West Wicklow (UK Parliament constituency)

West Wicklow
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1922
Seats	1
Created from	Wicklow
Replaced by	Kildare–Wicklow

West Wicklow, a division of County Wicklow, was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, represented in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From 1885 to 1922 it returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Until the 1885 general election the area was part of the Wicklow constituency. From 1922, on the establishment of the Irish Free State, it was not represented in the UK Parliament.

Boundaries

This constituency comprised the western part of County Wicklow.

1885–1922: The baronies of Ballinacor South, Shillelagh, Talbotstown Lower and Talbotstown higher, and that part of the barony of Ballinacor North not contained within the constituency of East Wicklow.

United Kingdom Parliament or Dáil Éireann 1918–1922

The general election of 1918 (in Ireland) was, in British law, to fill the 105 Irish seats in the UK House of Commons for the 31st United Kingdom Parliament. In practice, only the non-Sinn Féin MPs took their seats at Westminster. This Parliament first met on 4 February 1919, and was dissolved on 26 October 1922. At its dissolution, the Parliamentary seats in the twenty six counties comprising the Irish Free State were abolished.

Irish Republicans regard the 1918 election as being to the 1st Dáil Éireann. In practice, only the Sinn Féin Members of Parliament became Teachtaí Dála in the new revolutionary assembly. See list of members of the 1st Dáil. The initial meeting of the First Dáil was on 21 January 1919 and it last met on 10 May 1921.

From the 1922 United Kingdom general election, only the six counties of Northern Ireland were represented in Parliament.

For links to all other constituencies see List of UK Parliament Constituencies in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Garrett Byrne	Nationalist
	1892	James O'Connor	Irish National Federation (Anti-Parnellite)
	1900		Nationalist
	1910	Edward Peter O'Kelly	Nationalist
	1914	John Thomas Donovan	Nationalist
	1918	Robert Barton	Sinn Féin
1922		UK constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

1885 general election: West Wicklow

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Garrett Byrne	3,721	81.0
	Irish Conservative	William Wentworth Fitzwilliam Dick	871	19.0
Majority			2,850	62.0
Turnout			4,592	87.9
Registered electors			5,226
	Irish Parliamentary win (new seat)

1886 general election: West Wicklow

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Garrett Byrne	3,531	80.5	−0.5
	Irish Unionist	William Wentworth Fitzwilliam Dick	856	19.5	+0.5
Majority			2,675	61.0	−1.0
Turnout			4,387	83.9	−4.0
Registered electors			5,226
	Irish Parliamentary hold		Swing	−0.5

Elections in the 1890s

1892 general election: West Wicklow

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish National Federation	James O'Connor	2,582	66.6	N/A
	Liberal Unionist	Robert Joseph Pratt Saunders	748	19.3	−0.2
	Irish National League	John Howard Parnell	546	14.1	N/A
Majority			1,834	47.3	N/A
Turnout			3,876	79.9	−4.0
Registered electors			4,853
	Irish National Federation gain from Irish Parliamentary		Swing	N/A

1895 general election: West Wicklow

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish National Federation	James O'Connor	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,576
	Irish National Federation hold

Elections in the 1900s

1900 general election: West Wicklow

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	James O'Connor	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,671
	Irish Parliamentary hold

1906 general election: West Wicklow

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	James O'Connor	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,406
	Irish Parliamentary hold

Elections in the 1910s

January 1910 general election: West Wicklow

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	James O'Connor	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,417
	Irish Parliamentary hold

O'Connor dies, causing a by-election.

By-election, 1910: West Wicklow

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Edward Peter O'Kelly	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,417
	Irish Parliamentary hold

December 1910 general election: West Wicklow

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Edward Peter O'Kelly	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,417
	Irish Parliamentary hold

O'Kelly's death causes a by-election.

By-election, 1914: West Wicklow

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	John Thomas Donovan	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,489
	Irish Parliamentary hold

1918 general election: West Wicklow

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Robert Barton	6,239	82.0	New
	Irish Parliamentary	Pierce Charles de Lacy O'Mahony	1,370	18.0	N/A
Majority			4,869	64.0	N/A
Turnout			7,609	65.2	N/A
Registered electors			11,673
	Sinn Féin gain from Irish Parliamentary		Swing	N/A

References

• Walker, Brian 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 "W" (part 3)