An election to Dublin Corporation took place on Thursday, 15 January 1920 as part of the 1920 Irish local elections. Dublin was divided into ten borough electoral areas to elect 80 councillors for a five-year term of office on the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).
Sinn Féin won a slight majority in the council, with 42 seats. Whilst the Sinn Féin majority was small, they emerged from the election as by far the largest party on the Dublin Corporation council.
Following the election Thomas Kelly, the Sinn Féin MP for Dublin St Stephen's Green, was unanimously elected by the council as the new Lord Mayor of Dublin. Kelly was elected despite being held at the time as a political prisoner in Wormwood Scrubs prison in England. Kelly was nominated for the position by the outgoing Lord Mayor Laurence O'Neill. Due to Kelly's imprisonment O'Neill continued as effective Lord Mayor.
Boundaries These were the first elections under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1919, which introduced a form of proportional representation. Under the old ward system, each of 20 wards had elected one alderman and three additional councillors. In 1919, the Local Government Board of Ireland created 10 borough electoral areas (BEAs), taking a greater account of population in the city, which took effect at these elections. Each BEA had between 6 and 10 members. Two councillors from each BEA were designated as aldermen.
+ Revised boundariesBEASeatsWardsFormerrepresentationNo. 19Arran Quay4No. 28Clontarf East, Clontarf West, Drumcondra and Glasnevin16No. 39Fitzwilliam, Mansion House, Royal Exchange, South City16No. 410Inns Quay and Rotunda8No. 57Merchant's Quay4No. 67Mountjoy4No. 79New Kilmainham and Usher's Quay8No. 88North City and North Dock8No. 96Wood Quay4No. 107Trinity and South Dock8
Results by party Party Seats ± ±% 423828,06945.92 1457,69312.58 997,01111.47New 79,60715.72 4523,3025.40 24,0876.69 147021.49 112650.43New 02750.45 01820.30 080.01Totals8061,131100.00
Results by borough electoral area
No. 1 Electoral Area Arran Quay Ward.
No. 2 Electoral Area Clontarf East Ward, Clontarf West Ward, Drumcondra Ward and Glasnevin Ward
The count was particularly long, with no candidates meeting the quota from counts 2 to 14.
No. 3 Electoral Area Fitzwilliam Ward, Mansion House Ward, Royal Exchange Ward and South City Ward.
No. 4 Electoral Area Inns Quay Ward and Rotunda Ward.
No. 5 Electoral Area Merchant's Quay Ward.
No. 6 Electoral Area Mountjoy Ward.
No. 7 Electoral Area New Kilmainham Ward and Usher's Quay Ward.
No. 8 Electoral Area North City Ward and North Dock Ward.
No. 9 Electoral Area Wood Quay Ward.
No. 10 Electoral Area Trinity Ward and South Dock Ward.
Notes
References