South Wexford (UK Parliament constituency)

South Wexford was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament from 1885 to 1922.

South Wexford
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1922
Seats	1
Created from	County Wexford, New Ross and Wexford Borough
Replaced by	Wexford

Prior to 1885 the area was part of the County Wexford constituency. From 1922, on the establishment of the Irish Free State, the area was not represented in the UK Parliament.

Boundaries

This constituency was created under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 and comprised the southern part of County Wexford. Under the Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act 1918, the boundary was expanded to include the part of New Ross urban district transferred from County Kilkenny under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898.

1885–1918: The baronies of Bargy, Forth and Shelburne, and those parts of the baronies of Bantry and Shelmaliere West not included in the constituency of North Wexford.

1918–1922: The existing South Wexford constituency together with that part of the existing South Kilkenny constituency contained within the administrative county of Wexford.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	John Barry	Nationalist
	1890		Anti-Parnellite
	1893	Peter Ffrench	Anti-Parnellite
	1900		Nationalist
	1918	James Ryan	Sinn Féin
1922		Constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

1885 general election: South Wexford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	John Barry	Unopposed
Registered electors			9,577
	Irish Parliamentary win (new seat)

1886 general election: South Wexford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	John Barry	Unopposed
Registered electors			9,577
	Irish Parliamentary hold

Elections in the 1890s

1892 general election: South Wexford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish National Federation	John Barry	5,104	90.2	N/A
	Liberal Unionist	Samuel Barrett-Hamilton	554	9.8	New
Majority			4,550	80.4	N/A
Turnout			5,658	57.3	N/A
Registered electors			9,872
	Irish National Federation gain from Irish Parliamentary		Swing	N/A

Barry resigns, prompting a by-election.

By-election, 1893: South Wexford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish National Federation	Peter Ffrench	Unopposed
Registered electors			9,550
	Irish National Federation hold

1895 general election: South Wexford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish National Federation	Peter Ffrench	Unopposed
Registered electors			8,969
	Irish National Federation hold

Elections in the 1900s

1900 general election: South Wexford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Peter Ffrench	Unopposed
Registered electors			9,183
	Irish Parliamentary hold

1906 general election: South Wexford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Peter Ffrench	Unopposed
Registered electors			8,602
	Irish Parliamentary hold

Elections in the 1910s

January 1910 general election: South Wexford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Peter Ffrench	Unopposed
Registered electors			8,557
	Irish Parliamentary hold

December 1910 general election: South Wexford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Peter Ffrench	3,578	75.5	N/A
	All-for-Ireland	John Cummins	1,164	24.5	N/A
Majority			2,414	51.0	N/A
Turnout			4,742	55.4	N/A
Registered electors			8,557
	Irish Parliamentary hold		Swing	N/A

1918 general election: South Wexford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	James Ryan	8,729	51.5	New
	Irish Parliamentary	Peter Ffrench	8,211	48.5	−27.0
Majority			518	3.0	N/A
Turnout			16,940	73.1	+17.7
Registered electors			23,168
	Sinn Féin gain from Irish Parliamentary		Swing	N/A

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)
• 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 "W" (part 3)