East Kerry was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
from 1885 to 1922.
Prior to the
1885 United Kingdom general election the area was part of the
Kerry constituency. Representation at Westminster in this constituency ceased at the
1922 United Kingdom general election, which took place on 15 November, shortly before the establishment of the
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...
on 6 December 1922. The successor constituency in the new
Dáil Éireann was
Kerry–Limerick West first established under the
Government of Ireland Act 1920
The Government of Ireland Act 1920 (10 & 11 Geo. 5 c. 67) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act's long title was "An Act to provide for the better government of Ireland"; it is also known as the Fourth Home Rule Bill ...
to elect members to the
House of Commons of Southern Ireland in 1921.
Boundaries
This constituency comprised the eastern part of
County Kerry.
1885–1922: The barony of Magunihy and that part of the barony of Trughanacmy not included in the constituency of
West Kerry.
Members of Parliament
Notes
Elections
Elections in the 1880s
1 This remains the largest majority by percentage of the vote in any contested UK Parliamentary election.
Elections in the 1890s
Davitt also stood unopposed in
South Mayo. He took up the South Mayo seat and Kerry East remained vacant until the by-election the following year.
James Roche was returned but with fewer votes than his Nationalist predecessors. It was thought he lost some support because as a divorced man he was less popular with the Catholic vote.
Elections in the 1900s
In the closely fought contest of the 1906 election between two nationalist factions, Murphy was returned by a narrow margin:
Elections in the 1910s
In the January 1910 election, the incumbent Murphy (Official Nationalist) was beaten by Independent candidate, Eugene O'Sullivan, who was a follower of
William O'Brien
William O'Brien (2 October 1852 – 25 February 1928) was an Irish nationalist, journalist, agrarian agitator, social revolutionary, politician, party leader, newspaper publisher, author and Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons o ...
's
All-for-Ireland League. Shortly after being elected, O'Sullivan re-joined the official Nationalists, but Murphy petitioned the courts claiming that the vote had been rigged and that O'Sullivan had only won through violence and intimidation. The court cleared O'Sullivan of vote rigging but found him guilty of intimidation. The election was declared void, unseating O'Sullivan and creating a vacancy.
In the December 1910 election, Eugene O'Sullivan's cousin, Timothy O'Sullivan, stood for the Nationalists. The All-for-Ireland candidate,
Patrick Guiney
Patrick Guiney (16 March 1867 – 12 Oct 1913) was an Irish Nationalist politician, agrarian agitator and Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Born in Newmarket, County Cork, ...
, contested both this seat and
North Cork. Although he lost in East Kerry, he was elected unopposed in North Cork, so both candidates became
Members of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
, albeit for different constituencies. As earlier in the year, the election was marred by election violence, which included a riot at
Castleisland
Castleisland () is a town and commercial centre in County Kerry in south west Ireland. The town is known for the width of its main street. As of the 2016 Census, Castleisland had a population of 2,486.
Castleisland was described by one of its ...
.
[''The Times'' (London), Thursday, 15 December 1910; p. 6 col. D]
In accordance with his party's policy, Béaslaí declined to take his seat in the
British House of Commons, sitting instead in the Irish revolutionary assembly,
Dáil Éireann.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerry East
Westminster constituencies in County Kerry (historic)
Dáil constituencies in the Republic of Ireland (historic)
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1922