Mid Armagh (UK Parliament constituency)

Mid Armagh
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1922
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Armagh
Created from	Armagh and Armagh City

Mid Armagh was a constituency in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act for the 1885 general election and returned one Member of Parliament (MP) until it was abolished with effect from the 1922 general election.

Boundaries and Boundary Changes

This county constituency comprised the central part of County Armagh. To the north was North Armagh, to the west were South Tyrone and North Monaghan, to the south were South Monaghan and South Armagh and to the east was West Down.

Prior to the United Kingdom general election, 1885 and from the dissolution of Parliament in 1922 the area was part of the Armagh constituency.

Politics

The constituency was a predominantly Conservative then Unionist area, although not as strongly so as some other parts of Northern Ireland. There were few contested elections and no instance of the same two parties contending against each other more than once.

In 1918 the Unionists defeated Sinn Féin by a solid margin. This was the first contested election for the seat since a 1900 by-election.

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. Armagh Mid, in republican theory, was incorporated in a four-member Dáil constituency of Armagh.

Members of Parliament

Constituency created (1885)

	Member	Party
1885	John McKane	Conservative
February 1886(b)	Sir James Corry, Bt.	Conservative
July 1886	Sir James Corry, Bt.	Irish Unionist
1891	Sir Dunbar Plunket Barton	Irish Unionist
1900(b)	John Lonsdale	Irish Unionist
1918	James Rolston Lonsdale	Irish Unionist
1921	Henry Armstrong	Ulster Unionist

Constituency abolished (1922)

Elections

1920s

By-Election, 23 June 1921: Mid Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Henry Bruce Armstrong	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

1910s

General Election 1918: Mid Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	James Rolston Lonsdale	8,431	59.7	N/A
	Sinn Féin	Liam O'Brien	5,688	40.3	N/A
Majority			2,743	19.4	N/A
Turnout			14,119	81.4	N/A
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

By-Election, 23 January 1918: Mid Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	James Rolston Lonsdale	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1910: Mid Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Sir John Brownlee Lonsdale, Bt	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1910: Mid Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	John Brownlee Lonsdale	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

1900s

General Election 1906: Mid Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	John Brownlee Lonsdale	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1900: Mid Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	John Brownlee Lonsdale	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

By-Election 1900: Mid Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	John Brownlee Lonsdale	3,212	63.95	N/A
	Liberal Unionist	John Gordon	1,811	36.05	N/A
Majority			1,401	27.89	N/A
Turnout			7,363	68.22	N/A
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

1890s

By-Election 1898: Mid Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Dunbar Plunket Barton	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1895: Mid Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Dunbar Plunket Barton	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1892: Mid Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Dunbar Plunket Barton	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

By-Election 1891: Mid Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Dunbar Plunket Barton	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

1880s

General Election 1886: Mid Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Sir James Porter Corry, Bt	4,160	62.26	+62.26
	Irish Parliamentary	Robert Riddall Gardner	2,522	37.74	+37.74
Majority			1,638	24.51	N/A
Turnout			8,169	81.80	-2.71
	Irish Unionist gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

By-Election 1886: Mid Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir James Porter Corry, Bt	3,930	56.92	-4.12
	Liberal	Thomas Alexander Dickson	2,974	43.08	+43.08
Majority			956	13.85	-8.22
Turnout			8,169	84.51	+0.72
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1885: Mid Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Professor John McKane	4,178	61.04	N/A
	Irish Parliamentary	Edmund Leamy	2,667	38.96	N/A
Majority			1,511	22.07	N/A
Turnout			8,169	83.79	N/A

References

Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922, edited by B.M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978)
Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume II 1886-1918, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (The Harvester Press 1978)
Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume III 1919-1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (The Harvester Press 1979)
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 2)