County Kilkenny (UK Parliament constituency)

County Kilkenny
County Kilkenny
Former county constituency; for the House of Commons
County	County Kilkenny
1801–1885
Seats	2
Created from	County Kilkenny (IHC)
Replaced by	North Kilkenny; South Kilkenny;

County Kilkenny was a former UK Parliament county constituency in County Kilkenny in Ireland. The County constituency returned two Members of Parliaments (MPs) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, from 1801 until 1885.

County Kilkenny constituency was an original constituency represented in Parliament when the Acts of Union 1800 by Great Britain and Ireland took effect on 1 January 1801, and remained in existence until its abolition in 1885 when it was replaced by North Kilkenny and South Kilkenny.

Boundaries[edit]

County Kilkenny constituency was made up of the traditional county except for the borough constituency of Kilkenny City for Kilkenny.

This constituency comprised the whole of County Kilkenny, except for the parliamentary borough of Kilkenny City.

Members of Parliament[edit]

Year	1st Member		1st Party		2nd Party
1801, 1 January		William Ponsonby, later Baron Ponsonby	Whig	James Butler, later Marquess of Ormonde
1806, 12 April		George Ponsonby
1806, 21 November		Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby
1820, 11 September		Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby		Charles Clarke	Whig^[1]
1826, 22 June		John Ponsonby, Viscount Duncannon, later Earl of Bessborough	Whig^[1]	Charles Clarke	Whig^[1]
1830, 12 August			Whig^[1]	John Butler, Earl of Ossory, later Marquess of Ormonde	Whig^[1]
1832, 20 December		Pierce Butler	Repeal Association^[1]^[2]	William Francis Finn	Repeal Association^[1]^[2]
1837, 12 August				George Bryan	Whig^[1]
1843, 1 December				Pierce Somerset Butler	Repeal Association^[2]^[3]^[4]
1846, 29 July		Richard Smithwicke	Repeal Association^[2]
1847, 18 August		John Greene	Repeal Association^[2]^[3]^[4]
1852, 26 July			Ind. Irish^[2]^[5]^[6]	William Shee	Ind. Irish^[2]^[5]
1857, 13 April			Ind. Irish^[2]^[5]^[6]	Leopold Agar-Ellis	Whig^[7]
1859, 20 May			Liberal^[2]		Liberal^[2]
1865, 24 July		George Leopold Bryan	Liberal^[2]		Liberal^[2]
1874, 10 February		George Leopold Bryan	Home Rule League^[2]	Patrick Martin	Home Rule League^[2]
1880, 15 April		Edward Marum	Parnellite Home Rule League^[2]	Patrick Martin	Home Rule League^[2]
1885	Constituency abolished: see North Kilkenny and South Kilkenny

Elections[edit]

Elections in the 1830s[edit]

General election 1830: County Kilkenny^[2]^[1]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Whig	John Ponsonby	Unopposed
	Whig	John Butler	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,078
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

Ponsonby was appointed as First Commissioner of Woods and Forests, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 28 February 1831: County Kilkenny^[2]^[1]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	John Ponsonby	336	55.5
	Irish Repeal	Pierce Butler	269	44.5
Majority			67	11.0
Turnout			605	c. 53.1
Registered electors			c. 1,139
	Whig hold

General election 1831: County Kilkenny^[2]^[1]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Whig	John Ponsonby	Unopposed
	Whig	John Butler	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,139
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

General election 1832: County Kilkenny^[2]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Repeal	Pierce Butler	Unopposed
	Irish Repeal	William Francis Finn	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,246
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig

General election 1835: County Kilkenny^[2]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Pierce Butler	Unopposed
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	William Francis Finn	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,262
	Irish Repeal hold
	Irish Repeal hold

General election 1837: County Kilkenny^[2]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Pierce Butler	Unopposed
	Whig	George Bryan	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,726
	Irish Repeal hold
	Whig gain from Irish Repeal

Elections in the 1840s[edit]

General election 1841: County Kilkenny^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Repeal	Pierce Butler	Unopposed
	Whig	George Bryan	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,530
	Irish Repeal hold
	Whig hold

Bryan's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 1 December 1843: County Kilkenny^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Repeal	Pierce Somerset Butler	Unopposed
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig

Pierce Butler's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 29 July 1846: County Kilkenny^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Repeal	Richard Smithwicke	Unopposed
	Irish Repeal hold

General election 1847: County Kilkenny^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Repeal	John Greene	277	30.1	*N/A*
	Irish Repeal	Pierce Somerset Butler	262	28.5	*N/A*
	Irish Repeal	Charles Hely	241	26.2	N/A
	Irish Repeal	Patrick Richard Welch	139	15.1	N/A
Majority			21	2.3	N/A
Turnout			460 (est)	41.6 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			1,107
	Irish Repeal hold		Swing	N/A
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1850s[edit]

General election 1852: County Kilkenny^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Irish	William Shee	2,622	43.6	*New*
	Independent Irish	John Greene	2,537	42.2	+12.1
	Conservative	James Wandesford Butler	500	8.3	New
	Whig	Leopold Agar-Ellis	350	5.8	New
Majority			2,037	33.9	N/A
Turnout			3,005 (est)	59.7 (est)	+18.1
Registered electors			5,036
	Independent Irish gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	N/A
	Independent Irish gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	N/A

General election 1857: County Kilkenny^[2]^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Leopold Agar-Ellis	2,589	39.5	+33.7
	Independent Irish	John Greene	1,604	24.5	−17.7
	Whig	George Charles Mostyn	1,324	20.2	N/A
	Whig	William Shee	1,036	15.8	−27.8
Turnout			3,277 (est)	64.0 (est)	+4.3
Registered electors			5,124
Majority			985	15.0	N/A
	Whig gain from Independent Irish		Swing	+28.2
Majority			280	4.3	−29.6
	Independent Irish hold		Swing	−17.3

General election 1859: County Kilkenny^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Leopold Agar-Ellis	2,483	31.8	−7.7
	Liberal	John Greene	1,992	25.5	+1.0
	Liberal	George Henry Moore	1,747	22.4	N/A
	Liberal	William Shee	1,590	20.4	+4.6
Majority			245	3.1	−11.9
Turnout			3,906 (est)	73.1 (est)	+9.1
Registered electors			5,347
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1860s[edit]

General election 1865: County Kilkenny^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Leopold Bryan	2,913	44.9	*N/A*
	Liberal	Leopold Agar-Ellis	2,728	42.0	+10.2
	Liberal	John Greene	852	13.1	−12.4
Majority			1,876	28.9	+25.8
Turnout			3,247 (est)	63.0 (est)	−10.1
Registered electors			5,151
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1868: County Kilkenny^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	George Leopold Bryan	Unopposed
	Liberal	Leopold Agar-Ellis	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,159
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s[edit]

General election 1874: County Kilkenny^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	George Leopold Bryan	2,603	44.2	*New*
	Home Rule	Patrick Martin	2,139	36.3	*New*
	Liberal	Leopold Agar-Ellis	1,151	19.5	N/A
Majority			988	16.8	N/A
Turnout			3,522 (est)	66.5 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			5,300
	Home Rule gain from Liberal		Swing
	Home Rule gain from Liberal		Swing

Elections in the 1880s[edit]

General election 1880: County Kilkenny^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Parnellite Home Rule League	Edward Marum	2,707	42.9	−1.3
	Home Rule	Patrick Martin	2,694	42.7	+6.4
	Conservative	James Butler	913	14.5	New
Majority			1,781	28.2	+11.4
Turnout			3,620 (est)	73.8 (est)	+7.3
Registered electors			4,907
	Home Rule hold		Swing	N/A
	Home Rule hold		Swing	N/A

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. p. 230. Retrieved 2 October 2018 – via Google Books.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 221–222, 287–288. ISBN 0901714127.
^ ^a ^b "Repeal Association". Dublin Evening Post. 31 August 1847. p. 4. Retrieved 2 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ ^a ^b "Kilkenny Co. Election". Cork Examiner. 19 July 1847. p. 1. Retrieved 2 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ ^a ^b "The General Election". Staffordshire Advertiser. 31 July 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 2 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "The County Election". Kilkenny Journal, and Leinster Commercial and Literary Advertiser. 28 March 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 2 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "The County Election". Kilkenny Journal, and Leinster Commercial and Literary Advertiser. 21 March 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 2 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Co. Kilkenny". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
^ "General Intelligence". Coventry Standard. 17 April 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 2 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

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)
Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714127.
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "K" (part 2 )

[stookssmith1842-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. p. 230. Retrieved 2 October 2018 – via Google Books.

[walker-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 221–222, 287–288. ISBN 0901714127.

[dublin1847-3] "Repeal Association". Dublin Evening Post. 31 August 1847. p. 4. Retrieved 2 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[cork1847-4] "Kilkenny Co. Election". Cork Examiner. 19 July 1847. p. 1. Retrieved 2 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[staffs1852-5] "The General Election". Staffordshire Advertiser. 31 July 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 2 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[6] "The County Election". Kilkenny Journal, and Leinster Commercial and Literary Advertiser. 28 March 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 2 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[7] "The County Election". Kilkenny Journal, and Leinster Commercial and Literary Advertiser. 21 March 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 2 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[hop1820-1832-8] "Co. Kilkenny". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 16 May 2020.

[9] "General Intelligence". Coventry Standard. 17 April 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 2 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

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