Kerry North (Dáil constituency)

Kerry North was a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas (the Irish parliament), from 1937 to 2011. The method of election was proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).

Kerry North
Former Dáil constituency
Location of Kerry North within Ireland
Former constituency
Created	1937
Abolished	2011
Seats	4 (1937–1961) 3 (1961–2011)
Local government area	County Kerry
Created from	Kerry
Replaced by	Kerry North–West Limerick

History and boundaries

The constituency was located in the northern half of County Kerry, located between the River Shannon estuary and the Slieve Mish Mountains; and included Tralee, Listowel, Tarbert, Ballybunion and Castleisland.^[1] Until 1961 it also included the Dingle Peninsula, which was then transferred to Kerry South.^[2] It was established by the Electoral (Revision of Constituencies) Act 1935 when the former Kerry constituency was divided into Kerry North and Kerry South.^[3] It was first used at the 1937 general election to the 9th Dáil.

The constituency elected 4 deputies (Teachtaí Dála, commonly known as TDs) from 1937 to 1961 and 3 deputies from 1961 to 2011.

From 2007 to 2011, it had been defined as:^[1]

"In the county of Kerry the electoral divisions of:

Deelis, in the former Rural District of Dingle;

Kilfelim, in the former Rural District of Killarney;

Ardagh, Astee, Ballincloher, Ballyconry, Ballyduff, Ballyegan, Ballyhorgan, Beal, Carrig, Causeway, Cloontubbrid, Drommartin, Duagh, Ennismore, Gullane, Gunsborough, Kilfeighny, Killehenny, Killury, Kilmeany, Kilshenane, Kiltomy, Leitrim, Lislaughtin, Lisselton, Listowel Rural, Lixnaw, Moynsha, Newtownsandes, Rathea, Shronowen, Tarbert, Tarmon, Trienearagh, Urlee, in the former Rural District of Listowel;

Abbeydorney, Arabela, Ardfert, Ballyegan, Ballyheige, Ballynahaglish, Ballynorig, Ballyseedy, Banna, Baurtregaum, Blennerville, Brosna, Castleisland, Clogherbrien, Cordal, Crinny, Doon, Gneeves, Kerryhead, Kilflyn, Kilgobban, Killahan, Kilmurry, Knockglass, Knocknagashel, Lackabaun, Mount Eagle, Nohaval, O'Brennan, Ratass, Tralee Rural, Tubrid, in the former Rural District of Tralee;

and the towns of Listowel and Tralee."

In 2007, the Constituency Commission proposed that at the next general election the constituency of Kerry North be replaced with Kerry North–West Limerick, with the transfer of certain electoral divisions from Limerick West and other electoral divisions to Kerry South.^[4] It was established by the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2009, and was used at the 2011 general election.^[5][6]

The constituency of Kerry North–West Limerick comprised the northern half of County Kerry, located between the River Shannon estuary and the Slieve Mish Mountains; taking in Tralee, Listowel, Tarbert, Ballybunion and Castleisland; and the western part of County Limerick taking in the town of Abbeyfeale; and the villages of Athea, Glin, Mountcollins, Templeglantine and Tournafulla. It was only used at the 2011 general election.

At the 2016 general election, Kerry North–West Limerick and Kerry South were superseded by the constituencies of Kerry and Limerick County.

TDs

Teachtaí Dála (TDs) for Kerry North 1937–2011[7]
Key to parties   CnaP = Clann na Poblachta   CnaT = Clann na Talmhan   FF = Fianna Fáil   FG = Fine Gael   Ind = Independent   Lab = Labour   NLP = National Labour Party   SF = Sinn Féin
Dáil	Election	Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)
9th	1937[8]		Stephen Fuller (FF)		Tom McEllistrim, Snr (FF)		John O'Sullivan (FG)		Eamon Kissane (FF)
10th	1938[9]
11th	1943[10]		Dan Spring (Lab)				Patrick Finucane (CnaT)
12th	1944[11]		Dan Spring (NLP)
13th	1948[12]
14th	1951[13]		Dan Spring (Lab)				Patrick Finucane (Ind)		John Lynch (FG)
15th	1954[14]						Patrick Finucane (CnaT)		Johnny Connor (CnaP)
	1956 by-election[15]								Kathleen O'Connor (CnaP)
16th	1957[16]						Patrick Finucane (Ind)		Daniel Moloney (FF)
17th	1961[17]							3 seats from 1961
18th	1965[18]
19th	1969[19]				Gerard Lynch (FG)		Tom McEllistrim, Jnr (FF)
20th	1973[20]
21st	1977[21]				Kit Ahern (FF)
22nd	1981[22]		Dick Spring (Lab)		Denis Foley (FF)
23rd	1982 (Feb)[23]
24th	1982 (Nov)[24]
25th	1987[25]						Jimmy Deenihan (FG)
26th	1989[26]				Tom McEllistrim, Jnr (FF)
27th	1992[27]				Denis Foley (FF)
28th	1997[28]
29th	2002[29]		Martin Ferris (SF)		Tom McEllistrim (FF)
30th	2007[30]
31st	2011	Constituency abolished. See Kerry North–West Limerick

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.

Elections

2007 general election

2007 general election: Kerry North^[30]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Fine Gael	Jimmy Deenihan	32.3	12,697
	Sinn Féin	Martin Ferris	20.4	8,030	8,631	9,284	10,196
	Fianna Fáil	Tom McEllistrim	18.7	7,367	7,702	8,040	11,247
	Fianna Fáil	Norma Foley	12.5	4,937	5,257	5,535
	Labour	Terry O'Brien	10.9	4,287	5,589	6,332	7,282
	Green	David Grey	1.9	747	893
	Independent	Anthony Dineen	1.7	689	803
	Independent	Sam Locke	1.0	397	417
	Independent	Tom Donovan	0.3	111	134
	Independent	Michael O'Connor	0.1	51	58
Electorate: 56,216   Valid: 39,313   Spoilt: 334 (0.8%)   Quota: 9,829   Turnout: 39,647 (70.5%)

2002 general election

2002 general election: Kerry North^[29]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Sinn Féin	Martin Ferris	24.1	9,496	10,016
	Labour	Dick Spring	22.4	8,773	9,166	9,353
	Fine Gael	Jimmy Deenihan	22.1	8,652	9,538	9,842
	Fianna Fáil	Tom McEllistrim	20.2	7,884	10,285
	Fianna Fáil	Dan Kiely	10.0	3,927
	Ind. Health Alliance	James Kennedy	0.6	233
	Independent	Anthony O'Connor	0.5	208
Electorate: 55,476   Valid: 39,173   Spoilt: 351 (0.9%)   Quota: 9,794   Turnout: 39,524 (71.3%)

1997 general election

1997 general election: Kerry North^[28][31]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Labour	Dick Spring	29.9	10,699
	Fine Gael	Jimmy Deenihan	24.3	8,689	9,711
	Sinn Féin	Martin Ferris	15.9	5,691	6,003	6,261	7,294
	Fianna Fáil	Denis Foley	15.0	5,376	5,607	5,882	9,719
	Fianna Fáil	Tom McEllistrim, Jnr	11.3	4,036	4,173	4,277
	National Party	Ciarán O'Connell	3.6	1,288	1,340	1,469
Electorate: 51,348   Valid: 35,779   Spoilt: 284 (0.8%)   Quota: 8,945   Turnout: 36,063 (70.2%)

1992 general election

1992 general election: Kerry North^[27][32]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Labour	Dick Spring	33.9	11,515
	Fine Gael	Jimmy Deenihan	23.9	8,120	9,665
	Fianna Fáil	Denis Foley	14.7	4,974	5,699	6,210	6,469	6,964	8,698
	Fianna Fáil	Tom McEllistrim, Jnr	13.6	4,619	4,932	5,108	5,270	5,565	6,473
	Fianna Fáil	Ned O'Sullivan	8.2	2,781	2,921	3,081	3,174	3,377
	Independent	Michael Reidy	3.3	1,122	1,278	1,451	1,606
	Sinn Féin	Billy Leen	2.4	802	954	1,031
Electorate: 48,797   Valid: 33,933   Spoilt: 400 (1.2%)   Quota: 8,484   Turnout: 34,333 (70.4%)

1989 general election

1989 general election: Kerry North^[26][33]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Labour	Dick Spring	29.7	10,118
	Fine Gael	Jimmy Deenihan	25.5	8,692
	Fianna Fáil	Tom McEllistrim, Jnr	19.8	6,756	7,228	8,402
	Fianna Fáil	Denis Foley	17.3	5,880	6,769	8,047
	Fianna Fáil	Ned O'Sullivan	7.8	2,641	2,876
Electorate: 46,715   Valid: 34,087   Quota: 8,522   Turnout: 72.9%

1987 general election

1987 general election: Kerry North^[25][34][35]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Fine Gael	Jimmy Deenihan	29.0	10,087
	Fianna Fáil	Denis Foley	21.9	7,611	7,778	7,888	8,118	9,619
	Labour	Dick Spring	19.4	6,739	7,555	7,635	7,824	8,311	8,383
	Fianna Fáil	Tom McEllistrim, Jnr	17.7	6,161	6,293	6,344	6,449	7,523	8,378
	Fianna Fáil	Dan Kiely	8.5	2,939	3,119	3,127	3,370
	Sinn Féin	Declan Finucane	1.9	668	752	1,061
	Sinn Féin	William Leen	1.6	559	576
Electorate: 45,602   Valid: 34,764   Quota: 8,692   Turnout: 76.2%

November 1982 general election

November 1982 general election: Kerry North^[24][36][37]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Labour	Dick Spring	28.9	9,724
	Fianna Fáil	Tom McEllistrim, Jnr	21.2	7,125	7,142	7,375	9,655
	Fine Gael	Jimmy Deenihan	17.3	5,817	6,614	7,291	8,055	8,159
	Fianna Fáil	Dan Kiely	15.1	5,081	5,087	5,227
	Fianna Fáil	Denis Foley	14.9	5,025	5,054	5,318	7,162	8,303
	Fine Gael	Bernie Gannon	2.6	866
Electorate: 42,982   Valid: 33,638   Quota: 8,410   Turnout: 78.3%

February 1982 general election

February 1982 general election: Kerry North^[23][38]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Labour	Dick Spring	25.8	8,552
	Fianna Fáil	Tom McEllistrim, Jnr	20.4	6,754	7,076	9,585
	Fianna Fáil	Denis Foley	17.1	5,646	6,098	7,950	9,123
	Fine Gael	Robert Pierse	17.1	5,643	5,836	6,513	6,647
	Fianna Fáil	Dan Kiely	16.0	5,297	5,416
	Independent	Denis Foley	3.7	1,218
Electorate: 42,856   Valid: 33,110   Spoilt: 240 (0.7%)   Quota: 8,278   Turnout: 33,350 (77.8%)

1981 general election

1981 general election: Kerry North^[22][39]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Fianna Fáil	Tom McEllistrim, Jnr	24.0	8,214	8,302	8,991
	Labour	Dick Spring	16.6	5,685	6,055	6,973	7,509	7,763	8,163
	Fianna Fáil	Denis Foley	14.9	5,104	5,199	6,096	9,276
	Fine Gael	Gerard Lynch	14.7	5,037	6,581	7,042	7,616	7,715	8,019
	Fianna Fáil	Kit Ahern	12.1	4,158	4,218	4,642
	Anti H-Block	Seán McKenna	11.3	3,860	3,917
	Fine Gael	Fionán Harty	6.5	2,227
Electorate: 42,856   Valid: 34,285   Quota: 8,572   Turnout: 80.0%

1977 general election

1977 general election: Kerry North^[21][40][41]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Fianna Fáil	Tom McEllistrim, Jnr	21.0	6,964	7,073	9,269
	Fianna Fáil	Kit Ahern	20.3	6,737	6,778	8,885
	Fine Gael	Gerard Lynch	18.7	6,202	7,382	7,651	7,773	7,927
	Labour	Dan Spring	18.2	6,046	6,452	7,206	7,803	8,234
	Fianna Fáil	Denis Foley	16.1	5,329	5,482
	Fine Gael	John Blennerhassett	5.8	1,920
Electorate: 43,185   Valid: 33,198   Quota: 8,300   Turnout: 76.9%

1973 general election

1973 general election: Kerry North^[20][40][42]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Fianna Fáil	Tom McEllistrim, Jnr	26.0	7,263
	Labour	Dan Spring	21.0	5,856	6,194	6,236	6,562	7,284
	Fianna Fáil	Kit Ahern	20.7	5,786	5,889	6,108	6,454	6,539	6,578
	Fine Gael	Gerard Lynch	16.5	4,592	4,655	4,665	5,591	6,823	7,092
	Fine Gael	John Blennerhassett	6.9	1,938	2,021	2,032	2,165
	Independent	John Larkin	6.4	1,773	1,817	1,822
	Independent	Joseph Keohane	2.5	695
Electorate: 37,018   Valid: 27,903   Quota: 6,976   Turnout: 75.4%

1969 general election

1969 general election: Kerry North^[19][40][43]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Fianna Fáil	Tom McEllistrim, Jnr	20.6	5,759	6,001	7,182
	Fianna Fáil	Kit Ahern	18.6	5,217	5,620	6,256	6,357	6,380
	Labour	Dan Spring	17.5	4,913	5,264	5,865	6,597	6,935
	Fine Gael	Gerard Lynch	15.5	4,332	5,266	5,344	7,366
	Fianna Fáil	Michael Scannell	9.8	2,745	2,814
	Fine Gael	John Blennerhassett	9.4	2,628	2,932	3,162
	Independent	Michael Finucane	8.7	2,425
Electorate: 35,846   Valid: 28,019   Quota: 7,005   Turnout: 78.2%

1965 general election

1965 general election: Kerry North^[18][40]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Fianna Fáil	Tom McEllistrim, Snr	28.5	7,561
	Labour	Dan Spring	25.1	6,645
	Independent	Patrick Finucane	19.4	5,147	5,271	7,871
	Fine Gael	Edmond Hayes	13.5	3,569	3,656
	Fianna Fáil	Kit Ahern	13.5	3,563	4,291	4,539
Electorate: 34,839   Valid: 26,485   Quota: 6,622   Turnout: 76.0%

1961 general election

1961 general election: Kerry North^[17][40]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Fianna Fáil	Tom McEllistrim, Snr	21.9	6,195	6,300	6,713	6,903
	Independent	Patrick Finucane	20.6	5,827	6,208	6,694	7,564
	Labour	Dan Spring	20.4	5,784	6,272	6,764	7,659
	Fianna Fáil	Daniel Moloney	18.6	5,262	5,318	5,442	5,576
	Fine Gael	Robert Gleasure	6.9	1,963	2,021	2,360
	Independent	Charles Lenihan	6.3	1,777	1,988
	Sinn Féin	Kevin Barry	5.2	1,483
Electorate: 35,956   Valid: 28,291   Quota: 7,073   Turnout: 78.7%

1957 general election

1957 general election: Kerry North^[16][40]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Fianna Fáil	Daniel Moloney	20.2	6,976
	Labour	Dan Spring	18.3	6,292	7,102
	Fianna Fáil	Tom McEllistrim, Snr	18.1	6,231	6,589	6,890
	Independent	Patrick Finucane	13.2	4,562	5,334	6,994
	Independent	Charles Lenihan	10.8	3,736	4,484	5,655
	Fine Gael	John Lynch	10.2	3,499	3,672
	Sinn Féin	May Daly	9.2	3,171
Electorate: 45,349   Valid: 34,467   Quota: 6,894   Turnout: 76.0%

1956 by-election

Following the death of Clann na Poblachta TD Johnny Connor, a by-election was held on 29 February 1956. The seat was won by the Clann na Poblachta candidate Kathleen O'Connor, daughter of the deceased TD.

1956 by-election: Kerry North^[15][40]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Clann na Poblachta	Kathleen O'Connor	53.5	18,176
	Fianna Fáil	Daniel J. Moloney	46.6	15,828
Electorate: 45,841   Valid: 34,004   Quota: 17,003   Turnout: 74.2%

1954 general election

1954 general election: Kerry North^[14][40]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Fianna Fáil	Tom McEllistrim, Snr	17.7	6,378	8,116
	Labour	Dan Spring	16.3	5,861	6,467	6,561	7,921
	Clann na Talmhan	Patrick Finucane	14.8	5,326	5,548	5,590	7,336
	Clann na Poblachta	Johnny Connor	13.9	5,003	5,175	5,208	6,741	7,421
	Fine Gael	John Lynch	13.6	4,904	5,084	5,098
	Fianna Fáil	Eamon Kissane	12.7	4,580	5,464	6,208	6,448	6,500
	Fianna Fáil	Maurice Lawlor	10.8	3,890
Electorate: 46,390   Valid: 35,942   Quota: 7,189   Turnout: 77.5%

1951 general election

1951 general election: Kerry North^[13][40]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Labour	Dan Spring	19.9	7,035	7,631
	Fianna Fáil	Thomas McEllistrim, Snr	15.4	5,430	6,927	7,104
	Fine Gael	John Lynch	15.3	5,397	5,544	5,620	7,492
	Fianna Fáil	Eamon Kissane	13.8	4,868	5,661	5,762	6,063	6,106
	Independent	Patrick Finucane	13.4	4,714	4,838	4,880	6,451	6,844
	Clann na Poblachta	Johnny Connor	12.6	4,446	4,614	4,703
	Fianna Fáil	Thomas O'Connor	9.6	3,389
Electorate: 46,519   Valid: 35,279   Quota: 7,056   Turnout: 75.8%

1948 general election

1948 general election: Kerry North^[12][40]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Fianna Fáil	Thomas McEllistrim, Snr	21.0	7,555
	Fianna Fáil	Eamon Kissane	17.2	6,214	6,281	6,407	6,533	8,769
	National Labour Party	Dan Spring	16.3	5,877	6,017	6,061	6,698	7,486
	Clann na Talmhan	Patrick Finucane	12.7	4,569	4,914	4,930	5,604	6,088	6,295	6,414
	Clann na Poblachta	Johnny Connor	12.2	4,390	5,294	5,314	5,814	6,121	6,232	6,365
	Fianna Fáil	Thomas Gega O'Connor	10.5	3,792	3,822	3,949	4,072
	Fine Gael	Jeremiah P. Nolan	5.8	2,108	2,168	2,176
	Clann na Poblachta	Johnny Walsh	4.3	1,564
Electorate: 48,998   Valid: 36,069   Quota: 7,214   Turnout: 73.6%

1944 general election

1944 general election: Kerry North^[11][44]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Clann na Talmhan	Patrick Finucane	25.8	8,784
	National Labour Party	Dan Spring	24.7	8,429
	Fianna Fáil	Eamon Kissane	20.7	7,047
	Fianna Fáil	Tom McEllistrim, Snr	19.1	6,521	7,830
	Fianna Fáil	Patrick McKenna	9.7	3,322	3,976
Electorate: 51,367   Valid: 34,103   Quota: 6,821   Turnout: 66.4%

1943 general election

1943 general election: Kerry North^[10][44]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Fianna Fáil	Eamon Kissane	17.2	6,551	6,907	8,897
	Fianna Fáil	Tom McEllistrim, Snr	15.7	5,973	6,008	7,021	8,230
	Clann na Talmhan	Patrick Finucane	13.6	5,174	5,329	5,458	5,474	5,505	6,729	6,957
	Labour	Dan Spring	13.6	5,155	6,675	6,859	6,896	7,008	8,440
	Clann na Talmhan	Edmund Horan	12.7	4,827	4,847	4,991	5,002	5,021	6,211	6,533
	Fine Gael	John O'Sullivan	11.6	4,420	4,553	4,639	4,662	4,735
	Fianna Fáil	Stephen Fuller	9.3	3,550	3,633
	Labour	John Kelly	6.2	2,352
Electorate: 51,367   Valid: 38,002   Quota: 7,601   Turnout: 74.0%

1938 general election

1938 general election: Kerry North^[9][44]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Fianna Fáil	Tom McEllistrim, Snr	24.0	8,478
	Fianna Fáil	Stephen Fuller	21.8	7,684
	Fianna Fáil	Eamon Kissane	21.1	7,457
	Fine Gael	John O'Sullivan	15.4	5,432	5,893	6,032	8,568
	Labour	William Cummins	9.3	3,273	4,028	4,345	4,701
	Fine Gael	Michael O'Connell	8.4	2,976	3,177	3,344
Electorate: 48,150   Valid: 35,300   Quota: 7,061   Turnout: 73.3%

1937 general election

1937 general election: Kerry North^[8][44]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Fianna Fáil	Eamon Kissane	21.9	7,673
	Fianna Fáil	Tom McEllistrim, Snr	17.7	6,213	6,499	7,583
	Fianna Fáil	Stephen Fuller	17.2	6,019	6,314	8,592
	Fine Gael	John O'Sullivan	14.9	5,204	5,211	5,821	5,957	6,090
	Fine Gael	Thomas O'Connell	14.7	5,136	5,167	5,602	5,834	5,923
	Labour	Patrick Casey	13.7	4,783	4,831
Electorate: 48,621   Valid: 35,028   Quota: 7,006   Turnout: 72.0%

See also

• Dáil constituencies
• Politics of the Republic of Ireland
• List of political parties in the Republic of Ireland
• List of Dáil by-elections
• Elections in the Republic of Ireland