South Armagh (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

South Armagh
Former County constituency for the Parliament of Northern Ireland
South Armagh shown within Northern Ireland
Former constituency
Created	1929
Abolished	1972
Election method	First past the post

South Armagh was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

Boundaries

South Armagh was a county constituency comprising the southern part of County Armagh. It was created when the House of Commons (Method of Voting and Redistribution of Seats) Act (Northern Ireland) 1929 introduced first-past-the-post elections throughout Northern Ireland. South Armagh was created by the division of Armagh into four new constituencies. The constituency survived unchanged, returning one Member of Parliament, until the Parliament of Northern Ireland was temporarily suspended in 1972, and then formally abolished in 1973.

The seat was made up from parts of the rural districts of Armagh and Newry, with the town of Keady.

Politics

The seat had a significant Nationalist majority, but Labour candidates were sometimes polled well.

The remainder of contested elections involved candidates of different Nationalist persuasions.

Members of Parliament

Elected	Name	Party
1929	Joe Connellan		Nationalist
1933	Paddy McLogan		Irish Republican
1938	Paddy Agnew		NI Labour
1945	Malachy Conlon		Nationalist
1950	Charles McGleenan		Anti-Partition
1958	Edward George Richardson		Independent Nationalist
1958			Nationalist
1969	Paddy O'Hanlon		Independent Nationalist
1970			SDLP

Election results

General Election 1929: South Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nationalist	Joe Connellan	4,292	53.7
	Independent Nationalist	Patrick Donnelly	3,694	46.3
Majority			598	7.4
Turnout			7,986	48.8
	Nationalist win (new seat)

General Election 1933: South Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Republican	Paddy McLogan	4,803	55.6	New
	National League	Gerry Lennon	2,211	25.6	New
	Nationalist	Bernard O'Neill	1,627	18.8	-34.9
Majority			2,592	30.0	N/A
Turnout			8,641	51.1	+2.3
	Irish Republican gain from Nationalist		Swing	N/A

At the 1938 Northern Ireland general election, Paddy Agnew was elected unopposed.

General Election 1945: South Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nationalist	Malachy Conlon	6,720	61.9	New
	NI Labour	Paddy Agnew	4,143	38.1	New
Majority			2,577	23.8	N/A
Turnout			10,863	64.6	N/A
	Nationalist gain from NI Labour		Swing	N/A

General Election 1949: South Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nationalist	Malachy Conlon	10,868	76.4	+14.5
	Ulster Unionist	Isaac Hawthorne	3,365	23.6	New
Majority			7,503	52.8	+29.0
Turnout			14,233	84.8	+20.2
	Nationalist hold		Swing	N/A

South Armagh by-election, 1950

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Anti-Partition	Charles McGleenan	5,581	68.6	New
	Irish Labour	Seamus MacKearney	2,555	31.4	New
Majority			3,026	37.2	N/A
Turnout			8,136	46.5	-38.3
	Anti-Partition gain from Nationalist		Swing	N/A

At the 1953 Northern Ireland general election, Charles McGleenan was elected unopposed.

General Election 1958: South Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Nationalist	Edward George Richardson	3,698	49.5	New
	Independent Labour	Malachy Trainor	2,306	30.8	New
	Independent Nationalist	James McParland	1,470	19.7	New
Majority			1,392	18.7	N/A
Turnout			7,474	43.1	N/A
	Independent Nationalist gain from Anti-Partition		Swing	N/A

General Election 1962: South Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nationalist	Edward George Richardson	8,049	64.4	N/A
	Ulster Unionist	Brian McRoberts	2,981	23.8	New
	Independent Labour	Malachy Trainor	1,470	11.8	-19.0
Majority			5,068	40.6	N/A
Turnout			12,500	73.2	+30.1
	Nationalist gain from Independent Nationalist		Swing	N/A

General Election 1965: South Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nationalist	Edward George Richardson	5,223	88.5	+24.1
	Independent Republican	Peter McSorley	682	13.5	New
Majority			4,541	77.0	+36.4
Turnout			5,905	33.5	-39.7
	Nationalist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1969: South Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Nationalist	Paddy O'Hanlon	6,442	51.2	New
	Nationalist	Edward George Richardson	4,332	34.5	-54.0
	NI Labour	Patrick J. Byrne	1,794	14.3	New
Majority			2,110	16.7	N/A
Turnout			12,568	69.3	+35.8
	Independent Nationalist gain from Nationalist		Swing	N/A