County Louth (UK Parliament constituency)

County Louth, otherwise known as Louth County or Louth, is a former parliamentary constituency in Ireland, which was represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From 1801 to 1885 it returned two Members of Parliament (MPs), and one in 1918–1922.

Boundaries

From 1801 to 1885, the constituency comprised the whole of County Louth, except for the Parliamentary boroughs of Drogheda and Dundalk. Between 1885 and 1918 the county was divided into the county division constituencies North Louth and South Louth. In 1918, the reunited constituency covered the entire county of Louth plus a small part of County Meath near Drogheda.

History

Louth was a constituency in the first Dáil election in December 1918 when Sinn Féin won by 255 votes, its narrowest margin of victory in that election. John J. O'Kelly, a native of Kerry, resident in Glasnevin (Dublin), was Louth's first TD. The constituency was merged with Meath to form the 5 seat Louth–Meath constituency for the 2nd and 3rd Dála. In 1923 Louth became a new 3 seat constituency.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1801–85

MPs 1918–22

Elections

References

1. ↑ Philip Callan was also returned for Dundalk, for which he chose to sit

• The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), 2nd edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973)
• Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922, edited by B.M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978)
• "County Louth: the Irish political revolution and the 1918 general election" by O. S. Kelly (MA thesis, 2006, UCD)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 4)