Galway (Dáil constituency)

Galway was a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas from 1921 to 1937. The method of election was proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).

Galway
Former Dáil constituency
Location of Galway within Ireland
Former constituency
Created	1921
Abolished	1937
Seats	7 (1921–1923) 9 (1923–1937)
Local government area	County Galway
Created from	Galway Connemara East Galway North Galway South Galway
Replaced by	Galway East Galway West

History

It was the largest constituency in Ireland, electing 7 deputies (Teachtaí Dála, commonly known as TDs) to the Dáil in 1921 and 1922, and 9 from 1923 to 1937. The constituency was created in 1921 as a 7-seat constituency, under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, for the 1921 elections to the House of Commons of Southern Ireland. That House had only a brief existence, as only four members took their seats, the remainder forming the Second Dáil.

Under the Electoral Act 1923, it became a 9-seat constituency for the 1923 general election to the 4th Dáil. Its representation remained at 9 seats until its abolition at the 1937 general election, under the Electoral (Revision of Constituencies) Act 1935.

Boundaries

Galway was created as 7-seat constituency under the Government of Ireland Act 1920 succeeding the constituencies of Galway Connemara, East Galway, North Galway and South Galway, which had elected MPs to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.^[1]

It became a 9-seat constituency in 1923, defined as:^[2]

"The administrative county of Galway."

It was abolished at the 1937 general election, replaced by the constituencies of Galway East (4 seats) and Galway West (4 seats).^[3]

TDs

Teachtaí Dála (TDs) for Galway 1921–1937[4]
Key to parties   CnaG = Cumann na nGaedheal   FF = Fianna Fáil   FG = Fine Gael   Ind = Independent   Lab = Labour   NL = National League   Rep = Republican   SF = Sinn Féin   AT-SF = Sinn Féin (Anti-Treaty)   PT-SF = Sinn Féin (Pro-Treaty)
Dáil	Election	Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)
2nd	1921[5]		Liam Mellows (SF)		Bryan Cusack (SF)		Frank Fahy (SF)		Joseph Whelehan (SF)		Pádraic Ó Máille (SF)		George Nicolls (SF)		Patrick Hogan (SF)	7 seats 1921–1923
3rd	1922[6]		Thomas O'Connell (Lab)		Bryan Cusack (AT-SF)		Frank Fahy (AT-SF)		Joseph Whelehan (PT-SF)		Pádraic Ó Máille (PT-SF)		George Nicolls (PT-SF)		Patrick Hogan (PT-SF)
4th	1923[7]				Barney Mellows (Rep)		Frank Fahy (Rep)		Louis O'Dea (Rep)		Pádraic Ó Máille (CnaG)		George Nicolls (CnaG)		Patrick Hogan (CnaG)		Seán Broderick (CnaG)		James Cosgrave (Ind)
5th	1927 (Jun)[8]		Gilbert Lynch (Lab)		Thomas Powell (FF)		Frank Fahy[a] (FF)		Seán Tubridy (FF)		Mark Killilea Snr (FF)		Martin McDonogh (CnaG)						William Duffy (NL)
6th	1927 (Sep)[9]		Stephen Jordan (FF)																Joseph Mongan (CnaG)
7th	1932[10]								Patrick Beegan (FF)		Gerald Bartley (FF)		Fred McDonogh (CnaG)
8th	1933[11]				Mark Killilea Snr (FF)								Séamus Keely (FF)						Martin McDonogh (CnaG)
	1935 by-election[12]																		Eamon Corbett (FF)
	1936 by-election[13]														Martin Neilan (FF)
9th	1937	Constituency abolished. See Galway East and Galway West

Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to the order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election.

1. Frank Fahy served as Ceann Comhairle from 9 March 1932.

Elections

1936 by-election

Following the death of Fine Gael TD Patrick Hogan, a by-election was held on 13 August 1936. The seat was won by the Fianna Fáil candidate Martin Neilan, reaching the quota on the first count. A second count occurred because the distribution of the surplus could have saved another candidate their election deposit.

1936 by-election: Galway^[13][14]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Fianna Fáil	Martin Neilan	60.6	39,982
	Fine Gael	James Hogan	35.3	23,264	25,073
	Cumann Poblachta na hÉireann	George Noble Plunkett[a]	4.1	2,696	5,711
Electorate: 97,736   Valid: 65,942   Quota: 32,972   Turnout: 67.5%

1. George Noble Plunkett stood as a joint Cumann Poblachta na hÉireann/Sinn Féin candidate.

1935 by-election

Following the death of Fine Gael TD Martin McDonogh, a by-election was held on 19 June 1935.

1935 by-election: Galway^[12][14]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Fianna Fáil	Eamon Corbett	60.8	37,415
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Thomas McDonogh	39.2	24,088
Electorate: 97,650   Valid: 61,503   Quota: 30,752   Turnout: 63.0%

1933 general election

1933 general election: Galway^[11][14]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
	Fianna Fáil	Frank Fahy[a]	Automatically Returned	N/A
	Fianna Fáil	Mark Killilea Snr	12.2	8,872
	Fianna Fáil	Patrick Beegan	9.6	7,010	7,220	7,659	7,674	7,686	7,686	7,696	7,701	7,788	10,119
	Fianna Fáil	Gerald Bartley	8.7	6,358	6,380	6,656	6,662	6,690	6,691	6,892	6,932	11,318
	Fianna Fáil	Séamus Keely	8.5	6,197	6,232	6,414	6,448	6,468	6,468	6,472	6,482	6,679	7,126	8,448
	Fianna Fáil	Stephen Jordan	7.9	5,770	5,922	6,489	6,535	6,612	6,619	6,634	6,649	6,823	6,977	7,539	7,850
	Fianna Fáil	Thomas Powell	7.8	5,687	5,977	6,422	6,427	6,514	6,517	6,552	6,559	7,416	7,686	7,789	7,821
	Fianna Fáil	Seán Tubridy	7.7	5,634	5,649	5,786	5,789	5,797	5,799	5,873	5,889
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Patrick Hogan	6.8	4,940	4,945	5,176	8,051	8,444
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Martin McDonogh	5.9	4,328	4,329	4,555	4,635	5,409	5,511	9,321
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Joseph Mongan	5.8	4,198	4,201	4,224	4,236	4,382	4,417
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Seán Broderick	5.7	4,167	4,176	4,279	4,410	6,533	6,722	6,884	8,007	8,039	8,050	8,077	8,077
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Fred McDonogh	4.9	3,574	3,585	3,813	3,838
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Patrick Cawley	4.3	3,129	3,130	3,267
	Labour	Robert Malachy Burke	4.2	3,080	3,093
Electorate: 94,591   Valid: 72,944   Quota: 8,105   Turnout: 77.1%

1. As outgoing Ceann Comhairle, Fahy was returned automatically under s. 2 of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1927.^[15][16] He was elected again as Ceann Comhairle on 8 February 1933, leaving the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party.^[17]

1932 general election

1932 general election: Galway^[10][14]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
	Fianna Fáil	Frank Fahy[a]	9.3	6,132	6,187	6,245	6,525	6,728
	Fianna Fáil	Thomas Powell	9.2	6,068	6,162	6,174	6,685
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Patrick Hogan	8.4	5,551	5,617	5,681	5,839	8,489
	Fianna Fáil	Mark Killilea Snr	8.2	5,454	5,458	5,475	5,545	5,550	5,555	5,560	5,571	5,729	5,816	5,924	5,955	5,962
	Fianna Fáil	Patrick Beegan	7.9	5,230	5,236	5,331	5,583	5,598	5,600	5,614	5,620	5,697	6,871
	Fianna Fáil	Stephen Jordan	7.8	5,142	5,153	5,174	5,348	5,369	5,382	5,400	5,443	5,661	5,771	5,981	6,207	6,215
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Fred McDonogh	7.4	4,926	4,955	4,974	5,077	5,208	5,209	5,372	5,376	5,385	5,388	6,037	6,037	6,352
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Joseph Mongan	7.0	4,658	4,692	4,715	4,746	4,781	4,781	4,837	4,840	4,972	4,987	6,944
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Seán Broderick	6.6	4,397	4,410	4,420	4,467	4,558	4,558	6,052	6,073	6,082	6,088	6,763
	Fianna Fáil	Gerald Bartley	6.6	4,357	4,456	4,486	4,574	4,584	4,591	4,600	4,610	8,019
	Fianna Fáil	Seán Tubridy	6.1	4,020	4,107	4,110	4,169	4,173	4,210	4,212	4,219
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Martin McDonogh	5.1	3,384	3,642	3,674	4,050	4,121	4,127	4,241	4,250	4,312	4,322
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Patrick Lambert	4.9	3,261	3,269	3,277	3,303
	Labour	Frank Kelly	2.3	1,533	1,705	2,348
	Labour	Edward Meehan	1.6	1,036	1,047
	Independent	Martin Cooke	1.5	987
Electorate: 91,746   Valid: 66,136   Quota: 6,614   Turnout: 72.1%

1. Fahy was elected as Ceann Comhairle on 9 March 1932, leaving the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party.^[18]

September 1927 general election

September 1927 general election: Galway^[9][14]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Patrick Hogan	10.2	6,059
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Seán Broderick	8.8	5,236	5,295	5,480	7,180
	Fianna Fáil	Seán Tubridy	8.6	5,126	5,473	5,482	5,499	5,499	5,501	5,520	5,520	5,594	5,637	5,891	6,255
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Martin McDonogh	8.4	5,007	5,239	5,448	5,768	5,808	6,078
	Fianna Fáil	Frank Fahy	8.0	4,780	4,919	5,659	5,731	5,737	5,757	8,027
	Fianna Fáil	Mark Killilea Snr	7.8	4,675	4,730	4,808	4,888	4,889	4,899	5,300	5,301	6,610
	Fianna Fáil	Thomas Powell	7.6	4,551	4,744	4,756	4,792	4,792	4,792	4,818	4,818	4,919	5,387	6,579
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Joseph Mongan	7.1	4,208	4,415	4,438	4,597	4,626	5,376	5,390	5,453	5,461	5,462	5,865	5,892
	Cumann na nGaedheal	James Nestor	6.6	3,944	4,021	4,077	4,265	4,272	4,396	4,415	4,460	4,470	4,472	4,818	4,835
	Fianna Fáil	Stephen Jordan	5.8	3,448	3,516	3,592	3,614	3,617	3,623	3,765	3,766	4,169	4,263	5,005	5,210
	Labour	Gilbert Lynch	4.9	2,912	3,065	3,443	3,642	3,647	3,677	3,857	3,859	4,015	4,051
	Fianna Fáil	Séamus Keely	4.9	2,898	2,906	3,174	3,209	3,211	3,213
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Andrew Staunton	4.5	2,680	2,703	2,972
	Independent	James Cosgrave	4.0	2,399	2,499
	Independent	Pádraic Ó Máille	2.9	1,732
Electorate: 101,256   Valid: 59,655   Quota: 5,966   Turnout: 58.9%

June 1927 general election

June 1927 general election: Galway^[8][14]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Patrick Hogan	9.6	5,564	5,636	5,773	6,550
	Fianna Fáil	Mark Killilea Snr	7.5	4,349	4,363	4,419	4,420	4,448	4,555	4,629	5,671	6,071
	Fianna Fáil	Seán Tubridy	7.4	4,287	4,328	4,347	4,351	4,351	4,359	4,620	4,633	4,656	4,666	4,690	4,722	4,731	4,750	4,756	5,441
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Seán Broderick	6.8	3,906	4,009	4,139	4,209	4,643	4,786	4,880	4,969	4,985	4,989	5,267	6,241
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Joseph Mongan	5.6	3,245	3,295	3,305	3,330	3,350	3,380	3,664	3,679	3,682	3,682	3,708	3,886	3,965	4,046	4,135	4,193
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Martin McDonogh	5.6	3,244	3,556	3,694	3,747	3,813	4,158	4,510	4,547	4,566	4,570	4,894	5,391	5,669	5,983
	Fianna Fáil	Frank Fahy	5.5	3,150	3,200	3,234	3,263	3,269	3,327	3,487	4,012	5,595	5,798
	Fianna Fáil	Thomas Powell	5.4	3,136	3,316	3,418	3,422	3,422	3,445	3,560	3,589	3,629	3,646	3,704	3,783	3,797	3,856	3,860	5,366
	Labour	Gilbert Lynch	4.6	2,654	2,763	2,797	2,960	2,982	3,080	3,200	3,250	3,312	3,329	3,481	3,700	3,732	4,120	4,139	4,380
	Sinn Féin	Barney Mellows	4.4	2,546	2,636	2,669	2,701	2,702	2,732	2,819	3,043	3,097	3,123	3,447	3,497	3,504	3,695	3,706
	Cumann na nGaedheal	James Nestor	4.2	2,433	2,459	2,554	2,568	2,595	2,927	3,014	3,026	3,033	3,034	3,102
	Fianna Fáil	Stephen Jordan	3.9	2,241	2,262	2,287	2,295	2,296	2,349	2,370
	Fianna Fáil	Bryan Cusack	3.8	2,212	2,267	2,274	2,336	2,357	2,370	2,399	2,509
	Farmers' Party	Patrick Lambert	3.5	2,031	2,061	2,516	2,546	2,554	2,634	2,693	2,764	2,777	2,777
	National League	William Duffy	3.5	2,003	2,083	2,158	2,216	2,240	2,543	2,673	2,744	2,854	2,858	3,681	3,778	3,790	5,333	5,377	5,656
	National League	James Cosgrave	3.4	1,991	2,043	2,069	2,449	2,552	2,706	2,773	2,800	2,910	2,920	3,136	3,234	3,269
	Cumann na nGaedheal	John McKeague	3.2	1,832	1,840	1,849
	Clann Éireann	Pádraic Ó Máille	3.1	1,809	1,936	2,035	2,064	2,071	2,157
	National League	James McDonald	3.1	1,795	1,850	2,050	2,061	2,068
	Farmers' Party	John Ronaldson	2.8	1,637	1,781
	Independent	Seamus O'Mulloy	2.1	1,216
	National League	James Reddington	0.8	464
Electorate: 101,256   Valid: 57,745   Quota: 5,775   Turnout: 57.0%

1923 general election

Full figures for the fifth through to the eighteenth counts are unavailable.

1923 general election: Galway^[7][14]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Patrick Hogan	15.6	7,563
	Republican	Barney Mellows	14.7	7,131
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Pádraic Ó Máille	13.6	6,570
	Republican	Frank Fahy	11.7	5,670
	Republican	Colm Ó Gaora	4.2	2,011	2,019	2,575	2,606	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	3,340
	Independent	James Cosgrave	4.0	1,922	2,082	2,113	2,131	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	3,495
	Labour	Thomas J. O'Connell	3.8	1,862	2,019	2,088	2,209	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	4,039
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Seán Broderick	3.8	1,847	2,077	2,081	2,148	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	4,648
	Cumann na nGaedheal	George Nicolls	3.6	1,732	2,688	2,725	3,487	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	4,920
	Farmers' Party	Patrick Conroy	3.2	1,529	1,554	1,567	1,735
	Farmers' Party	Martin Egan	3.1	1,497	1,709	1,732	1,749
	Republican	Louis O'Dea	2.9	1,413	1,436	2,861	2,911	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	4,338
	Town Tenants' Association	Thomas Sloyan	2.6	1,246	1,320	1,333	1,373
	Cumann na nGaedheal	William Dolly	2.6	1,237	1,345	1,349	1,388
	Labour	John McNally	2.1	1,028	1,154	1,182	1,201
	Cumann na nGaedheal	John Quinn	1.7	837	958	960	1,050
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Michael Tierney	1.4	667	867	870	943
	Unpurchased Tenants' Association	James Hoban	1.3	622	651	659	679
	Farmers' Party	Martin Finnerty	1.3	615	711	729	738
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Patrick Curley	0.8	379	457	462	476
	Farmers' Party	James Haverty	0.7	343	371	390	397
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Thomas Dillon	0.6	293	349	352	516
	Farmers' Party	Michael O'Brien	0.4	204	229	244	259
	Independent	Anthony Fallon	0.3	157	170	187	195
Electorate: 106,378   Valid: 48,375   Quota: 4,838   Turnout: 45.5%

1922 general election

1922 general election: Galway^[6][14]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Sinn Féin (Pro-Treaty)	Patrick Hogan	18.7	6,832
	Sinn Féin (Pro-Treaty)	Pádraic Ó Máille	17.7	6,445
	Labour	Thomas J. O'Connell	13.2	4,821
	Sinn Féin (Anti-Treaty)	Bryan Cusack	12.1	4,425	4,510	4,725
	Sinn Féin (Pro-Treaty)	Joseph Whelehan	11.9	4,361	4,667
	Sinn Féin (Anti-Treaty)	Liam Mellows	10.8	3,937	4,076	4,347	4,423	4,454	4,521	4,540
	Sinn Féin (Anti-Treaty)	Frank Fahy	9.4	3,418	3,821	4,018	4,200	4,273	4,436	4,579
	Sinn Féin (Pro-Treaty)	George Nicolls	6.2	2,258	3,594	4,793
Electorate: 81,455   Valid: 36,497   Quota: 4,563   Turnout: 44.8%

1921 general election

1921 general election: Galway^[5]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	%	Seat	Count
	Sinn Féin	Bryan Cusack	Unopposed	N/A	1
	Sinn Féin	Frank Fahy	Unopposed	N/A	2
	Sinn Féin	Patrick Hogan	Unopposed	N/A	3
	Sinn Féin	Liam Mellows	Unopposed	N/A	4
	Sinn Féin	George Nicolls	Unopposed	N/A	5
	Sinn Féin	Pádraic Ó Máille	Unopposed	N/A	6
	Sinn Féin	Joseph Whelehan	Unopposed	N/A	7

See also

• Dáil constituencies
• Politics of the Republic of Ireland
• Historic Dáil constituencies
• Elections in the Republic of Ireland