Waterford City was a United Kingdom parliamentary constituency, in southeast Ireland.

Boundaries and boundary changes As the constituency for the parliamentary borough of Waterford in County Waterford, it returned one MP from 1801 to 1832, two from 1832 to 1885 and one from 1885 to 1922. It was an original constituency represented in Parliament when the Union of Great Britain and Ireland took effect on 1 January 1801.

In 1918, the boundary was redefined to exclude the Kilculliheen area which had been transferred to County Kilkenny under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 (61 & 62 Vict. c. 37). It was defined as consisting of the county borough of Waterford and the district electoral divisions of Ballynakill, Kilbarry, Killoteran and Waterford Rural in the rural district of Waterford.

Following the dissolution of parliament in 1922 the area was no longer represented in the United Kingdom House of Commons.

Politics The constituency was a predominantly Nationalist area in 1918. The seat was contested by William Redmond, the son of the IPP leader John Redmond whom he replaced in the Waterford City constituency in a by-election held in March 1918.Jonathan Githens-Mazer, Myths and Memories of the Easter Rising, Cultural and Political Nationalism in Ireland, (Dublin and Portland, OR: Irish Academic Press, 2006), 202 In the general election of December 1918, it was the only Irish seat the IPP won outside Ulster.Brian, Walker, ed, Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922, (Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 1978), 187–191

The 1st Dáil Sinn Féin contested the 1918 general election on the platform that instead of taking up any seats they won in the United Kingdom Parliament, they would establish a revolutionary assembly in Dublin. In republican theory every MP elected in Ireland was a potential Deputy to this assembly. In practice only the Sinn Féin members accepted the offer.

The revolutionary First Dáil assembled on 21 January 1919 and last met on 10 May 1921. The 1st Dáil, according to a resolution passed on 10 May 1921, was formally dissolved on the assembling of the Second Dáil. This took place on 16 August 1921.

Sinn Féin used the 1921 Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland general elections as a poll for the Irish Republic's Second Dáil. This area was part of the five-seat Dáil constituency of Waterford–Tipperary East.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1801–32 ElectionMemberPartyLife 1801 William Congreve Alcock Tory c. 1771–1813 1803 Sir John Newport, Bt.On petition Alcock was unseated and Newport was declared elected, 7 December 1803. Whig 1756–1843

MPs 1832–85

Representation increased to two members Election1st Member1st Party2nd Member2nd Party 1832 Henry Barron Repeal Association William Christmas Tory 1834 Conservative 1835 Thomas Wyse Whig 1841 William Christmas ConservativeWilliam Morris Reade Conservative 1841 Henry Barron Whig Thomas Wyse Whig 1847 Thomas Meagher Repeal Association Daniel O'Connell Jnr Repeal Association1848 by-election Henry Barron Whig 1852 Ind. Irish Robert Keating Ind. Irish 1857 John Aloysius Blake Ind. Irish Michael D. Hassard Conservative 1859 Liberal 1865 Henry Barron Liberal 1868 James Delahunty Liberal 1869 Henry Barron Liberal1870 by-election Ralph Bernal Osborne Liberal 1874 Richard Power Home Rule League Purcell O'Gorman Home Rule League 1880 Edmund Leamy 1882 Irish Parliamentary Party Irish Parliamentary Party 1885Reduced to 1 seat

MPs 1885–1918 Representation reduced to one member

ElectionMemberParty 1885 Richard Power Nationalist 1890 Parnellite 1892 by-election John Redmond Parnellite 1900 Nationalist 1918 by-election William Redmond Nationalist1922 UK constituency abolished

Elections The single-member elections in this constituency took place using the first past the post electoral system. Multi-member elections used the plurality-at-large voting system.

Elections in the 1830s

Wyse was appointed as a Commissioner of the Treasury, requiring a by-election.

Elections in the 1840s

On petition, Christmas and Reade were unseated and Wyse and Barron were declared elected on 13 June 1842.

O'Connell resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1850s

Elections in the 1860s

Blake resigned after he was appointed inspector of Irish fisheries, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1870s Barron was unseated on petition, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1880s

Elections in the 1890s Power died, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

See also List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies in Ireland and Northern Ireland Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act 1918 List of MPs elected in the 1918 United Kingdom general election Historic Dáil constituencies Members of the 1st Dáil

References

Sources GITHENS-MAZER, Jonathan. Myths and Memories of the Easter Rising, Cultural and Political Nationalism in Ireland. Dublin and Portland, OR: Irish Academic Press, 2006, 238p. 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)

External links History of Parliament: Constituencies 1790–1820