Historic Dáil constituencies

This page lists Dáil constituencies that have been used for elections to Dáil Éireann from the 1918 to the forthcoming general election. In the case of the First Dáil, the constituencies were created for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom; in the case of the Second Dáil, they were created for the Northern Ireland House of Commons and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland. Although only Sinn Féin members took their seats as TDs in the first two Dáileanna, MPs from other parties were invited to these two assemblies; on this basis, all constituencies used in 1918 and 1921 are included in this list of Dáil constituencies. From the Fourth Dáil on, they were adjusted by Irish legislation.

First Dáil (1919–21)

The British general election of 1918 in Ireland was, in Irish republican theory, to fill the 105 seats in Dáil Éireann for the First Dáil. Only the Sinn Féin MPs took their seats as Teachtaí Dála (TDs) in Dublin. This Dáil first assembled on 21 January 1919 and last met on 10 May 1921. Under a resolution passed at its last meeting, the First Dáil was dissolved upon the assembly of the Second Dáil, which took place on 16 August 1921.

The Oireachtas members database regards the First Dáil as having existed from 21 January 1919 to 10 May 1921.

Second Dáil (1921–22)

The Irish elections, 1921 comprised separate elections in the six counties of Northern Ireland and the twenty-six counties of Southern Ireland. In Irish republican theory, this was a single election to fill the 180 seats (52 from Northern Ireland and 128 from Southern Ireland) in the Second Dáil. In practice, only the Sinn Féin MPs took their seats as TDs in Dublin. This Dáil first assembled on 16 August 1921, and last met (at least in the view of the subsequent Irish Free State) on 8 June 1922.

The Second Dáil was not formally dissolved, but following the precedent of 1921, it should perhaps be regarded (from the viewpoint of the Irish Free State) as dissolved upon the assembling of the Third Dáil. The Third Dáil was first summoned to meet on 1 July 1922. It was prorogued on five occasions, and eventually met on 9 September 1922.

The Oireachtas members database regards the Second Dáil as having existed from 24 May 1921 to 16 June 1922.

According to Irish republican legitimism, the Second Dáil continued in operation, and no subsequent Dáileanna were legitimate, as they only represented part of Ireland.

Summary of constituencies and Teachta Dála

Key to categories: BC – Borough constituencies, CC – County constituencies, UC – University constituencies, Total C – Total constituencies, BTD – Borough Teachta Dála, CTD – County Teachta Dála, UTD – University Teachta Dála.

List of constituencies

Notes

• (1) Constituencies which include all or part of two or more counties are attributed to the first county mentioned in the constituency name or (if none) the predominant county.
• (2) Constituency names are based upon those used in the Oireachtas database of former members, except that borough division names in 1918 and 1997 are not placed in brackets. These names are sometimes not identical to those used in electoral legislation, i.e. compass points always follow the county or borough name in the database.
• (3) The official designation of borough and county constituencies ended in 1969. After that time, constituencies that included more than a small part of the county boroughs of Cork and Dublin are referred to as borough constituencies in this article, to preserve the continuity of the tables.

Legislation

Alterations in the constituencies do not take effect during the life of the Dáil Éireann sitting when revision is made; therefore, any by-elections take place according to constituency in place at the last election.

Electoral (Amendment) Act 2005

Main article: Electoral (Amendment) Act 2005

Dáil Éireann constituencies for the 2007 general election.

Main article: Irish general election, 2007

In 2004 the report of the Constituency Commission,^[41] proposed major changes to Dáil constituencies. Five new constituencies were created under the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2005:

• Longford–Westmeath (4)
• Meath East (3)
• Meath West (3)
• Roscommon–South Leitrim (3)
• Sligo–North Leitrim (3)

These replaced the four existing constituencies of Longford–Roscommon, Meath, Sligo–Leitrim and Westmeath. These new changes resulted in the creation of a 43rd constituency and the removal of the provincial boundary breach between Leinster and Connacht.

The number of seats was reduced in two constituencies:

• Cork North-Central (from 5 to 4)
• Dublin North-Central (from 4 to 3)

Two three-seater constituencies gained an extra seat:

• Dublin Mid-West (from 3 to 4)
• Kildare North (from 3 to 4)

There were further smaller boundary changes to eleven constituencies outside Dublin, these were: Clare, Cork North-West, Cork South-Central, Cork South-West, Donegal North-East, Donegal South-West, Kerry North, Kerry South, Kildare South, Limerick East and Limerick West.

Boundaries for ten of the twelve Dublin constituencies were also revised apart from Dublin South-East and Dún Laoghaire.

See also

• Irish House of Commons for constituencies in the Irish House of Commons between 1297 and 1801.
• List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies in Ireland and Northern Ireland for constituencies in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom
• List of Irish constituencies for a combined list of all Irish constituencies.

References

Sources

• Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922, edited by B.M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978)
• Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results 1921–1972, compiled and edited by Sydney Elliott (Political Reference Publications 1973)

External links

• Houses of the Oireachtas – TDs & Senators
• Irish Statute Book