Number of members One Replaced by Kerry | Created from County Kerry | |
East Kerry was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament 1885–1922.
Contents
Prior to the United Kingdom general election, 1885 the area was part of the Kerry constituency. Following the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the formation of the Irish Free State in 1922, the area was no longer represented in the UK Parliament, as it was no longer part of the UK. The successor constituency in the new Dáil Éireann was Kerry–Limerick West first established under the Government of Ireland Act 1920 to elect members to the House of Commons of Southern Ireland in 1921.
Boundaries
This constituency comprised the eastern part of County Kerry.
1885
This remains the largest majority by percentage of the vote in any contested UK Parliamentary election.
1886
Sheehan (Nationalist) was returned unopposed.
1892
Sheehan was returned again with a large majority over his opponent, Captain John McGillycuddy:
1895
Michael Davitt (Irish National Federation) was returned unopposed, but he 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.
1896
James Roche (Irish National Federation) 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.
1900
John Murphy (Irish Parliamentary Party) was returned unopposed.
1906
In a closely fought contest between two nationalist factions, Murphy was returned by a narrow margin:
January 1910
The incumbent Murphy (Official Nationalist) was beaten by Independent candidate, Eugene O'Sullivan, who was a follower of William O'Brien'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.
December 1910
Eugene O'Sullivan's cousin, Timothy O'Sullivan, stood for the Nationalists. The Independent Nationalist All-for-Ireland candidate, Patrick Guiney, 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, albeit for different constituencies. As earlier in the year, the election was marred by election violence, which included a riot at Castleisland.
-Majority: 1253
1918
Beasley (Sinn Féin) was returned unopposed. In accordance with his party's policy, he declined to take his seat in the British House of Commons, sitting instead in the Irish revolutionary assembly, Dáil Éireann.