South Armagh (UK Parliament constituency)

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

South Armagh was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland which returned one Member of Parliament from 1885 to 1922, using the first past the post electoral system.

Boundaries and boundary changes

This constituency comprised the southern part of County Armagh.

From 1885 to 1918 the constituency was bounded to the north and north-west by Mid Armagh, to the south-west by South Monaghan, to the south by North Louth, to the south-east by the Borough of Newry and to the east by South Down. Between 1918 and 1922 the neighbouring seats were the same except that Louth was an undivided county constituency and Newry had been absorbed into South 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 Nationalist area. In 1918 the Nationalists heavily defeated Sinn Féin.

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

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Alexander Blane	Irish Parliamentary Party
	1891	Alexander Blane	Irish National League
	1892	Edward McHugh	Irish National Federation
	1900	John Campbell	Healyite Nationalist
	1906	William McKillop	Irish Parliamentary Party
	1909	Dr Charles O'Neill (1849-1918)	Irish Parliamentary Party
	1918	Patrick Donnelly	Irish Parliamentary Party
1922		constituency abolished

Elections

General Election 27 November 1885: South Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Alexander Blaine	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Irish Parliamentary gain from new seat		Swing	N/A

General Election 7 July 1886: South Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Alexander Blaine	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Irish Parliamentary hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 8 July 1892: South Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish National Federation	Edward McHugh	3,439	59.91	N/A
	Irish Unionist	Caesar Litton Falkiner	2,242	39.06	N/A
	Parnellite Nationalist	Alexander Blaine	59	1.03	N/A
Majority			1,197	20.85	N/A
Turnout			7,523	76.30	N/A
	Irish National Federation gain from Parnellite Nationalist		Swing	N/A

General Election 25 July 1895: South Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish National Federation	Edward McHugh	3,378	62.87	+2.96
	Irish Unionist	Walter McMurrough Kavanagh	1,995	37.13	-1.93
Majority			1,383	25.74	+4.89
Turnout			7,254	74.07	-2.23
	Irish National Federation hold		Swing	+2.49

Butler Swing from Irish Unionist to Anti-Parnellite Nationalist
Seat vacant on dissolution due to the death of McHugh

General Election 9 October 1900: South Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Healyite Nationalist	John Campbell	1,646	56.62	+56.62
	Irish Parliamentary	Dr Charles O'Neill	1,261	43.38	+43.38
Majority			385	13.24	N/A
Turnout			7,152	40.65	-33.42
	Healyite Nationalist gain from Irish National Federation		Swing	N/A

General Election 19 January 1906: South Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	William McKillop	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Irish Parliamentary gain from Healyite Nationalist		Swing	N/A

Death of McKillop

By-Election 5 November 1909: South Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Dr Charles O'Neill	3,160	66.00	N/A
	Irish Unionist	Richard B. Best	1,628	34.00	N/A
Majority			1,532	32.00	N/A
Turnout			7,024	68.17	N/A
	Irish Parliamentary hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 22 January 1910: South Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Dr Charles O'Neill	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Irish Parliamentary hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 6 December 1910: South Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Dr Charles O'Neill	2,890	74.24	N/A
	All-for-Ireland	Stephen Hugh Moynagh	1,003	25.76	N/A
Majority			1,887	48.47	N/A
Turnout			6,810	57.17	N/A
	Irish Parliamentary hold		Swing	N/A

Death of O'Neill

By-Election 2 February 1918: South Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Patrick Donnelly	2,324	63.34	-10.90
	Sinn Féin	Patrick McCartan	1,305	35.57	+35.57
	Independent Unionist	Thomas Wakefield Richardson	40	1.09	+1.09
Majority			1,019	27.77	-20.70
Turnout			6,345	57.83	+0.66
	Irish Parliamentary hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 14 December 1918: South Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Patrick Donnelly	4,345	98.21	+34.87
	Sinn Féin	Dr James Thomas McKee	79	1.79	-33.78
Majority			4,266	96.43	+68.66
Turnout			15,905	27.82	-30.01
	Irish Parliamentary hold		Swing	+34.33

Butler Swing from Sinn Féin to Irish Nationalist

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)