South Fermanagh (UK Parliament constituency)

South Fermanagh was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland.

South Fermanagh
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
1885–1922
Number of membersOne
Replaced byFermanagh and Tyrone
Created fromFermanagh

Boundaries and Boundary Changes

This county constituency comprised the southern part of County Fermanagh. The seat was defined under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 as comprising the baronies of Clanawley, Clankelly, Coole, Knockninny, and Magherastephana. The seat was unchanged under the Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act 1918.

It returned one Member of Parliament 1885–1922.

Prior to the 1885 United Kingdom general election the area was part of the Fermanagh constituency. After the dissolution of Parliament in 1922 the constituency was incorporated in the new seat of Fermanagh and Tyrone

Politics

The constituency was a nationalist inclined one, but with a significant unionist minority. The Irish Parliamentary Party held the seat from 1885 to 1918.

In 1918 Sinn Féin had a limited electoral pact with the Nationalists to avoid seriously splitting the vote in seats Unionists might win. In this constituency Sinn Féin benefited from the pact, as nationalists were advised to vote for John O'Mahoney (otherwise known as Seán O'Mahony) rather than their own candidate (the incumbent MP).

O'Mahony was a prisoner interned in Lincoln Jail at the time of the election. He was the only Sinn Féin candidate elected in the six counties that became Northern Ireland who was not also returned for a seat in the rest of Ireland. After being released in 1919 he did not take his seat in the UK Parliament but served in the First Dáil instead.

The First Dáil

Sinn Féin contested the general election of 1918 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 First 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.

In 1921 Sinn Féin decided to use the UK authorised elections for the Northern Ireland House of Commons and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland as a poll for the Irish Republic's Second Dáil. This area, in republican theory, was incorporated in an eight-member Dáil constituency of Fermanagh and Tyrone.

Members of Parliament
ElectionMemberParty
1885 Henry Campbell Irish Parliamentary
1892 Patrick McGilligan Irish National Federation
1895 Jeremiah Jordan Irish National Federation
1900 Irish Parliamentary
1910, December Patrick Crumley Irish Parliamentary
1918 Seán O'Mahony Sinn Féin

Elections

The elections in this constituency took place using the first past the post electoral system.

Elections in the 1880s
General election 1885: South Fermanagh[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish Parliamentary Henry Campbell 3,574 62.1
Irish Conservative Frank Brooke 2,181 37.9
Majority 1,393 24.2
Turnout 5,755 84.0
Registered electors 6,855
Irish Parliamentary win (new seat)
General election 1886: South Fermanagh[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish Parliamentary Henry Campbell 3,553 60.5 −1.6
Irish Unionist Frank Brooke 2,320 39.5 +1.6
Majority 1,233 21.0 −3.2
Turnout 5,873 85.7 +1.7
Registered electors 6,855
Irish Parliamentary hold Swing −1.6

Elections in the 1890s
General election 1892: South Fermanagh[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish National Federation Patrick McGilligan 2,941 55.9 −4.6
Liberal Unionist Arthur St George Patton 2,320 44.1 +4.6
Majority 621 11.8 −9.2
Turnout 5,261 90.9 +5.2
Registered electors 5,788
Irish National Federation gain from Irish Parliamentary Swing −4.6
General election 1895: South Fermanagh[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish National Federation Jeremiah Jordan 2,792 57.1 +1.2
Irish Unionist Arthur Douglas Brooke 2,096 42.9 −1.2
Majority 696 14.2 +2.4
Turnout 4,888 88.6 −2.3
Registered electors 5,519
Irish National Federation hold Swing +1.2

Elections in the 1900s
General election 1900: South Fermanagh[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish Parliamentary Jeremiah Jordan 2,753 58.1 +1.0
Irish Unionist Thomas Stephenson Francis Battersby 1,982 41.9 −1.0
Majority 771 16.2 +2.0
Turnout 4,735 84.2 −4.4
Registered electors 5,622
Irish Parliamentary hold Swing +1.0
General election 1906: South Fermanagh[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish Parliamentary Jeremiah Jordan Unopposed
Irish Parliamentary hold

Elections in the 1910s
General election, January 1910: South Fermanagh[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish Parliamentary Jeremiah Jordan 2,693 56.2 N/A
Irish Unionist Thomas Stephenson Francis Battersby 2,098 43.8 New
Majority 595 12.4 N/A
Turnout 4,791 90.1 N/A
Registered electors 5,317
Irish Parliamentary hold Swing
General election, December 1910: South Fermanagh[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish Parliamentary Patrick Crumley Unopposed
Irish Parliamentary hold
General Election 14 December 1918: South Fermanagh[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Sinn Féin Seán O'Mahony 6,673 58.9 New
Irish Unionist James Cooper 4,524 39.9 New
Irish Parliamentary Patrick Crumley 132 1.2 N/A
Majority 2,149 19.0 N/A
Turnout 11,329 81.1 N/A
Registered electors 13,962
Sinn Féin gain from Irish Parliamentary Swing N/A

References
  1. Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714127.

See also
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