South Tyrone (UK Parliament constituency)
Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1885–1922
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
South Tyrone 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.
| South Tyrone | |
|---|---|
| Former county constituency for the House of Commons | |
| 1885–1922 | |
| Seats | 1 |
| Created from | Dungannon and County Tyrone |
| Replaced by | Fermanagh and Tyrone |
Boundaries
From 1801 to 1885, County Tyrone returned two MPs to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom sitting at the Palace of Westminster, with separate representation for the parliamentary borough of Dungannon. Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Dungannon ceased to exist as a parliamentary borough and the parliamentary county was divided into four divisions: North Tyrone, Mid Tyrone, East Tyrone and South Tyrone.
Under the Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act 1918, following a boundary commission review, the parliamentary county lost a seat, leading to an expansion of the territory of South Tyrone.[1] Sinn Féin contested the 1918 general election on an abstentionist platform in its election manifesto pledging that instead of taking up any seats at Westminster, they would establish an assembly in Dublin. All MPs elected to Irish seats were invited to participate in the First Dáil convened in January 1919, but no members outside of Sinn Féin did so, with South Tyrone's William Coote listed on the roll as "as láthair" [absent].[2]
| 1885–1918 | The baronies of Clogher and Dungannon Lower, and that part of the barony of Dungannon Middle consisting of the parishes of Clonfeacle and Donaghmore.[3] |
| 1918–1922 | The rural district of Clogher, that part of the rural district of Cookstown consisting of the district electoral divisions of The Sandholes and Stewartstown, that part of the rural district of Dungannon not contained in the North East Tyrone constituency, that part of the rural district of Omagh consisting of the district electoral divisions of Carryglass, Derrybard, Dervaghroy, Draughton, Fallaghearn, Fintona, Seskinore and Tattymoyle, and the urban district of Dungannon.[4] |
The Government of Ireland Act 1920 established the Parliament of Northern Ireland, which came into operation in 1921. The representation of Northern Ireland in the Parliament of the United Kingdom was reduced from 30 MPs to 13 MPs, taking effect at the 1922 United Kingdom general election. At Westminster, the three divisions of County Tyrone and the two divisions of County Fermanangh were replaced by a two-member county constituency of Fermanagh and Tyrone. An eight-seat constituency of Fermanagh and Tyrone was created for the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, which formed the basis in republican theory for representation in the Second Dáil after the 1921 election.[5] Three Sinn Féin representatives sat as TDs for the constituency, two of whom also represented constituencies in Southern Ireland.[6]
Members of Parliament
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1885 | William O'Brien | Nationalist | |
| 1886 | Thomas Russell | Liberal Unionist | |
| 1902 | Russellite Unionist | ||
| 1907 | Liberal | ||
| Jan 1910 | Andrew Horner | Irish Unionist | |
| 1916 (b) | William Coote | Irish Unionist | |
| May 1921 | Ulster Unionist | ||
| 1922 | constituency abolished | ||
Elections
Elections in the 1880s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish Parliamentary | William O'Brien | 3,435 | 50.4 | ||
| Irish Conservative | Somerset Henry Maxwell | 3,382 | 49.6 | ||
| Majority | 53 | 0.8 | |||
| Turnout | 6,817 | 88.2 | |||
| Registered electors | 7,725 | ||||
| Irish Parliamentary win (new seat) | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Unionist | Thomas Russell | 3,481 | 50.7 | +1.1 | |
| Irish Parliamentary | William O'Brien | 3,382 | 49.3 | −1.1 | |
| Majority | 99 | 1.4 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 6,863 | 88.8 | +0.6 | ||
| Registered electors | 7,725 | ||||
| Liberal Unionist gain from Irish Parliamentary | Swing | +1.1 | |||
Elections in the 1890s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Unionist | Thomas Russell | 3,468 | 52.8 | +2.1 | |
| Liberal | Thomas Alexander Dickson | 3,096 | 47.2 | New | |
| Majority | 372 | 5.6 | +4.2 | ||
| Turnout | 6,564 | 92.8 | +4.0 | ||
| Registered electors | 7,070 | ||||
| Liberal Unionist hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Unionist | Thomas Russell | 3,239 | 51.5 | −1.3 | |
| Ind. Nationalist | Thomas Shillington | 3,046 | 48.5 | New | |
| Majority | 193 | 3.0 | −2.6 | ||
| Turnout | 6,285 | 93.4 | +0.6 | ||
| Registered electors | 6,730 | ||||
| Liberal Unionist hold | Swing | ||||
Elections in the 1900s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Unionist | Thomas Russell | 2,499 | 48.0 | −3.5 | |
| Ind. Nationalist | Edward Charles Thompson | 2,409 | 46.0 | −2.5 | |
| Ind. Unionist | Robert James Howard | 303 | 5.8 | New | |
| Majority | 90 | 2.0 | −1.0 | ||
| Turnout | 5,211 | 83.8 | −9.6 | ||
| Registered electors | 6,220 | ||||
| Liberal Unionist hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russellite Unionist | Thomas Russell | 2,954 | 52.5 | +4.5 | |
| Irish Unionist | Andrew Horner | 2,671 | 47.5 | −0.5 | |
| Majority | 283 | 5.0 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 5,625 | 94.0 | +10.2 | ||
| Registered electors | 5,982 | ||||
| Russellite Unionist gain from Liberal Unionist | Swing | ||||
Elections in the 1910s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish Unionist | Andrew Horner | 3,054 | 52.4 | +4.9 | |
| Liberal | Thomas Russell | 2,770 | 47.6 | −4.9 | |
| Majority | 284 | 4.8 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 5,824 | 96.1 | +2.1 | ||
| Registered electors | 6,059 | ||||
| Irish Unionist gain from Russellite Unionist | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish Unionist | Andrew Horner | 2,962 | 52.7 | +0.3 | |
| Liberal | Robert Nathaniel Boyd | 2,662 | 47.3 | −0.3 | |
| Majority | 300 | 5.4 | +0.6 | ||
| Turnout | 5,624 | 92.8 | −3.3 | ||
| Registered electors | 6,059 | ||||
| Irish Unionist hold | Swing | +0.3 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish Unionist | William Coote | Unopposed | |||
| Registered electors | 6,434 | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish Unionist | William Coote | 10,616 | 56.9 | +4.2 | |
| Sinn Féin | Denis McCullough | 5,437 | 29.1 | New | |
| Ind. Nationalist | John Skeffington | 2,602 | 13.9 | New | |
| Majority | 5,179 | 27.8 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 18,655 | 83.0 | −9.8 | ||
| Irish Unionist hold | Swing | ||||