Clare (UK Parliament constituency)

Clare
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
County Clare within Ireland.
18011885
Number of members Two
Replaced by East Clare and West Clare

Clare was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, represented in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From 1801 to 1885 it returned two Members of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

At the 1885 general election, County Clare was split into two divisions: East Clare and West Clare.

Boundaries

This constituency comprised the whole of County Clare, except for the Borough of Ennis.

Members of Parliament

YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond party
1801 Francis Nathaniel Burton Hugh Massey
1802 Sir Edward O'Brien, 4th Baronet Whig
1808 Augustine FitzGerald Tory
1818 William Vesey-FitzGerald Tory
1826 Lucius O'Brien Tory
1828 Daniel O'Connell Radical[1]
1830 William Nugent Macnamara Repeal Association[2] James Patrick Mahon Whig[1]
1831 Maurice O'Connell Repeal Association[1]
1832 Cornelius O'Brien Repeal Association[2]
1847 Sir Lucius O'Brien, 5th Baronet Conservative[2]
1852 Sir John Forster Fitzgerald Whig[3] Cornelius O'Brien Ind. Irish[2]
1857 Lord Francis Conyngham Ind. Irish[4][5] Francis Macnamara Calcutt Ind. Irish[2]
1859 Crofton Moore Vandeleur Conservative Luke White Liberal
1860 Francis Macnamara Calcutt Liberal
1863 Sir Colman O'Loghlen, 2nd Baronet Liberal
1874 Lord Francis Conyngham Irish Nationalist Irish Nationalist
1877 Sir Bryan O'Loghlen, 3rd Baronet Irish Nationalist
1879 James Patrick Mahon Irish Nationalist
1880 William O'Shea Independent Nationalist
1885 Constituency divided into East Clare and West Clare

Elections

Elections in the 1850s

General Election 1852: Clare[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Whig John Forster FitzGerald 1,152 33.0
Independent Irish Cornelius O'Brien 1,141 32.7
Conservative Crofton Moore Vandeleur 1,139 32.6
Conservative William Stackpoole 60 1.7
Turnout 2,286 (est) 88.6 (est)
Registered electors 2,581
Majority 11 0.3 N/A
Whig gain from Irish Repeal Swing
Majority 2 0.1 N/A
Independent Irish gain from Conservative Swing

On petition, Fitzgerald and O'Brien were unseated, due to a "system of intimidation" being present at the 1852 election, and a writ was moved for a by-election.[6]

By-election, 4 July 1853: Clare[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Independent Irish Cornelius O'Brien 1,376 34.2 +1.5
Whig John Forster FitzGerald 1,351 33.5 +0.5
Conservative Crofton Moore Vandeleur 1,299 32.2 2.1
Independent Henry Stuart Burton 3 0.0 N/A
Turnout 2,663 (est) 84.7 (est) 3.9
Registered electors 3,144
Majority 25 0.6 +0.5
Independent Irish hold Swing +1.3
Majority 52 1.3 +1.0
Whig hold Swing +0.8
General Election 1857: Clare[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Independent Irish Francis Conyngham 2,894 52.3 N/A
Independent Irish Francis Macnamara Calcutt 1,390 25.1 N/A
Whig John Forster Fitzgerald 1,249 22.6 10.4
Independent Irish Luke White[7] 1 0.0 N/A
Majority 141 2.5 +2.4
Turnout 2,767 (est) 73.9 (est) 14.7
Registered electors 3,745
Independent Irish hold Swing N/A
Independent Irish gain from Whig Swing N/A
General Election 1859: Clare[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Crofton Moore Vandeleur 3,829 47.5 N/A
Liberal Luke White 2,234 27.7 +27.7
Liberal Francis Macnamara Calcutt 1,997 24.8 0.3
Majority 1,595 19.8 N/A
Turnout 4,030 (est) 73.2 (est) 0.7
Registered electors 5,509
Conservative gain from Independent Irish Swing N/A
Liberal hold Swing N/A

Elections in the 1860s

On petition, White was unseated, causing a by-election.

By-election, 13 Apr 1860: Clare[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Francis Macnamara Calcutt 2,993 72.3 +47.5
Liberal Charles White 1,149 27.7 N/A
Majority 1,844 44.5 N/A
Turnout 4,142 75.2 +2.0
Registered electors 5,509
Liberal hold Swing N/A

Calcutt died, causing a by-election.

By-election, 3 Aug 1863: Clare[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Colman O'Loghlen Unopposed
Registered electors 5,563
Liberal hold
General Election 1865: Clare[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Colman O'Loghlen Unopposed
Conservative Crofton Moore Vandeleur Unopposed
Registered electors 5,465
Liberal hold
Conservative hold
General Election 1868: Clare[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Colman O'Loghlen Unopposed
Conservative Crofton Moore Vandeleur Unopposed
Registered electors 5,649
Liberal hold
Conservative hold

O'Loghlen was appointed Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 5 Jan 1869: Clare[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Colman O'Loghlen Unopposed
Registered electors 5,649
Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

General Election 1874: Clare[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Home Rule Colman O'Loghlen 3,095 44.9 N/A
Home Rule Francis Conyngham 2,565 37.2 N/A
Conservative Crofton Moore Vandeleur 1,240 18.0 N/A
Majority 1,325 19.2 N/A
Turnout 4,070 (est) 74.5 (est) N/A
Registered electors 5,460
Home Rule gain from Conservative Swing N/A
Home Rule gain from Liberal Swing N/A

O'Loghlen's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 13 Aug 1877: Clare[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Home Rule Bryan O'Loghlen 1,721 47.2 34.9
Home Rule James Patrick Mahon 1,149 31.5 N/A
Conservative Robert William Cary Reeves 764 20.9 +2.9
Liberal-Conservative Francis Nathaniel Burton 15 0.4 N/A
Majority 572 15.7 3.5
Turnout 3,649 67.2 7.3
Registered electors 5,427
Home Rule hold Swing 18.9
  • O'Loghlen was a Liberal home rule supporter, while The O'Gorman Mahon was a Nationalist home rule supporter. Burton also supported home rule.[8]

O'Loghlen was declared to have resigned after accepting office as Attorney General of Victoria, Australia, causing a by-election.

By-election, 13 Aug 1879: Clare[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Home Rule James Patrick Mahon 1,661 41.5 40.6
Conservative Hector Stewart Vandeleur 1,531 38.3 +20.3
Liberal Peter O'Brien 807 20.2 N/A
Majority 130 3.3 15.9
Turnout 3,999 73.6 0.9
Registered electors 5,430
Home Rule hold Swing 30.5

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1880: Clare[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Home Rule League (Parnellite) James Patrick Mahon 3,283 44.8 0.1
Home Rule League (Parnellite) William O'Shea 3,133 42.8 +5.6
Conservative Hector Stewart Vandeleur 912 12.4 5.6
Majority 2,221 30.3 +11.1
Turnout 4,195 (est) 74.3 (est) 0.2
Registered electors 5,643
Home Rule hold Swing +1.4
Home Rule hold Swing +2.8

There was a notorious riot at Sixmilebridge on polling day in 1852, in which soldiers shot dead seven protesters.

The Clare by-election in 1828 was notable as this was the first time since the reformation that an openly Roman Catholic MP, Daniel O'Connell was elected.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. p. 219. Retrieved 23 September 2018 via Google Books.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714127.
  3. "Clare". Coventry Standard. 30 July 1852. p. 4. Retrieved 23 September 2018 via British Newspaper Archive. (Subscription required (help)).
  4. "Dublin Evening Post". 28 March 1857. pp. 5–6. Retrieved 23 September 2018 via British Newspaper Archive. (Subscription required (help)).
  5. "Clare Election". Dublin Weekly Nation. 4 April 1857. p. 16. Retrieved 23 September 2018 via British Newspaper Archive. (Subscription required (help)).
  6. "Kilkenny Journal, and Leinster Commercial and Literary Advertiser". 15 June 1853. p. 4. Retrieved 23 September 2018 via British Newspaper Archive. (Subscription required (help)).
  7. "The Irish Elections". Freeman's Journal. 4 April 1857. p. 4. Retrieved 23 September 2018 via British Newspaper Archive. (Subscription required (help)).
  8. "Clare Election". Newcastle Journal. 7 August 1877. p. 3. Retrieved 28 December 2017 via British Newspaper Archive. (Subscription required (help)).
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.