Knocktopher (Parliament of Ireland constituency)

In the Patriot Parliament of 1689 summoned by James II, Knocktopher was represented with two members.^[1] Thereafter electors had to be Protestant and an inhabitant six months resident before the election. The person in the office of potreeve rather than the seneschal of the manor made the return. In the eighteenth century two prominent families nominated the constituency's two parliamentary members; the Langrishes of Knocktopher Abbey, and the Ponsonbys, who paid them £500 for the privilege. This arrangement lasted up to 1783. Knocktopher had Sir Hercules Langrishe as the one qualified voter in 1783-4. He contrived to possess or manage control of all the properties with houses in the town, ensuring they were not let to potential Protestants voters, and so the right of election was concentrated in his family and their immediate connections.