1920 Cork Corporation election

Elections to the Cork Corporation took place on Thursday 15 January 1920 as part of that year's Irish local elections.[1]

Campaign

The Labour vote was split between the Cork and District Labour Council and the more militant Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU); the latter formed an electoral alliance with Sinn Féin, whose MPs elected in December 1918 had proclaimed an Irish Republic in January 1919. Polling day was marred by scenes of violence between supporters of Sinn Féin and ex-servicemen.[2]

Results by party

Party		Candidates	Seats	±	First Pref. votes	FPv%	±%
	Sinn Féin–ITGWU[3]	54	30
	Irish Nationalist	33	14
	Cork Ratepayers' Association	22	4
	Cork and District Labour Council	12	3
	Ex-Soldiers & Sailors		2
	Independent	37	3
Totals		160	56			100%	—

Results by electoral area

The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1919 introduced the single transferable vote, so the seven wards used in previous council elections were revised into seven borough electoral areas (BEAs). Four inner wards were merged into one BEA, two outer wards were split into two and three BEAs, and one was retained as a BEA.[4] The first two candidates elected in each area would be styled "alderman", the rest "councillor".[5]

Central

37 candidates. Wards: Centre, North Centre, South Centre, and West.

Central: 10 seats[6]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Sinn Féin	James Joseph Walsh MP[n 1]
	Ratepayers	Richard Beamish[n 2]
	Irish Nationalist	Daniel Gamble[n 3]
	Sinn Féin	Terence MacSwiney MP
	Sinn Féin	Prof Alfred O'Rahilly
	Irish Nationalist	Thomas Stack[n 2]
	Ratepayers	William Desmond[n 3][n 4]
	Labour Council	Jeremiah Kelleher[n 5]
	Sinn Féin	John Fitzpatrick
	Irish Nationalist	William F. O'Connor[n 6][n 4]
	Irish Nationalist	R. H. Tilson[n 3]
	Irish Nationalist	Cornelius Desmond[n 3]
	Irish Nationalist	John Dunlea[n 3]
	Irish Nationalist	Denis Cullinane[n 3]
	Irish Nationalist	Denis Buckley[n 3][n 4]
	Irish Nationalist	John Murphy[n 3]
	Sinn Féin	Richard Hawkins
	Sinn Féin	John Jennings
	Sinn Féin	Francis Keogh
	Sinn Féin	Cornelius O'Donovan[n 7]
	Sinn Féin	Timothy Francis O'Leary
	Sinn Féin	Denis O'Neill
	Ratepayers	Daniel Williams[n 3][n 8]
	Ratepayers	T. H. G. Wallis
	Ratepayers	Daniel Humphreys
	Labour Council	John Hurley[n 9]
	Independent	William Hart[n 3]
	Independent	Jeremiah Lane[n 3]
	Independent	Patrick J. Bradley[n 3]
	Independent	Eugene Buckley
	Independent	John Callanan[n 3]
	Independent	Cornelius Curtin[n 10]
	Independent	John Hurley[n 9]
	Independent	John Hoare
	Independent	Mortimer Kelleher[n 11]
	Independent	Cornelius O'Donovan[n 7]
	Independent	Robert Joseph Warren

North-East

26 candidates

North-East: 10 seats[6]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Sinn Féin	William Stockley
	Irish Nationalist	James Daly
	Sinn Féin	Anne Sutton
	Irish Nationalist	Daniel Horgan[n 3][n 12]
	Irish Nationalist	Michael Joseph O'Riordan
	Sinn Féin	Robert F. Day
	Ratepayers	Sir John Scott
	Ratepayers	James Thomas Mulligan
	Sinn Féin	Seán O'Leary
	Sinn Féin	Seán French
	Irish Nationalist	Matthew Kenneally[n 3]
	Irish Nationalist	Cornelius Mullanny[n 2]
	Sinn Féin	Ed. Goggin
	Sinn Féin	Stephen Heffernan
	Sinn Féin	Paul O'Flynn
	Ratepayers	A. M. Cole, JP
	Ratepayers	Simon Spiro, JP
	Ratepayers	John Ronan
	Ratepayers	Clarence de Foubert
	Ratepayers	Daniel Williams[n 3][n 8]
	Independent	Patrick Clarke
	Independent	William Dalton
	Independent	Denis Mack[n 13]
	Independent	Maurice O'Carroll
	Independent	Robert Edwin Roberts
	Independent	Edward E. Whitaker

North-West No.1

23 candidates; covering Sunday's Well area

North-West No.1: 7 seats[7]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Sinn Féin	Frederick J. Murray
	Sinn Féin	Tadhg Barry[n 14]
	Labour Council	Patrick J. Murphy
	Irish Nationalist	William F. O'Connor[n 6][n 4]
	Sinn Féin	James Allen
	Sinn Féin	Thomas Daly
	Independent	Michael Joseph O'Callaghan
	Irish Nationalist	John Joseph Doherty
	Irish Nationalist	Patrick Keane
	Irish Nationalist	Patrick F. O'Sullivan[n 3][n 15]
	Sinn Féin	Patrick O'Sullivan[n 15]
	Sinn Féin	James Purcell
	Sinn Féin	James Walsh[n 1]
	Ratepayers	Thomas Andrews
	Ratepayers	R. A. Atkins
	Ratepayers	Henry Dawson
	Labour Council	John O'Connor
	Independent	Cornelius Curtin[n 10]
	Independent	Mortimer Kelleher[n 11]
	Independent	Daniel Lynch
	Independent	Laurence Prior
	Independent	John Roche
	Independent	James Walsh[n 1]

North-West No.2

13 candidates; covering Shandon area.

North-West No.2: 6 seats[7]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Sinn Féin	Edmond Coughlan
	Sinn Féin	Patrick Higgins
	Irish Nationalist	John Francis O'Sullivan[n 16]
	Irish Nationalist	Patrick F. O'Sullivan[n 3][n 15]
	Sinn Féin	Simon Daly
	Ex-Soldiers & Sailors	Timothy O'Neill
	Irish Nationalist	Daniel Horgan[n 3][n 12]
	Irish Nationalist	Patrick Stack[n 3]
	Sinn Féin	John Kelleher
	Sinn Féin	Henry Lorton
	Sinn Féin	John O'Keeffe
	Ratepayers	Michael D. Spillane[n 17]
	Independent	John Flynn
	Independent	Joseph Leonard

North-West No.3

18 candidates; covering Blackpool area

North-West No. 3: 6 seats[6]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Sinn Féin	Tomás Mac Curtain
	Sinn Féin	Denis Lucey
	Ex-Soldiers & Sailors	Gerald Byrne[n 18]
	Sinn Féin	Mícheál Ó Cuill (Michael O'Quill)
	Sinn Féin	Thomas Patrick Forde
	Labour Council	Michael Egan[n 3]
	Irish Nationalist	Edward A. Lyons
	Irish Nationalist	Charles Whelan
	Sinn Féin	Timothy Gearan
	Sinn Féin	Bartholomew Quinlan
	Ratepayers	Michael D. Spillane[n 17]
	Labour Council	Cornelius Hobart
	Labour Council	Thomas Walsh
	Independent	Mortimer Kelleher[n 11]
	Independent	Denis Mack[n 13]
	Independent	John McAuley[n 3]
	Independent	Daniel O'Leary
	Independent	Michael O'Connell

South No.1

30 candidates

South No. 1: 11 seats[7]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Sinn Féin	Charles Coughlan
	Sinn Féin	Seán O'Sullivan[n 16]
	Independent Nationalist	John (Seán) Cronin[n 2][n 19]
	Sinn Féin	John (Seán) Good
	Irish Nationalist	John Horgan[n 3]
	Sinn Féin	Jeremiah Kelleher[n 5]
	Irish Nationalist	Simon Mahony[n 3]
	Irish Nationalist	William F. O'Connor[n 6][n 4]
	Sinn Féin	Liam (William) Russell[n 20]
	Sinn Féin	John F. Sheehan[n 21]
	Sinn Féin	Maurice Walsh
	Irish Nationalist	Jeremiah Ahern
	Irish Nationalist	David Murphy
	Irish Nationalist	Simon Mahony
	Irish Nationalist	James O'Connell[n 3]
	Sinn Féin	William Kenneally
	Sinn Féin	Michael Landy
	Sinn Féin	Michael Murphy
	Sinn Féin	Frank O'Neill
	Ratepayers	Robert Pulvertaft
	Labour Council	James Harty
	Labour Council	William Waldrock
	Labour Council	John Donovan
	Independent	Thomas Donovan
	Independent	Fred Howe
	Independent	Dr. E. Magner
	Independent	John O'Sullivan[n 16]
	Independent	William James Russell[n 20]
	Independent	John Sheehan[n 21]
	Independent	Daniel Sheehan

South No.2

18 candidates

South No.2: 6 seats[7][9]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Sinn Féin	Liam de Róiste MP		697
	Independent Nationalist	Sir Edward Fitzgerald, 1st baronet[n 2]		474
	Sinn Féin	Daniel Barry
	Sinn Féin	Stephen John O'Riordan
	Irish Nationalist	John Desmond
	Irish Nationalist	William Ellis[n 3]
	Irish Nationalist	John McCarthy
	Sinn Féin	Stephen Harrington
	Sinn Féin	Denis Hegarty
	Sinn Féin	P. Austin O'Riordan
	Ratepayers	Thomas Farrington
	Ratepayers	Thomas A. Callanan
	Labour Council	William Byrne
	Labour Council	Martin Hawkins
	Ex-Soldiers & Sailors	Gerald Byrne[n 18]
	Independent Nationalist	John (Seán) Cronin[n 2][n 19]
	Independent	Joseph O'Brien
	Independent	Joseph Parfrey

Subsequent changes

William F. O'Connor, having been returned in three BEAs, chose to represent North-West No.1, triggering by-elections in the other two BEAs on 10 March, both won by Sinn Féin candidates: Barry Egan defeated Jeremiah Lane in the Central ward, while Donal O'Callaghan was returned unopposed in South No.1. Ten subsequent by-elections returned: Joseph Hennessy, Madeline Hegarty, William Kenneally, Michael Moroney, Cornelius Neenan, Seán Nolan, Michael O'Donovan, Paul O'Flynn, James O'Riordan, and Jeremiah Walsh. Among the vacancies filled were several deaths related to the Irish War of Independence: Tomás Mac Curtain (assassinated by Royal Irish Constabulary members on 20 March 1920), his successor as Lord Mayor Terence MacSwiney (died on hunger strike on 25 October 1920), and Tadhg Barry (shot in Ballykinlar Camp, 15 November 1921).[10]

In 1924 the Cumann na nGaedheal government dissolved the city council for misgovernment, after which the corporation was administered by an unelected commissioner. The next Free State local elections, originally scheduled for 1923, were repeatedly postponed until 1925. The city council was excluded from the 1925 and 1928 local elections and not restored until 1929, reduced to 21 councillors, with the entire county borough forming a single 21-seat electoral area.[11]

References

Footnotes

1. The two candidates in North-West No.1 BEA named James Walsh and the James Joseph Walsh in Central BEA were three different people.
2. Outgoing alderman
3. Outgoing councillor
4. The following Nationalists in Centre BEA were also endorse by the Ratepayers: Denis Buckley, William F. O'Connor, and William Desmond.
5. Two different men named Jeremiah Kelleher were elected: a Labour candidate and outgoing alderman from Gillabbey Terrace in Central BEA, and a Sinn Féin candidate from Lough Road in South No.1 BEA.
6. William F. O'Connor, the incumbent Lord Mayor, was returned in three electoral areas.
7. There were two candidates named Cornelius O'Donovan in Central BEA.
8. Daniel Williams ran in Central and North-East BEAs.
9. Two men named John Hurley ran in Central BEA.
10. Cornelius Curtin ran in Central and North-West No.1 BEAs.
11. Mortimer Kelleher ran in Central, North-West No.1 and North-West No.3 BEAs.
12. Daniel Horgan ran in North-East and North-West No.2 BEAs.
13. Denis Mack ran in both North-East and North-West No.3 BEAs.
14. Tadhg Barry was a union official representing the ITGWU portion of the join ITGWU–Sinn Fein ticket.[8]
15. Patrick F. O'Sullivan of Dominick Street ran in North-West No.1 and No.2 BEAs; Patrick O'Sullivan of St. Mary's Terrace, Fair Hill, ran in North-West No.1 BEA.
16. Seán O'Sullivan, John Francis O'Sullivan and John O'Sullivan were different people.
17. Michael D. Spillane ran in North-West No.2 and No.3 BEAs.
18. Gerald Byrne ran in both North-West No.3 and South No.2 BEAs.
19. John (Seán) Cronin ran in South No.1 amd No.2 BEAs.
20. William (Liam) Russell and William James Russell were different people.
21. John F. Sheehan and John Sheehan were different people.

Sources

• McCabe, Conor (2010). "The Irish Labour Party and the 1920 local elections". Saothar. 35: 7–20. ISSN 0332-1169. JSTOR 23200073.
• McCarthy, Kieran (2 January 2020). "Our City, Our Town: Remembering 1920: Preparing for local elections". Cork Independent. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
• McCarthy, Kieran (16 January 2020). "Our City, Our Town: Remembering 1920: The Newly Elected Corporation". Cork Independent. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
• Quinlivan, Aodh (26 January 2020). "Cork City Council Centenary: When Tomás MacCurtain was elected Lord Mayor of Cork". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
• "Cork Municipal Elections: Candidates nominated". Cork Examiner. 6–7 January 1920. Retrieved 3 February 2020 – via Cork Genealogy.

Citations

1. "Municipal elections: Dublin Townships". Dublin Evening Telegraph. Dublin. 19 January 1920. pp. 1–3 – via britishnewspaperarchive.
2. "Municipal elections — Sinn Féin and Labour perform strongly as unionists falter". Century Ireland. RTÉ. 14 January 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
3. McCabe 2010 p.12
4. "Table 6" (PDF). Census of Ireland 1926. I. p. 12.
5. Local Government Board for Ireland (1921). "Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1919: Elections". Annual report for the year ended 31st March 1920. Command papers. Cmd.1432. Dublin: HMSO. pp. i–xi, Appendix p.1.
6. "Dublin Evening Telegraph". britishnewspaperarchive. Dublin. 19 January 1920.
7. "Dublin Evening Telegraph". britishnewspaperarchive. Dublin. 17 January 1920.
8. McCabe 2010 p.20 fn.57
9. "Irish Independent". britishnewspaperarchive. Dublin. 17 January 1920.
10. Ó Drisceoil, Donal (January 2008). "Labour lives: Tadgh Barry (1885-1921)". Saothar: Journal of Irish Labour History. 33: 89–92. hdl:10468/3035.
11. Moran, John (1972). "Local Elections in Cork City (1929-1967)". Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society: 124–125. Retrieved 15 September 2018.