Irish local elections, 1899

Irish local elections, 1899

January & March 1899

All councillors across Ireland   First party Second party Third party   Party United Irish League Labour Irish Unionist

The 1899 Irish local elections were the first local elections following the reorganisation of Irish local government caused by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. The 1898 Act had changed the nature of Irish local governance, replacing the unrepresentative grand jury system, and making local government more democratic and representative. As a result, the 1899 election saw the traditional Unionist Landowning class, which had previously dominated much of Irish local politics, being replaced by a newer nationalist representation. Ulster's local government, however, remained Unionist in political outlook.^[1]

The elections also saw the expansion of Labor representation. In the 1898 elections, only Ulster had Unionist and unaligned Laborite Councillors. Following the election however the overall Labor representation increased to 303. Of these 303, 218 were nationalists (affiliated to an IPP faction), whilst 56 were extremist (with links to the IRB). There were 14 Unionist Laborites in Ulster, 4 in Munster, 2 in Leinster, 1 in Connaught, but none in Dublin.^[2]

They were held in two stages:

• Urban area local elections in January 1899
• Rural areas in March 1899

Detailed results by council

Authority		UIL		LEA		U		Ind		Other	Total	Result		Details
Armagh														Details
Belfast Corporation														Details
Carlow														Details
Castlebar	6						6						No overall control	Details
Cavan														Details
Clare														Details
Cork														Details
Cork Corporation														Details
Donegal														Details
Dublin Corporation	27		8		7		0		18		60		Irish Unionist	Details
Dublin County														Details
Fingal														Details
Galway														Details
Galway City														Details
Kerry														Details
Kildare	0		0		3		1		17		21		Independent Nationalist	Details
Kilkenny														Details
Kilrush														Details
Laois														Details
Leitrim														Details
Limerick Borough			24						16		40		Labour Electoral Association	Details
Limerick														Details
Londonderry Borough														Details
Londonderry														Details
Longford														Details
Louth														Details
Mayo														Details
Meath														Details
Monaghan														Details
Rathmines														Details
Offaly														Details
Roscommon														Details
Sligo Corporation														Details
Sligo														Details
South Dublin														Details
Tipperary														Details
Waterford														Details
Westmeath														Details
Wexford														Details
Wicklow														Details
Totals											1,806

References

1. The Irish Revolution, 1916-1923. p. 61.
2. Kelly, M. J. The Fenian Ideal and Irish Nationalism, 1882-1916. p. 145.