Kerry South (Dáil constituency)

For the 1885–1922 constituency, see South Kerry (UK Parliament constituency).

Kerry South was a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas, from 1937 to 2016. The constituency elected 3 deputies (Teachtaí Dála, commonly known as TDs). The method of election was proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).

Kerry South
Former Dáil constituency
Location of Kerry South within Ireland
Former constituency
Created	1937
Abolished	2016
Seats	3
Local government area	County Kerry
Created from	Kerry
Replaced by	Kerry

History and boundaries

The constituency was located in the southern half of County Kerry taking in the Dingle and Iveragh peninsulas, including the towns of Killarney, Dingle, Cahirciveen, Killorglin and Kenmare.^[1]

It was established by the Electoral (Revision of Constituencies) Act 1935 when the former Kerry constituency was divided into the constituencies of Kerry North and Kerry South. It was first used at the 1937 general election for the 9th Dáil.

The Electoral (Amendment) Act 2009 defined the constituency as:^[1]

"The county of Kerry, except the part thereof which is comprised in the constituency of Kerry North–West Limerick."

It was abolished at the 2016 general election and replaced by the new Kerry constituency.

TDs

Teachtaí Dála (TDs) for Kerry South 1937–2016[2]
Key to parties   FF = Fianna Fáil   FG = Fine Gael   Ind = Independent   Lab = Labour   SF = Sinn Féin
Dáil	Election	Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)
9th	1937[3]		John Flynn (FF)		Frederick Crowley (FF)		Fionán Lynch (FG)
10th	1938[4]
11th	1943[5]		John Healy (FF)
12th	1944[6]
	1944 by-election[7]						Donal O'Donoghue (FF)
	1945 by-election[8]				Honor Crowley (FF)
13th	1948[9]		John Flynn (Ind)				Patrick Palmer (FG)
14th	1951[10]
15th	1954[11]		John Flynn (FF)
16th	1957[12]		John Joe Rice (SF)
17th	1961[13]		Timothy O'Connor (FF)				Patrick Connor (FG)
18th	1965[14]
	1966 by-election[15]				John O'Leary (FF)
19th	1969[16]						Michael Begley (FG)
20th	1973[17]
21st	1977[18]
22nd	1981[19]		Michael Moynihan (Lab)
23rd	1982 (Feb)[20]
24th	1982 (Nov)[21]
25th	1987[22]		John O'Donoghue[a] (FF)
26th	1989[23]						Michael Moynihan (Lab)
27th	1992[24]						Breeda Moynihan-Cronin (Lab)
28th	1997[25]				Jackie Healy-Rae (Ind)
29th	2002[26]
30th	2007[27]						Tom Sheahan (FG)
31st	2011[28]		Tom Fleming (Ind)		Michael Healy-Rae (Ind)		Brendan Griffin (FG)
32nd	2016	Constituency abolished. See Kerry

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. O'Donoghue served as Ceann Comhairle in the 30th Dáil from 2007 to 2009.

Elections

2011 general election

2011 general election: Kerry South^[28]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Fine Gael	Brendan Griffin	19.8	8,808	8,943	10,014	10,865	12,636
	Independent	Michael Healy-Rae	15.0	6,670	6,789	7,412	9,146	10,129	10,326
	Independent	Tom Fleming	14.5	6,416	6,548	7,357	8,746	10,389	10,697
	Fianna Fáil	John O'Donoghue	13.3	5,917	5,960	6,200
	Fine Gael	Tom Sheahan	12.8	5,674	5,736	6,577	7,326	8,668	9,409
	SKIA	Michael Gleeson	11.1	4,939	5,222	6,378	7,037
	Labour	Marie Moloney	11.1	4,926	5,132
	Green	Oonagh Comerford	0.9	401
	Independent	Richard Behal	0.8	348
	Independent	Dermot Finn	0.6	281
Electorate: 59,629   Valid: 44,380   Spoilt: 299 (0.7%)   Quota: 11,096   Turnout: 44,679 (74.9%)

2007 general election

2007 general election: Kerry South^[27]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Fianna Fáil	John O'Donoghue	23.4	9,128	9,407	9,956
	Fianna Fáil	Tom Fleming	17.3	6,740	6,972	7,221	7,278	8,393	8,855
	Independent	Jackie Healy-Rae	15.4	5,993	6,356	6,828	6,882	8,526	9,315
	Fine Gael	Tom Sheahan	14.3	5,600	5,819	7,927	7,960	11,010
	Labour	Breeda Moynihan-Cronin	13.5	5,263	5,904	6,774	6,827
	Fine Gael	Séamus Cosaí FitzGerald	10.7	4,195	4,419
	Sinn Féin	Lynn Ní Bhaoigheallain	3.5	1,375
	Green	John Hickey	1.9	738
Electorate: 53,660   Valid: 39,032   Spoilt: 293 (0.8%)   Quota: 9,759   Turnout: 39,325 (73.3%)

2002 general election

2002 general election: Kerry South^[26]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Fianna Fáil	John O'Donoghue	25.8	9,445
	Fianna Fáil	Tom Fleming	18.9	6,912	6,995	7,255	7,407	7,593	8,276	8,381
	Independent	Jackie Healy-Rae	17.0	6,229	6,455	6,819	6,893	7,147	8,409	8,584
	Labour	Breeda Moynihan-Cronin	14.5	5,307	5,480	5,946	5,979	6,432	9,442
	Fine Gael	Séamus Cosaí FitzGerald	12.4	4,539	4,732	4,791	4,811	6,083
	Fine Gael	Sheila Casey	5.3	1,934	2,033	2,216	2,220
	Independent	Donal Grady	3.7	1,346	1,449
	Independent	Donal Barry	2.5	934
Electorate: 51,761   Valid: 36,646   Spoilt: 376 (1.0%)   Quota: 9,162   Turnout: 37,022 (61.0%)

1997 general election

1997 general election: Kerry South^[25][29]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Independent	Jackie Healy-Rae	20.3	7,220	7,563	8,131	8,318	9,163
	Fianna Fáil	John O'Donoghue	20.3	7,204	7,280	7,408	7,487	10,346
	Labour	Breeda Moynihan-Cronin	14.1	4,988	5,265	5,550	5,898	6,250	6,706	9,960
	Independent	Breandan MacGearailt	11.8	4,172	4,265	4,402	4,547	4,686	5,332	5,975
	Fianna Fáil	Brian O'Leary	11.5	4,079	4,248	4,464	4,493
	Fine Gael	Aidan O'Connor	8.6	3,041	3,204	3,353	4,578	4,729	4,904
	Fine Gael	Jim Kelly	5.2	1,847	1,928	2,060
	Independent	P. J. Cronin	4.4	1,557	1,717
	SKIA	Michael Gleeson	3.9	1,388
Electorate: 48,164   Valid: 35,496   Spoilt: 303 (0.9%)   Quota: 8,875   Turnout: 35,799 (74.3%)

1992 general election

1992 general election: Kerry South^[24][30]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Fianna Fáil	John O'Donoghue	26.4	8,263
	Labour	Breeda Moynihan-Cronin	24.1	7,537	7,613	7,649	7,747	7,843
	Fianna Fáil	John O'Leary	19.5	6,113	6,407	6,420	6,470	6,535	7,407
	Fine Gael	Michael Connor-Scarteen	11.4	3,576	3,601	3,617	3,640	3,660	4,030
	Fine Gael	Paul Coghlan	8.5	2,658	2,668	2,682	2,706	2,715	3,274
	Independent	P. J. Cronin	7.9	2,481	2,497	2,518	2,549	2,625
	Sinn Féin	Dan Daly	1.1	331	333	335	353
	Independent	Pól O'Críocháin	0.9	267	270	277
	Independent	Liam West	0.4	112	114
Electorate: 44,591   Valid: 31,338   Spoilt: 486 (1.5%)   Quota: 7,835   Turnout: 31,824 (71.4%)

1989 general election

1989 general election: Kerry South^[23][31][32]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Fianna Fáil	John O'Leary	26.8	8,398
	Fianna Fáil	John O'Donoghue	26.7	8,375
	Fine Gael	Michael Begley	20.7	6,477	6,503	7,103	7,226	7,412
	Labour	Michael Moynihan	20.5	6,408	6,468	7,125	7,570	7,929
	Progressive Democrats	John Kelly	4.7	1,458	1,494
	Independent	Barbara Hyland	0.6	202
Electorate: 43,159   Valid: 31,318   Quota: 7,830   Turnout: 72.6%

1987 general election

1987 general election: Kerry South^[22][33]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Fianna Fáil	John O'Leary	23.6	7,839	7,857	7,929	8,139	8,175	8,669
	Fianna Fáil	John O'Donoghue	16.9	5,606	5,613	5,646	5,687	5,733	6,171	9,212
	Fine Gael	Michael Begley	15.2	5,036	5,057	5,112	5,157	5,791	6,952	7,849	8,199
	Labour	Michael Moynihan	13.7	4,559	4,581	4,705	4,971	5,074	6,055	6,580	6,945
	Fianna Fáil	Breandan Mac Gearailt	13.5	4,481	4,489	4,571	4,637	4,652	4,947
	Progressive Democrats	Michael C. Ahern	9.7	3,215	3,233	3,371	3,534	3,654
	Fine Gael	Denis Sheahan	2.7	910	914	939	975
	Workers' Party	Seán O'Grady	2.2	735	741	898
	Green	Marcus Counihan	2.1	708	721
	Independent	James Falvey	0.4	122
Electorate: 42,701   Valid: 33,211   Quota: 8,303   Turnout: 77.8%

November 1982 general election

November 1982 general election: Kerry South^[21][34]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Fianna Fáil	John O'Leary	24.0	7,898	7,900	7,937	8,088	8,143	8,148	8,154	8,303
	Labour	Michael Moynihan	23.1	7,609	7,620	7,690	8,052	8,247
	Fine Gael	Michael Begley	22.8	7,524	7,532	7,556	7,613	8,252
	Fianna Fáil	John O'Donoghue	21.9	7,201	7,215	7,232	7,282	7,298	7,300	7,302	7,715
	Fine Gael	Tom Randles	2.7	890	893	908	927
	Independent	Joseph O'Shea	2.6	845	850	874	929	941	951	955
	Workers' Party	Seán O'Grady	2.1	679	687	729
	Independent	Colm O'Sullivan	0.7	236	238
	Independent	Stephen Doyle	0.2	57
Electorate: 41,941   Valid: 32,939   Quota: 8,235   Turnout: 78.5%

February 1982 general election

February 1982 general election: Kerry South^[20][35]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Fianna Fáil	John O'Leary	23.1	7,510	7,515	7,758	7,764	8,811
	Labour	Michael Moynihan	21.6	7,038	7,077	7,732	7,877	8,285
	Fine Gael	Michael Begley	20.8	6,758	6,770	8,292
	Fianna Fáil	John O'Donoghue	15.3	4,977	4,999	5,100	5,105	7,094
	Fianna Fáil	Tom Fitzgerald	10.8	3,523	3,544	3,582	3,585
	Fine Gael	Michael Connor Scarteen	7.9	2,584	2,599
	Independent	Stephen Doyle	0.4	141
Electorate: 41,807   Valid: 32,531 (77.8%)   Spoilt: 279 (0.9%)   Quota: 8,133   Turnout: 32,810 (78.5%)

1981 general election

1981 general election: Kerry South^[19][36]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Labour	Michael Moynihan	24.5	8,221	8,624
	Fianna Fáil	John O'Leary	22.0	7,383	7,550	7,757	9,036
	Fine Gael	Michael Begley	18.3	6,144	6,401	7,741	8,195
	Fianna Fáil	Timothy O'Connor	14.0	4,702	4,888	4,980	6,904
	Fianna Fáil	John O'Donoghue	11.3	3,780	4,150	4,248
	Fine Gael	Patrick O'Connor	5.3	1,763	1,892
	Independent	Michael O'Connell	4.8	1,600
Electorate: 41,807   Valid: 33,593   Quota: 8,399   Turnout: 80.4%

1977 general election

1977 general election: Kerry South^[18][37][38]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Fianna Fáil	John O'Leary	24.5	8,002	8,246
	Fianna Fáil	Timothy O'Connor	24.2	7,917	8,072	8,312
	Fine Gael	Michael Begley	20.4	6,655	6,722	8,818
	Labour	Michael Moynihan	17.7	5,799	6,174	6,982
	Fine Gael	Michael Connor-Scarteen	10.0	3,256	3,345
	Sinn Féin The Workers' Party	Redmond Sullivan	3.3	1,065
Electorate: 41,565   Valid: 32,694   Quota: 8,174   Turnout: 78.7%

1973 general election

1973 general election: Kerry South^[17][37][39]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Fianna Fáil	John O'Leary	30.3	8,286
	Fianna Fáil	Timothy O'Connor	21.3	5,819	7,021
	Fine Gael	Michael Begley	19.7	5,390	5,444	5,610	7,752
	Labour	Michael Moynihan	13.9	3,806	3,952	4,451	5,087
	Fine Gael	Daniel Barry	11.1	3,025	3,052	3,145
	Sinn Féin (Official)	Patrick O'Callaghan	3.7	1,014	1,035
Electorate: 36,391   Valid: 27,340   Quota: 6,836   Turnout: 75.1%

1969 general election

1969 general election: Kerry South^[16][37][40]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Fianna Fáil	John O'Leary	30.6	8,656
	Fianna Fáil	Timothy O'Connor	22.9	6,490	7,733
	Fine Gael	Michael Begley	16.1	4,564	4,621	4,666	5,629	6,713
	Fine Gael	Patrick Connor	13.8	3,891	4,013	4,151	4,884	5,698
	Labour	Tadhg O'Sullivan	9.4	2,652	2,795	2,945	3,109
	Fine Gael	Daniel Barry	7.2	2,038	2,056	2,065
Electorate: 36,097   Valid: 28,291   Quota: 7,073   Turnout: 78.4%

1966 by-election

Following the death of Fianna Fáil TD Honor Crowley, a by-election was held on 7 December 1966. The seat was won by the Fianna Fáil candidate John O'Leary.

1966 by-election: Kerry South^[15][37][40]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Fianna Fáil	John O'Leary	45.9	12,499	13,590
	Fine Gael	Michael Begley	36.3	9,875	12,807
	Labour	Michael Moynihan	17.8	4,849
Electorate: 35,832   Valid: 27,223   Quota: 13,612   Turnout: 76.0%

1965 general election

1965 general election: Kerry South^[14][37]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Fianna Fáil	Timothy O'Connor	22.5	5,977	6,253	6,842
	Fianna Fáil	Honor Crowley	21.6	5,746	5,887	6,084	6,225	6,341
	Fine Gael	Patrick Connor	20.7	5,501	5,664	7,365
	Labour	Michael Moynihan	17.7	4,712	4,924	5,626	6,210	6,296
	Fine Gael	Michael Begley	12.2	3,250	3,725
	Independent	James Courtney	5.2	1,370
Electorate: 36,470   Valid: 26,556   Quota: 6,640   Turnout: 72.8%

1961 general election

1961 general election: Kerry South^[13][37]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Fianna Fáil	Honor Crowley	22.3	5,640	5,886	6,537
	Fine Gael	Patrick Connor	21.3	5,402	6,588
	Fianna Fáil	Timothy O'Connor	20.7	5,244	5,446	5,862
	Labour	Michael Moynihan	14.3	3,630	3,952	5,073
	Sinn Féin	John Joe Rice	12.8	3,240	3,380
	Fine Gael	Michael O'Sullivan	8.5	2,158
Electorate: 36,781   Valid: 25,314   Quota: 6,329   Turnout: 68.8%

1957 general election

1957 general election: Kerry South^[12][37]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Fine Gael	Patrick Palmer	26.6	5,899
	Fianna Fáil	Honor Crowley	25.4	5,632
	Sinn Féin	John Joe Rice	25.1	5,582
	Fianna Fáil	John Flynn	23.0	5,101
Electorate: 32,279   Valid: 22,214   Quota: 5,554   Turnout: 68.8%

1954 general election

1954 general election: Kerry South^[11][37]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Fine Gael	Patrick Palmer	25.6	6,376
	Fianna Fáil	John Flynn	23.4	5,834	5,844	6,002	6,429
	Fianna Fáil	Honor Crowley	23.0	5,732	5,740	5,946	6,380
	Labour	Michael Moynihan	10.8	2,690	2,732	3,513	5,025
	Clann na Talmhan	William Dennehy	9.9	2,461	2,499	3,112
	Clann na Poblachta	John O'Leary	7.4	1,853	1,894
Electorate: 33,411   Valid: 24,946   Quota: 6,237   Turnout: 74.7%

1951 general election

1951 general election: Kerry South^[10][37]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Fine Gael	Patrick Palmer	29.5	7,437
	Independent	John Flynn	21.2	5,337	5,614	6,023	7,521
	Fianna Fáil	Honor Crowley	18.6	4,679	4,739	4,772	5,236	5,438
	Fianna Fáil	Patrick J. Lane	16.8	4,232	4,312	4,405	4,555	4,648
	Clann na Poblachta	John Joe O'Leary	9.3	2,330	2,723	3,579
	Clann na Poblachta	Jeremiah O'Riordan	4.7	1,170	1,500
Electorate: 33,680   Valid: 25,185   Quota: 6,297   Turnout: 74.8%

1948 general election

1948 general election: Kerry South^[9][37]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Fine Gael	Patrick Palmer	18.9	4,924	5,400	5,548	5,689	6,059	6,161
	Independent	John Flynn	15.7	4,107	4,374	4,767	4,920	6,473	6,944
	Fianna Fáil	Honor Crowley	15.7	4,091	4,244	4,274	5,973	7,900
	Fianna Fáil	John Healy	15.3	3,992	4,033	4,164	4,398
	Clann na Poblachta	Pádraig O'Donoghue	12.2	3,179	3,468	4,791	4,935	5,079	5,115
	Fianna Fáil	Donal O'Donoghue	8.7	2,278	2,357	2,462
	Clann na Poblachta	Patrick Jones	8.1	2,121	2,183
	Independent	Patrick J. O'Shea	5.5	1,424
Electorate: 35,580   Valid: 26,116   Quota: 6,530   Turnout: 73.4%

1945 by-election

Following the death of Fianna Fáil TD Frederick Crowley, a by-election was held on 4 December 1945. The seat was won by the Fianna Fáil candidate Honor Crowley, widow of the deceased TD.

1945 by-election: Kerry South^[8][37]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Fianna Fáil	Honor Crowley	56.7	10,483
	Clann na Talmhan	Edmund Horan	43.3	8,018
Electorate: 36,029   Valid: 18,501   Quota: 9,251   Turnout: 51.4%

1944 by-election

Following the resignation of Fine Gael TD Fionán Lynch upon his appointment as a judge, a by-election was held on 10 November 1944. The seat was won by the Fianna Fáil candidate Donal O'Donoghue.

1944 by-election: Kerry South^[7][37]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Fianna Fáil	Donal O'Donoghue	48.6	10,986	11,771
	Clann na Talmhan	Edmund Horan	30.1	6,795	9,348
	Fine Gael	Eoin O'Connell	21.3	4,822
Electorate: 35,940   Valid: 22,603   Quota: 11,302   Turnout: 62.9%

1944 general election

1944 general election: Kerry South^[6][41]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Fianna Fáil	Frederick Crowley	26.6	6,693
	Fianna Fáil	John Healy	25.9	6,526
	Fine Gael	Fionán Lynch	24.1	6,057	6,232	6,344
	Clann na Talmhan	Edmund Horan	23.5	5,908	6,129	6,246
Electorate: 36,504   Valid: 25,184   Quota: 6,297   Turnout: 69.0%

1943 general election

1943 general election: Kerry South^[5][41]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Fianna Fáil	Frederick Crowley	22.4	5,934	5,994	7,144
	Fianna Fáil	John Healy	20.1	5,323	5,604	6,200	6,442
	Fine Gael	Fionán Lynch	18.0	4,771	5,034	6,418	6,579
	Clann na Talmhan	Daniel Allman	16.8	4,446	5,366	6,161	6,266
	Labour	William Myers	16.5	4,384	4,509
	Clann na Talmhan	John Duffy	6.3	1,685
Electorate: 36,504   Valid: 26,543   Quota: 6,636   Turnout: 72.7%

1938 general election

1938 general election: Kerry South^[4][41]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	%	Seat	Count
	Fianna Fáil	Frederick Crowley	Unopposed	N/A	1
	Fianna Fáil	John Flynn	Unopposed	N/A	2
	Fine Gael	Fionán Lynch	Unopposed	N/A	3
Electorate: 35,027   Valid:   Quota:   Turnout:

1937 general election

1937 general election: Kerry South^[3][41]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Fianna Fáil	John Flynn	28.3	7,268
	Fianna Fáil	Frederick Crowley	26.4	6,772
	Fine Gael	Fionán Lynch	18.4	4,741	4,955	5,009	7,252
	Independent	Patrick O'Shea	13.7	3,532	4,104	4,338	5,394
	Fine Gael	William O'Sullivan	13.2	3,384	3,441	3,500
Electorate: 35,390   Valid: 25,697   Quota: 6,425   Turnout: 72.6%

See also

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