Kilkenny City (UK Parliament constituency)

Kilkenny City
Kilkenny City
Former borough constituency; for the House of Commons
County	County Kilkenny
Borough	Kilkenny
1801–1918
Seats	1
Created from	Kilkenny City (IHC)
Replaced by	North Kilkenny

Kilkenny City was an Irish borough constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament (MP). It was an original constituency represented in Parliament when the Union of Great Britain and Ireland took effect on 1 January 1801, and remained in existence until its abolition at the 1918 general election.

Boundaries[edit]

This constituency was the parliamentary borough of Kilkenny in County Kilkenny.

Members of Parliament[edit]

Election		Member	Party	Note
	1 January 1801	William Talbot		1801: Co-opted. Resigned.
	2 March 1802	Richard Archdall
	22 July 1802	Hon. Charles Harward Butler	Whig	Resigned
	4 February 1809	Robert Williams
	24 October 1812	Overington Blunden		Resigned
	27 May 1814	Hon. Charles Harward Butler	Whig
	7 April 1820	Rt Hon. Denis Browne	Tory
	22 June 1826	John Doherty	Tory^[1]
	11 August 1830	Nicholas Philpot Leader	Whig^[2]
	13 December 1832	Richard Sullivan	Repeal Association^[3]	Re-elected as a candidate of a Liberal/Repealer pact
	17 May 1836	Daniel O'Connell	Repeal Association^[2]^[3]
	7 August 1837	Joseph Hume	Radical^[2]
	3 July 1841	John O'Connell	Repeal Association^[2]^[3]^[4]	1847: Also returned by and elected to sit for Limerick
	18 December 1847	Michael Sullivan	Repeal Association^[3]^[5]	Re-elected as a Liberal candidate
	10 July 1852		Ind. Irish^[3]
	5 May 1859		Liberal
	13 July 1865	Sir John Gray	Liberal	Re-elected as a Home Rule League candidate
	2 February 1874	Sir John Gray	Home Rule League	Died
	28 April 1875	Benjamin Whitworth	Home Rule League	Resigned
	26 February 1880	John Francis Smithwick	Home Rule League
	1882	John Francis Smithwick	Irish Parliamentary Party
	1886	Thomas Quinn	Irish Parliamentary Party
	1890		Parnellite
	1891–1892		Irish National Federation
	1892–1895	Thomas Bartholomew Curran	Irish National Federation
	1895	Patrick O'Brien	Parnellite
	1900–1917	Patrick O'Brien	Irish Parliamentary Party
	1917	W. T. Cosgrave	Sinn Féin
1918		constituency abolished

Elections[edit]

Elections in the 1830s[edit]

General election 1830: Kilkenny City^[3]^[2]^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Nicholas Leader	219	54.5
	Nonpartisan	William Morris Reade	116	28.9
	Nonpartisan	William Morres Bayley	67	16.7
Majority			103	25.6
Turnout			402
	Whig gain from Tory		Swing

General election 1831: Kilkenny City^[3]^[2]^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Whig	Nicholas Leader	Unopposed
Registered electors			350
	Whig hold

General election 1832: Kilkenny City^[3]^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Repeal	Richard Sullivan (MP)	Unopposed
Registered electors			562
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig

General election 1835: Kilkenny City^[3]^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Richard Sullivan (MP)	7	100.0
	Nonpartisan	William Fletcher	0	0.0
Majority			7	100.0
Turnout			7	1.2
Registered electors			599
	Irish Repeal hold

Sullivan resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 17 May 1836: Kilkenny City^[3]^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Irish Repeal	Daniel O'Connell	Unopposed
	Irish Repeal hold

General election 1837: Kilkenny City^[3]^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Joseph Hume	57	45.6	*New*
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Daniel O'Connell	50	40.0	−60.0
	Radical	William Ewart	18	14.4	New
Majority			7	5.6	N/A
Turnout			125	16.1	+14.9
Registered electors			775
	Radical gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1840s[edit]

General election 1841: Kilkenny City^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Repeal	John O'Connell	Unopposed
Registered electors			580
	Irish Repeal gain from Radical

General election 1847: Kilkenny City^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Repeal	John O'Connell	Unopposed
Registered electors			443
	Irish Repeal hold

O'Connell was also elected for Limerick City and opted to sit there, causing a by-election.

By-election, 18 December 1847: Kilkenny City^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Repeal	Michael Sullivan	Unopposed
	Irish Repeal hold

Elections in the 1850s[edit]

General election 1852: Kilkenny City^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Independent Irish	Michael Sullivan	Unopposed
Registered electors			664
	Independent Irish gain from Irish Repeal

General election 1857: Kilkenny City^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Irish	Michael Sullivan	218	55.2	*N/A*
	Whig	Francis Harvey Devereux^[7]	177	44.8	New
Majority			41	10.4	N/A
Turnout			395	74.4	N/A
Registered electors			531
	Independent Irish hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1859: Kilkenny City^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Michael Sullivan	236	52.9	−2.3
	Liberal	Matthew O'Donnell	210	47.1	+2.3
Majority			26	5.8	−4.6
Turnout			446	76.2	+1.8
Registered electors			585
	Liberal hold		Swing	−2.3

Elections in the 1860s[edit]

General election 1865: Kilkenny City^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	John Gray	Unopposed
Registered electors			574
	Liberal hold

General election 1868: Kilkenny City^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	John Gray	Unopposed
Registered electors			739
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s[edit]

General election 1874: Kilkenny City^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Home Rule	John Gray	Unopposed
Registered electors			709
	Home Rule gain from Liberal

Gray's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 28 Apr 1875: Kilkenny City^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	Benjamin Whitworth	290	55.6	*N/A*
	Home Rule	Edmund Dwyer-Gray	120	23.0	N/A
	Home Rule	Edward Marum	112	21.5	N/A
Majority			170	32.6	N/A
Turnout			522	75.7	N/A
Registered electors			690
	Home Rule hold

Elections in the 1880s[edit]

Whitworth's resignation caused a by-election.

By-election, 26 Feb 1880: Kilkenny City^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Home Rule	John Francis Smithwick	Unopposed
Registered electors			675
	Home Rule hold

General election 1880: Kilkenny City^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	John Francis Smithwick	316	60.8	*N/A*
	Home Rule	William James Doherty	204	39.2	N/A
Majority			112	21.6	N/A
Turnout			520	77.0	N/A
Registered electors			675
	Home Rule hold

1885 general election: Kilkenny City^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Parliamentary	John Francis Smithwick	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,899
	Irish Parliamentary hold

1886 general election: Kilkenny City^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Parliamentary	Thomas Quinn	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,899
	Irish Parliamentary hold

Elections in the 1890s[edit]

1892 general election: Kilkenny City^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish National Federation	Thomas Bartholomew Curran	744	55.2	*N/A*
	Irish National League	John O'Connor	604	44.8	N/A
Majority			140	10.4	N/A
Turnout			1,348	74.6	N/A
Registered electors			1,806
	Irish National Federation gain from Irish Parliamentary		Swing	N/A

1895 general election: Kilkenny City^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish National League	Pat O'Brien	681	50.5	+5.7
	Irish National Federation	James Patrick Farrell	667	49.5	−5.7
Majority			14	1.0	N/A
Turnout			1,348	76.2	+1.6
Registered electors			1,769
	Irish National League gain from Irish National Federation		Swing	+5.7

Elections in the 1900s[edit]

1900 general election: Kilkenny City^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Parliamentary	Pat O'Brien	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,556
	Irish Parliamentary hold

1906 general election: Kilkenny City^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Parliamentary	Pat O'Brien	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,533
	Irish Parliamentary hold

Elections in the 1910s[edit]

January 1910 general election: Kilkenny City^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Parliamentary	Pat O'Brien	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,742
	Irish Parliamentary hold

December 1910 general election: Kilkenny City^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Parliamentary	Pat O'Brien	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,742
	Irish Parliamentary hold

By-election 10 August 1917: Kilkenny City^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	W. T. Cosgrave	772	66.3	*New*
	Irish Parliamentary	John Magennis	392	33.7	N/A
Majority			380	32.6	N/A
Turnout			1,164	68.4	N/A
Registered electors			1,702
	Sinn Féin gain from Irish Parliamentary		Swing	N/A

References[edit]

^ Fisher, David R. "DOHERTY, John (1785-1850), of Stephen's Green, Dublin". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. pp. 230–231.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 221, 286–287, 356. ISBN 0901714127.
^ "Kilkenny—The County Election". Wexford Independent. 14 August 1847. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 2 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Cork Examiner". 22 December 1847. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ ^a ^b Salmon, Philip. "Kilkenny". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
^ "The Evening Freeman". 8 April 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 2 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

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 "K" (part 2)

[1] Fisher, David R. "DOHERTY, John (1785-1850), of Stephen's Green, Dublin". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 15 May 2020.

[stookssmith1842-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. pp. 230–231.

[walker-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 221, 286–287, 356. ISBN 0901714127.

[4] "Kilkenny—The County Election". Wexford Independent. 14 August 1847. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 2 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[5] "Cork Examiner". 22 December 1847. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[hop1820-1832-6] Salmon, Philip. "Kilkenny". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 15 May 2020.

[7] "The Evening Freeman". 8 April 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 2 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

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