East Kerry (UK Parliament constituency)

East Kerry
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1922
Number of members	One
Created from	County Kerry

East Kerry was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament 1885–1922.

Prior to the United Kingdom general election, 1885 the area was part of the Kerry constituency. Following the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the formation of the Irish Free State in 1922, the area was no longer represented in the UK Parliament, as it was no longer part of the UK. The successor constituency in the new Dáil Éireann was Kerry–Limerick West first established under the Government of Ireland Act 1920 to elect members to the House of Commons of Southern Ireland in 1921.

Boundaries

This constituency comprised the eastern part of County Kerry.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [1]	Party
	1885	Jeremiah Daniel Sheehan	Irish Parliamentary Party
	1891		Anti-Parnellite
	1895	Michael Davitt[note 1]	Anti-Parnellite
	1895	vacant[note 1]
	1896	The Hon J. B. Burke Roche	Anti-Parnellite
	1900	John Murphy	Irish Parliamentary Party
	1910 (January)	Eugene O'Sullivan	Irish Parliamentary Party[note 2]
	1910 (June)	vacant[note 3]
	1910 (December)	Timothy O'Sullivan	Irish Parliamentary Party
	1918	Piaras Béaslaí	Sinn Féin
	1922	constituency abolished

Notes

1. At the 1895 general election, Michael Davitt was also elected for South Mayo, and chose to sit for that seat. The East Kerry seat remained vacant until a by-election was held on 27 March 1896
2. Eugene O'Sullivan was elected as an Independent Nationalist but two days after beating the IPP John Murphy, he announced that he would join the IPP.^[2]
3. After the general election in January 1910, John Murphy launched an election petition, alleging intimidation and irregularities at the election. The petition was heard in June 1910, at Killarney before Mr. Justices Madden and Kenny. After 7 days of hearings the judges found for Murphy, and O'Sullivan was unseated.^[3] However, the Irish Parliamentary Party failed to move the writ for a by-election, and the seat remained vacant until the December 1910 general election.^[4]

Elections

1885

General Election 1885: East Kerry
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C H de G Robertson	30	1.0
	Irish Parliamentary	Jeremiah Daniel Sheehan	3,069	99.0
Majority			3,039	98.1
Turnout
	Irish Parliamentary hold		Swing

This remains the largest majority by percentage of the vote in any contested UK Parliamentary election.

1886

Sheehan (Nationalist) was returned unopposed.

1892

Sheehan was returned again with a large majority over his opponent, Captain John McGillycuddy:

General Election 1892: East Kerry
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish National Federation	Jeremiah Daniel Sheehan	2,600	91.1	-7.0
	Irish Unionist	Capt John McGillycuddy	253	8.8	7.8
Majority			2,347	82.2	-15.9
Turnout
	Irish National Federation hold		Swing

1895

Michael Davitt (Irish National Federation) was returned unopposed, but he also stood unopposed in South Mayo. He took up the South Mayo seat and Kerry East remained vacant until the by-election the following year.

1896

James Roche (Irish National Federation) was returned but with fewer votes than his Nationalist predecessors. It was thought he lost some support because as a divorced man he was less popular with the Catholic vote.^[5]

East Kerry by-election, 27 March 1896[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish National Federation	The Hon James Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy	1,961	74.3	-16.8
	Irish Unionist	Capt John McGillycuddy	680	25.7	16.9
Majority			1,281	48.5	-33.7
Turnout
	Irish National Federation hold		Swing

1900

John Murphy (Irish Parliamentary Party) was returned unopposed.

1906

In a closely fought contest between two nationalist factions, Murphy was returned by a narrow margin:

General Election 1906: East Kerry
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Nationalist	Eugene O'Sullivan	2,131	49.4	49.4
	Irish Parliamentary	John Murphy	2,185	50.6	-49.4
Majority			54	1.3	-47.2
Turnout
	Irish Parliamentary hold		Swing

January 1910

The incumbent Murphy (Official Nationalist) was beaten by Independent candidate, Eugene O'Sullivan, who was a follower of William O'Brien's All-for-Ireland League. Shortly after being elected, O'Sullivan re-joined the official Nationalists, but Murphy petitioned the courts claiming that the vote had been rigged and that O'Sullivan had only won through violence and intimidation. The court cleared O'Sullivan of vote rigging but found him guilty of intimidation.^[7] The election was declared void, unseating O'Sullivan and creating a vacancy.

General Election 1910: East Kerry
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Nationalist	Eugene O'Sullivan	2,643	55.1	5.7
	Irish Parliamentary	John Murphy	2,154	44.9	-5.7
Majority			489	10.2	8.9
Turnout
	Independent Nationalist gain from Irish Parliamentary		Swing

December 1910

Eugene O'Sullivan's cousin, Timothy O'Sullivan, stood for the Nationalists. The Independent Nationalist All-for-Ireland candidate, Patrick Guiney, contested both this seat and North Cork. Although he lost in East Kerry, he was elected unopposed in North Cork, so both candidates became Members of Parliament, albeit for different constituencies. As earlier in the year, the election was marred by election violence, which included a riot at Castleisland.^[8]

• O'Sullivan (Official Nationalist)
• Guiney (Independent Nationalist)

-Majority: 1253

1918

Beasley (Sinn Féin) was returned unopposed. In accordance with his party's policy, he declined to take his seat in the British House of Commons, sitting instead in the Irish revolutionary assembly, Dáil Éireann.

References

1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "K" (part 1)
2. The Times (London), Friday, January 28, 1910 p. 7 col. E
3. The Times, 30 June, 1910
4. The Times, 21 November, 1910
5. The Times (London) Friday, 27 March 1896, p. 7 col. F
6. The Constitutional Year Book, 1904, published by Conservative Central Office, page 190 (214 in web page)
7. The Times (London), Wednesday 22 June 1910, p. 10 col. B
8. The Times (London), Thursday, 15 December 1910; p. 6 col. D