East Down (UK Parliament constituency)

East Down
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1922
Replaced by	Down
Created from	Down, Downpatrick

East Down 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.

Boundaries and Boundary Changes

This county constituency was first created in 1885 from the eastern part of Down. It was defined as including 'The Baronies of Dufferin, Kinelarty, Lecale Lower and Lecale Upper, and the Barony of Castlereagh Upper (except so much as is comprised in Division No. 1, as herein described)'. There was a boundary change reducing the size of this division in 1918, when the new Mid Down constituency was created, and East Down was redefined as including 'The rural district of Downpatrick, exclusive of the district electoral divisions of Ballynahinch, Kilmore and Leggygowan; the part of the rural district of Kilkeel which consists of the district electoral divisions of Bryansford, Fofanny and Maghera, and the part of the rural district of Banbridge which consists of the district electoral divisions of Ballyward, Crossgar and Leitrim.'. Maps showing the component units of the constituency can be seen here.

Prior to the United Kingdom general election, 1885 and after the dissolution of Parliament in 1922 the area was part of the Down constituency.

Politics

The constituency had an anti-unionist majority in 1918, but its support was split fairly evenly between Nationalist and Sinn Féin candidates. An attempt at a limited electoral pact broke down in this constituency. In a first past the post election this situation produced a minority Unionist win.

The First Dáil

Sinn Féin contested the general election of 1918 on the platform that instead of taking up any seats they won in the United Kingdom Parliament, they would establish a revolutionary assembly in Dublin. In republican theory every MP elected in Ireland was a potential Deputy to this assembly. In practice only the Sinn Féin members accepted the offer.

The revolutionary First Dáil assembled on 21 January 1919 and last met on 10 May 1921. The First Dáil, according to a resolution passed on 10 May 1921, was formally dissolved on the assembling of the Second Dáil. This took place on 16 August 1921.

In 1921 Sinn Féin decided to use the UK authorised elections for the Northern Ireland House of Commons and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland as a poll for the Irish Republic's Second Dáil. This area, in republican theory, was incorporated in an eight-member Dáil constituency of Down.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Richard William Blackwood Ker	Conservative
	1886		Unionist
	1890 by-election	James Alexander Rentoul	Unionist
	1902 by-election	James Wood	Russellite Unionist
	1906	James Craig	Unionist
	1918	David Douglas Reid	Unionist
1922		constituency abolished

Elections

Richard William Blackwood Ker was elected unopposed when the constituency was created in 1885.

General Election 1886: East Down

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard William Blackwood Ker	5,093	66.5	N/A
		H McGrath	2,561	33.5	N/A
Majority			2,532	33	N/A
Turnout			7,654		N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

James Alexander Rentoul was elected unooposed in a by-election in May 1890, and re-elected unopposed in 1892, 1895 and 1900.

1902 by-election: East Down

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Russellite Unionist	James Wood	3,576	51	N/A
	Irish Unionist	Colonel Wallace	3,429	49	N/A
Majority			147	2	N/A
Turnout			7,005		N/A
	Russellite Unionist gain from Irish Unionist		Swing	N/A

General Election 1918: East Down

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	David Douglas Reid	6,007	42.3	N/A
	Irish Parliamentary	Michael J. Johnston	4,312	30.4	N/A
	Sinn Féin	Dr Russell McNabb	3,876	27.3	N/A
Majority			1,695	11.9	N/A
Turnout			14,195	79.5	N/A
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 3)
• Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922, edited by B.M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume II 1886–1918, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (The Harvester Press 1978)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume III 1919–1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (The Harvester Press 1979)

External links

• http://www.oireachtas.ie/members-hist/default.asp?housetype=0
• http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/en.toc.dail.html

See also

• List of UK Parliament Constituencies in Ireland and Northern Ireland
• Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act 1918
• MPs elected in the UK general election, 1918
• List of Dáil Éireann constituencies in Ireland (historic)
• Members of the 1st Dáil