold

Elections in the 1890s

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1892 general election: Dublin College Green[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish National League J.E. Kenny 2,568 50.1 N/A
Irish Unionist Henry Cochrane 1,441 28.1 New
Irish National Federation Timothy Daniel Sullivan 1,116 21.8 N/A
Majority 1,127 22.0 N/A
Turnout 5,125 75.6 N/A
Registered electors 6,781
Irish National League gain from Irish Parliamentary Swing N/A
1895 general election: Dublin College Green[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish National League J.E. Kenny Unopposed
Irish National League hold
By-election, 1896: Dublin College Green[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish National League James Laurence Carew Unopposed
Irish National League hold

Elections in the 1900s

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1900 general election: Dublin College Green[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish Parliamentary Joseph Nannetti 2,467 53.2 N/A
Healyite Nationalist James Laurence Carew 2,173 46.8 N/A
Majority 294 6.4 N/A
Turnout 4,640 45.4 N/A
Registered electors 10,223
Irish Parliamentary hold Swing N/A
1906 general election: Dublin College Green[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish Parliamentary Joseph Nannetti Unopposed
Irish Parliamentary hold

Elections in the 1910s

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January 1910 general election: Dublin College Green[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish Parliamentary Joseph Nannetti 4,559 78.6 N/A
Irish Unionist George Bernard O'Connor 1,239 21.4 New
Majority 3,320 57.2 N/A
Turnout 5,798 66.3 N/A
Registered electors 8,739
Irish Parliamentary hold Swing N/A
December 1910 general election: Dublin College Green[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish Parliamentary Joseph Nannetti Unopposed
Irish Parliamentary hold
By-election 1915: Dublin College Green[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish Parliamentary John Dillon Nugent 2,445 57.38 N/A
Labour Thomas Farren 1,816 42.62 New
Majority 629 14.76 N/A
Turnout 4,261 52.2 N/A
Registered electors 8,167
Irish Parliamentary hold Swing N/A
General election, 1918: Dublin College Green[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Sinn Féin Seán T. O'Kelly 9,662 77.2 New
Ind. Nationalist Joseph Coghland Briscoe 2,853 22.8 New
Majority 6,809 54.4 N/A
Turnout 12,515 58.4 N/A
Registered electors 21,414
Sinn Féin gain from Irish Parliamentary Swing N/A

See also

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Notes, citations and sources

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Citations

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  1. ^ "Report of the Boundary Commission (Ireland): Map". Enhanced British Parliamentary Papers on Ireland. DIPPAM: Documenting Ireland, Parliament, People and Migration. p. 18. Archived from the original on 30 September 2022. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23)". Archive.org. Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. p. 143. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  3. ^ "Report of the Boundary Commission (Ireland)". Enhanced British Parliamentary Papers on Ireland. DIPPAM: Documenting Ireland, Parliament, People and Migration. p. 35. Archived from the original on 5 October 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Redistribution of seats (Ireland) Act, 1918". Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  5. ^ "ELECTION OF SPEAKER AND DEPUTY SPEAKER – Dáil Éireann (1st Dáil) – Vol. F No. 2". Houses of the Oireachtas. 22 January 1919. Archived from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  6. ^ "ELECTION OF SPEAKER, DEPUTY SPEAKER, AND CLERKS - ELECTION OF CEANN COMHAIRLE (SPEAKER) – Dáil Éireann (1st Dáil) – Vol. F No. 3". Houses of the Oireachtas. 1 April 1919. Archived from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  7. ^ "Government of Ireland Act 1920 (10 & 11 Geo. 5, c. 67): Fifth Schedule". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  8. ^ "PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT. - ELECTIONS – Dáil Éireann (1st Dáil) – Vol. F No. 21". Houses of the Oireachtas. 10 May 1921. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  9. ^ "Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922 (12 & 13 Geo. 5, c. 4)". Historical Documents. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012.
  10. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 1)
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 344–345, 388. ISBN 0901714127.

Sources

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