Queen's County Leix (UK Parliament constituency)

Leix, a division of Queen's County, was a constituency in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament to the United Kingdom House of Commons from 1885 to 1918.

Queen's County Leix
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1918
Seats	1
Created from	Queen's County and Portarlington
Replaced by	Queen's County

Prior to the 1885 general election and after the dissolution of Parliament in 1918 the area was part of the Queen's County constituency. From the time of Irish independence, it was not represented in the UK Parliament, as Laois was no longer part of the United Kingdom.

Boundaries

This constituency comprised the eastern part of Queen's County now known as County Laois.

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 defined the division as including the Baronies of Ballyadams, Cullenagh, Maryborough East, Slievemargy, and Stradbally, and that part of the Barony of Portnahinch not contained within the Ossory constituency.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Richard Lalor	Irish Parliamentary Party
	1892	Mark MacDonnell	Anti-Parnellite Nationalist
	1900		Irish Parliamentary Party
	1906	Patrick Aloysius Meehan	Irish Parliamentary Party
	1913 by-election	Patrick Joseph Meehan	Irish Parliamentary Party
1918		Constituency merged into Queen's County

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General election 2 December 1885: Queen's County Leix

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Richard Lalor	3,750	88.1
	Irish Conservative	Robert Ashworth Godolphin Cosby	507	11.9
Majority			3,243	76.2
Turnout			4,257	77.8
Registered electors			5,472
	Irish Parliamentary win (new seat)

General election 14 July 1886: Queen's County Leix

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Richard Lalor	3,528	89.7	+1.6
	Irish Conservative	Robert Ashworth Godolphin Cosby	406	10.3	−1.6
Majority			3,122	79.4	+3.2
Turnout			3,934	71.9	−5.9
Registered electors			5,472
	Irish Parliamentary hold		Swing	+1.6

Elections in the 1890s

General election 13 July 1892: Queen's County Leix

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish National Federation	Mark MacDonnell	3,261	85.3	−4.4
	Irish Unionist	Robert Ashworth Godolphin Cosby	513	14.7	+4.4
Majority			2,748	70.6	−8.8
Turnout			3,774	60.8	−11.1
Registered electors			6,288
	Irish National Federation gain from Irish Parliamentary		Swing	−4.4

General election 17 July 1895: Queen's County Leix

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish National Federation	Mark MacDonnell	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,128
	Irish National Federation hold

Elections in the 1900s

General election 4 October 1900: Queen's County Leix

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Mark MacDonnell	Unopposed
Registered electors			6,231
	Irish Parliamentary hold

General election 19 January 1906: Queen's County Leix

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Patrick Aloysius Meehan	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,867
	Irish Parliamentary hold

Elections in the 1910s

General election 20 January 1910: Queen's County Leix

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Patrick Aloysius Meehan	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,872
	Irish Parliamentary hold

General election 8 December 1910: Queen's County Leix

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Patrick Aloysius Meehan	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,872
	Irish Parliamentary hold

By-Election 9 June 1913: Queen's County Leix

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Patrick Joseph Meehan	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,785
	Irish Parliamentary hold

References

• Walker, Brian M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714127.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 2)