Kildare (Dáil constituency)

Kildare was a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas from 1923 to 1937 and from 1948 to 1997. The method of election was proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).

Kildare
Former Dáil constituency
Former constituency
Created	1923
Abolished	1937
Seats	3
Local government area	County Kildare
Created from	Kildare–Wicklow
Replaced by	Carlow–Kildare

Kildare
Former Dáil constituency
Former constituency
Created	1948
Abolished	1997
Seats	3 (1948–1961) 4 (1961–1969) 3 (1969–1981) 5 (1981–1997)
Local government area	County Kildare
Created from	Carlow–Kildare
Replaced by	Kildare North Kildare South

History and boundaries

Covering all or part of County Kildare, the constituency existed for two distinct periods: from 1923 to 1937, and from 1948 to 1997. From 1923 to 1937 Kildare elected 3 deputies (Teachtaí Dála, commonly known as TDs),^[1] until it was absorbed into a new Carlow–Kildare constituency in 1937. After its re-establishment in 1948 it initially elected 3 TDs.^[2] This was increased to 4 seats in 1961, reduced again to 3 in 1969, and increased to 5 from 1981 until its abolition in 1997. Its boundaries were significantly revised on several occasions.

The constituency was abolished for the 1997 general election, when it was replaced by two new constituencies: Kildare North and Kildare South.

TDs

TDs 1923–1937

Teachtaí Dála (TDs) for Kildare 1923–1937[3]
Key to parties   CnaG = Cumann na nGaedheal   FP = Farmers' Party   FF = Fianna Fáil   Lab = Labour
Dáil	Election	Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)
4th	1923[4]		Hugh Colohan (Lab)		John Conlan (FP)		George Wolfe (CnaG)
5th	1927 (Jun)[5]				Domhnall Ua Buachalla (FF)
6th	1927 (Sep)[6]
	1931 by-election[7]		Thomas Harris (FF)
7th	1932[8]				William Norton (Lab)		Sydney Minch (CnaG)
8th	1933[9]
9th	1937	Constituency abolished. See Carlow–Kildare

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.

TDs 1948–1997

Teachtaí Dála (TDs) for Kildare 1948–1997[3]
Key to parties   FF = Fianna Fáil   FG = Fine Gael   Lab = Labour
Dáil	Election	Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)
13th	1948[10]		William Norton (Lab)		Thomas Harris (FF)		Gerard Sweetman (FG)	3 seats until 1961		3 seats until 1961
14th	1951[11]
15th	1954[12]
16th	1957[13]				Patrick Dooley (FF)
17th	1961[14]								Brendan Crinion (FF)	4 seats 1961–1969
	1964 by-election[15]		Terence Boylan (FF)
18th	1965[16]				Patrick Norton (Lab)
19th	1969[17]				Paddy Power (FF)			3 seats 1969–1981		3 seats 1969–1981
	1970 by-election[18]						Patrick Malone (FG)
20th	1973[19]		Joseph Bermingham (Lab)
21st	1977[20]						Charlie McCreevy (FF)
22nd	1981[21]								Bernard Durkan (FG)		Alan Dukes (FG)
23rd	1982 (Feb)[22]								Gerry Brady (FF)
24th	1982 (Nov)[23]								Bernard Durkan (FG)
25th	1987[24]		Emmet Stagg (Lab)
26th	1989[25]				Seán Power (FF)
27th	1992[26]
28th	1997	Constituency abolished. See Kildare North and Kildare South

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

1992 general election

1992 general election: Kildare^[27]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
	Labour	Emmet Stagg	21.1	10,656
	Fianna Fáil	Charlie McCreevy	20.3	10,208
	Fine Gael	Alan Dukes	13.3	6,705	6,877	6,966	6,981	7,026	7,139	7,311	7,512	7,749	8,132	10,144
	Fine Gael	Bernard Durkan	9.1	4,604	4,736	4,809	4,814	4,822	4,928	4,974	5,075	5,288	5,356	6,078	7,413
	Fianna Fáil	Seán Power	7.6	3,809	3,899	4,829	4,833	4,918	5,030	5,162	5,285	5,434	8,036	8,527
	Progressive Democrats	John Dardis	7.0	3,529	3,590	3,644	3,653	3,669	3,768	3,873	4,031	4,195	4,321
	Labour	Jack Wall	5.7	2,859	4,359	4,397	4,412	4,733	4,825	4,965	5,272	6,131	6,343	6,887	7,094
	Fianna Fáil	Seán Ó Fearghaíl	5.7	2,858	2,895	3,411	3,420	3,481	3,518	3,613	3,707	3,780
	Democratic Left	Catherine Murphy	3.2	1,613	1,732	1,762	1,770	1,790	1,833	1,856	2,018
	Green	Seán English	2.1	1,064	1,112	1,133	1,167	1,219	1,337	1,454
	Independent	Nick Hegarty	1.7	853	882	899	939	951	1,005
	Independent	Patsy Lawlor	1.5	745	784	812	830	858
	Sinn Féin	Paddy Wright	1.4	719	741	749	752
	Independent	Liz Garrett	0.4	177	184	188
Electorate: 78,069   Valid: 50,399   Spoilt: 746 (1.5%)   Quota: 8,400   Turnout: 51,145 (65.5%)

1989 general election

1989 general election: Kildare^[28][29]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Fine Gael	Alan Dukes	18.0	9,182
	Fianna Fáil	Charlie McCreevy	17.6	8,977
	Labour	Emmet Stagg	17.2	8,767
	Fine Gael	Bernard Durkan	13.1	6,676	7,236	7,261	7,328	7,659	8,107	9,704
	Fianna Fáil	Seán Power	11.6	5,918	5,942	6,183	6,221	6,401	6,559	6,791	6,977	7,670
	Fianna Fáil	Seán Ó Fearghaíl	7.1	3,603	3,621	3,816	3,833	3,970	4,085	4,187	4,387	5,256
	Independent	Carol Tiernan	5.3	2,690	2,702	2,706	2,725	2,911	3,418	3,588	3,957
	Progressive Democrats	Timmy Conway	4.2	2,126	2,179	2,190	2,214	2,416	2,589
	Workers' Party	Catherine Murphy	3.0	1,520	1,531	1,539	1,632	1,936
	Green	Seán English	2.9	1,462	1,479	1,485	1,507
Electorate: 78,724   Valid: 50,921   Quota: 8,487   Turnout: 64.7%

1987 general election

1987 general election: Kildare^[24][30][31]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Fianna Fáil	Paddy Power	14.2	7,649	7,694	7,957	8,899	8,987
	Labour	Emmet Stagg	14.1	7,567	8,295	8,768	8,888	9,004
	Fine Gael	Alan Dukes	13.9	7,453	7,490	7,584	7,669	8,054	10,137
	Fine Gael	Bernard Durkan	12.4	6,671	6,763	6,795	6,816	6,953	8,561	9,665
	Fianna Fáil	Gerry Brady	11.7	6,297	6,370	6,469	7,178	7,211	7,649	7,688	7,864
	Fianna Fáil	Charlie McCreevy	11.7	6,292	6,357	6,504	7,280	7,387	7,972	8,015	8,265
	Progressive Democrats	Eoin McBennett	6.3	3,407	3,458	3,505	3,537	5,713
	Progressive Democrats	Frank Masterson	5.4	2,913	2,959	3,050	3,112
	Fianna Fáil	Seán Ó Fearghaíl	5.0	2,675	2,696	2,798
	Sinn Féin	Patrick Wright	2.6	1,420	1,528
	Workers' Party	Colm Purcell	2.3	1,238
	Independent	Frederick Leavy	0.2	123
Electorate: 74,340   Valid: 53,705   Quota: 8,951   Turnout: 72.2%

November 1982 general election

November 1982 general election: Kildare^[23][32][33]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Fine Gael	Bernard Durkan	19.8	9,594
	Fianna Fáil	Charlie McCreevy	17.8	8,589
	Fine Gael	Alan Dukes	16.7	8,057	9,428
	Fianna Fáil	Paddy Power	16.5	7,969	7,987	8,186
	Labour	Joseph Bermingham	15.2	7,366	7,447	7,514	8,602
	Fianna Fáil	Gerry Brady	9.6	4,637	4,692	4,882	4,963
	Fianna Fáil	Paddy Aspell	4.0	1,929	1,935	2,002	2,020
	Independent	Seán Thompson	0.3	149	150	153	165
	Independent	Michael McManus	0.1	69	71	74	94
Electorate: 67,830   Valid: 48,359   Quota: 8,060   Turnout: 71.3%

February 1982 general election

February 1982 general election: Kildare^[22][34]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Fianna Fáil	Charlie McCreevy	24.7	11,497
	Fine Gael	Alan Dukes	19.1	8,881
	Labour	Joseph Bermingham	16.1	7,491	7,750
	Fianna Fáil	Paddy Power	13.2	6,145	7,841
	Fianna Fáil	Gerry Brady	10.9	5,063	6,270	6,286	7,664
	Fine Gael	Bernard Durkan	9.1	4,245	4,393	5,224	5,253
	Fine Gael	Patsy Lawlor	3.8	1,768	1,879	2,158	2,235
	Fianna Fáil	Leonore O'Rourke-Glynn	3.0	1,374	1,705	1,715
Electorate: 63,834   Valid: 46,464   Quota: 7,745   Turnout: 72.8%

1981 general election

1981 general election: Kildare^[21][35]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Fianna Fáil	Paddy Power	20.8	9,768
	Fianna Fáil	Charlie McCreevy	15.0	7,053	8,052
	Labour	Joseph Bermingham	12.3	5,803	5,899	6,022	6,030	7,936
	Fine Gael	Bernard Durkan	11.9	5,612	5,640	5,693	5,695	6,132	6,190	6,233	8,488
	Fine Gael	Alan Dukes	10.1	4,762	4,785	4,837	4,838	4,915	5,009	5,024	7,063	7,685
	Fine Gael	Patsy Lawlor	9.5	4,469	4,524	4,580	4,586	4,763	4,943	4,964
	Fianna Fáil	Gerry Brady	7.6	3,584	3,780	3,914	4,004	4,200	6,404	6,417	6,637	6,659
	Labour	Emmet Stagg	6.0	2,832	2,867	2,972	2,975
	Fianna Fáil	Martin Miley	5.3	2,479	2,960	3,046	3,144	3,229
	Independent	Evelyn Bracken	1.5	698	709
Electorate: 63,834   Valid: 47,060   Quota: 7,844   Turnout: 73.7%

1977 general election

1977 general election: Kildare^[20][36]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Fianna Fáil	Paddy Power	35.1	11,621
	Labour	Joseph Bermingham	21.4	7,070	7,289	7,445	7,951	8,268
	Fianna Fáil	Charlie McCreevy	14.0	4,624	5,841	5,854	5,930	10,413
	Fine Gael	Patrick Malone	11.7	3,858	3,927	4,198	5,742	5,833
	Fianna Fáil	Martin Miley	9.7	3,223	5,007	5,038	5,102
	Fine Gael	Patrick Hyland	5.1	1,696	1,730	2,267
	Fine Gael	Philip Hennessy	3.1	1,025	1,043
Electorate: 44,088   Valid: 33,117   Spoilt: 268 (0.8%)   Quota: 8,280   Turnout: 33,385 (75.7%)

1973 general election

1973 general election: Kildare^[19][37]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Fianna Fáil	Paddy Power	29.3	8,894
	Labour	Joseph Bermingham	22.4	6,791	6,872	7,237	7,546	7,750
	Fine Gael	Patrick Malone	21.7	6,581	6,637	7,905
	Fianna Fáil	Terence Boylan	16.2	4,898	5,602	5,633	5,640	7,189
	Fine Gael	James McEvoy	5.7	1,716	1,789
	Fianna Fáil	Patrick Dooley	4.8	1,441	1,890	1,933	1,941
Electorate: 40,065   Valid: 30,321   Quota: 7,581   Turnout: 75.7%

1970 by-election

Following the death of Fine Gael TD Gerard Sweetman, a by-election was held on 14 April 1970. The seat was won by the Fine Gael candidate Patrick Malone.

1970 by-election: Kildare^[38][37]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Fianna Fáil	Eamon Kane	41.3	10,754	12,061
	Fine Gael	Patrick Malone	35.9	9,335	13,169
	Labour	Joseph Bermingham	22.8	5,923
Electorate: 36,284   Valid: 26,012   Quota: 13,007   Turnout: 71.7%

1969 general election

1969 general election: Kildare^[17][39]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Fianna Fáil	Terence Boylan	24.9	6,903	7,100
	Fine Gael	Gerard Sweetman	22.8	6,323	6,628	6,637	7,483
	Fianna Fáil	Paddy Power	12.0	3,327	3,515	3,609	3,719	3,736	3,814	5,262	5,734
	Labour	Joseph Bermingham	9.8	2,711	2,889	2,902	2,991	3,014	4,336	4,449	4,911
	Fianna Fáil	Patrick Norton	6.5	1,806	1,880	1,908	1,963	1,976	2,042
	Labour	Michael Brady	6.3	1,732	1,878	1,888	1,963	1,974
	Fine Gael	Michael McWey	6.2	1,709	1,827	1,834
	Fine Gael	Anne Moore	6.1	1,694	1,887	1,900	2,451	2,944	3,127	3,231
	Independent	Michael St. Leger	5.4	1,496
Electorate: 36,284   Valid: 27,701   Quota: 6,926   Turnout: 76.3%

1965 general election

1965 general election: Kildare^[16][38]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Fianna Fáil	Brendan Crinion	21.0	7,129
	Labour	Patrick Norton	20.9	7,087
	Fine Gael	Gerard Sweetman	20.0	6,797
	Fianna Fáil	Terence Boylan	15.2	5,156	5,343	5,434	5,627
	Fianna Fáil	Patrick Dooley	12.6	4,269	4,404	4,554	4,779
	Fine Gael	Matthew O'Connor	5.6	1,915	1,931	2,987
	Fine Gael	Charles Chambers	4.6	1,559	1,567
Electorate: 44,565   Valid: 33,912   Quota: 6,783   Turnout: 76.1%

1964 by-election

Following the death of Labour Party TD William Norton, a by-election was held on 19 February 1964. The seat was won by the Fianna Fáil candidate Terence Boylan.

1964 by-election: Kildare^[38]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Fianna Fáil	Terence Boylan	43.5	13,905	15,973
	Fine Gael	Patrick Malone	30.8	9,825	14,254
	Labour	Patrick Norton	25.7	8,214
Electorate: 43,779   Valid: 31,944   Quota: 15,973   Turnout: 73.0%

1961 general election

1961 general election: Kildare^[14][38]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Labour	William Norton	25.4	8,015
	Fine Gael	Gerard Sweetman	22.3	7,035
	Fianna Fáil	Patrick Dooley	18.6	5,865	6,468
	Fianna Fáil	Brendan Crinion	12.4	3,908	4,036	4,065	4,100	4,319	6,664
	Fianna Fáil	Terence Groome	9.6	3,033	3,303	3,342	3,392	3,512
	Fine Gael	John Keegan	6.1	1,913	2,225	2,482	2,501
	Fine Gael	Charles Chambers	5.8	1,827	2,209	2,599	2,643	4,209	4,361
Electorate: 44,108   Valid: 31,596   Quota: 6,320   Turnout: 71.6%

1957 general election

1957 general election: Kildare^[13][38]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Labour	William Norton	26.5	7,038
	Fianna Fáil	Patrick Dooley	25.8	6,860
	Fine Gael	Gerard Sweetman	23.9	6,339	6,665
	Fianna Fáil	Thomas Harris	23.8	6,311	6,385
Electorate: 37,422   Valid: 26,548   Quota: 6,638   Turnout: 70.9%

1954 general election

1954 general election: Kildare^[12][38]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Labour	William Norton	30.4	8,501
	Fine Gael	Gerard Sweetman	28.7	8,030
	Fianna Fáil	Thomas Harris	23.7	6,620	7,430
	Fianna Fáil	Patrick Dooley	17.2	4,791	5,496
Electorate: 38,011   Valid: 27,942   Quota: 6,986   Turnout: 73.5%

1951 general election

1951 general election: Kildare^[38]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Fianna Fáil	Thomas Harris	30.4	8,348
	Labour	William Norton	30.1	8,279
	Fine Gael	Gerard Sweetman	24.6	6,759	6,826	7,907
	Fianna Fáil	Michael Nolan	14.5	3,987	5,340	5,448
	Independent	Peter Keane	0.4	120	174	390
Electorate: 38,147   Valid: 27,493   Quota: 6,874   Turnout: 72.1%

1948 general election

1948 general election: Kildare^[38]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Fianna Fáil	Thomas Harris	29.6	7,792
	Labour	William Norton	26.3	6,939
	Fine Gael	Gerard Sweetman	19.1	5,022	5,080	5,155	5,582	5,638	6,068
	Clann na Poblachta	Daniel T. Boland	10.7	2,821	2,868	3,025	3,067	3,696	4,237
	Fianna Fáil	Michael G. Nolan	9.3	2,452	3,517	3,577	3,627	3,666
	Clann na Poblachta	Paudge Brennan	3.0	779	799	846	856
	Fine Gael	Michael Cunningham	2.1	548	561	572
Electorate: 37,737   Valid: 26,353   Quota: 6,589   Turnout: 69.8%

1933 general election

1933 general election: Kildare^[9][40]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Fianna Fáil	Thomas Harris	29.5	7,799
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Sydney Minch	23.8	6,304	6,330	6,532
	Labour	William Norton	20.0	5,292	5,517	8,487
	National Centre Party	Frederick B. Barton	16.7	4,408	4,417	4,494
	Fianna Fáil	Brigid Darby	10.0	2,636	3,565
Electorate: 33,782   Valid: 26,439   Quota: 6,610   Turnout: 78.3%

1932 general election

1932 general election: Kildare^[8][40]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Fianna Fáil	Thomas Harris	26.9	6,510
	Labour	William Norton	22.7	5,496	5,527	5,875
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Sydney Minch	19.2	4,653	4,665	7,777
	Fianna Fáil	Domhnall Ua Buachalla	15.7	3,802	4,211	4,313
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Michael Fitzsimons	15.4	3,735	3,743
Electorate: 33,595   Valid: 24,196   Quota: 6,050   Turnout: 72.0%

1931 by-election

Following the death of Labour Party TD Hugh Colohan, a by-election was held on 29 June 1931. The seat was won by the Fianna Fáil candidate Thomas Harris.

1931 by-election: Kildare^[7][40]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Fianna Fáil	Thomas Harris	40.0	10,041	11,612
	Cumann na nGaedheal	John Conlan	33.4	8,374	11,103
	Labour	William Norton	26.6	6,669
Electorate: 38,815   Valid: 25,084   Quota: 12,543   Turnout: 64.6%

September 1927 general election

September 1927 general election: Kildare^[6][40]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Cumann na nGaedheal	George Wolfe	29.6	6,494
	Fianna Fáil	Domhnall Ua Buachalla	28.5	6,261
	Farmers' Party	John Conlan	14.9	3,284	4,067	4,099	4,227	4,555
	Labour	Hugh Colohan	14.8	3,251	3,394	3,537	4,271	5,667
	Fianna Fáil	Thomas Murphy	7.7	1,694	1,715	2,289	2,397
	Labour	Michael Smyth	4.5	985	1,039	1,058
Electorate: 34,815   Valid: 21,969   Quota: 5,493   Turnout: 63.1%

June 1927 general election

June 1927 general election: Kildare^[5][40]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	Fianna Fáil	Domhnall Ua Buachalla	18.6	4,127	4,162	4,972	5,732
	Labour	Hugh Colohan	18.6	4,112	4,144	4,213	4,341	4,402	4,788	5,081	5,529	7,226
	Cumann na nGaedheal	George Wolfe	11.0	2,438	2,577	2,589	2,608	2,612	2,771	3,675	4,197	4,296	4,496
	Farmers' Party	John Conlan	10.4	2,310	2,560	2,580	2,653	2,674	2,995	3,257	3,632	3,824	3,956
	Labour	Michael Smyth	8.4	1,865	1,900	1,934	2,036	2,056	2,148	2,182	2,342
	Cumann na nGaedheal	James C. Bergin	7.0	1,559	1,606	1,613	1,634	1,647	1,726
	National League	Rupert Trench	6.4	1,415	1,612	1,624	1,676	1,697	1,796	1,854
	Sinn Féin	Art O'Connor	5.1	1,133	1,185	1,287
	Independent	John J. Bergin	5.1	1,129	1,280	1,296	1,359	1,409
	Fianna Fáil	James Cregan	5.0	1,098	1,109
	Independent	George Henderson	4.4	979
Electorate: 34,815   Valid: 22,165   Quota: 5,542   Turnout: 63.7%

1923 general election

1923 general election: Kildare^[4][40]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Labour	Hugh Colohan	23.0	4,300	4,310	4,361	4,787
	Farmers' Party	John Conlan	19.5	3,650	3,672	3,762	3,868	3,903	4,174	4,435	4,941
	Republican	Art O'Connor	12.2	2,276	2,311	2,347	3,125	3,160	3,510	3,620
	Cumann na nGaedheal	George Wolfe	11.7	2,186	2,198	2,494	2,517	2,518	2,698	4,475	4,624
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Thomas Lawler	10.3	1,920	1,949	2,352	2,387	2,390	2,643
	Labour	Michael Smyth	9.2	1,712	1,722	1,769	1,892	1,931
	Republican	Domhnall Ua Buachalla	8.0	1,492	1,564	1,572
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Simon Malone	5.1	950	956
	Republican	Thomas Harris	1.1	206
Electorate: 35,612   Valid: 18,692   Quota: 4,674   Turnout: 52.5%

See also

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