Kinsale (UK Parliament constituency)

Kinsale was a United Kingdom Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one MP. It was an original constituency represented in Parliament when the Union of Great Britain and Ireland took effect on 1 January 1801.

Kinsale
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	County Cork
Borough	Kinsale
1801–1885
Seats	1
Created from	Kinsale (IHC)
Replaced by	South East Cork

Boundaries

This constituency was the parliamentary borough of Kinsale in County Cork. A Topographical Directory of Ireland, published in 1837, describes the Parliamentary history of the borough.

It is not known exactly at what time the borough first exercised the elective franchise, but it returned two members to parliament long prior to 1652, and continued to do so without interruption till the Union, since which time it has returned only one to the Imperial parliament. The right of election, previously vested in the corporation, was, by the act of the 2nd of Wm. IV., cap. 88, extended to the £10 householders and limited to the resident freemen; the total number of registered electors up to 1 June 1837, was 224, of whom 192 were £10 householders, and 32 freemen; the sovereign is the returning officer. The borough and liberties comprise an area of 11,000 acres, within the jurisdiction of the borough magistrates; a new electoral boundary has been drawn close round the town, including the village of Scilly, and comprising an area of 273 acres.

The new boundary contained in the Parliamentary Boundaries (Ireland) Act 1832 was:

From the Point on the North-east of the Town at which the new Cork Road crosses the old Cork Road, in a straight Line to the Northern Extremity of Mr. Hurley's Stables; thence in a straight Line to the Point at which the Road to Bandon River leaves the Road to Bandon; thence in a straight Line to the Point at which the Blindgate Road meets the Compass Hill Road; thence in a straight Line over Compass Hill to the Westernmost House at the place called "The World's End;" thence along the Coast to the Point at which the same is met by the first Bank which runs up the Hill to the East of and beyond the Village of Scilly;thence along the said Bank to the Point at which the same meets the Road from Scilly to Charles Fort; thence in a straight Line to a Point on the Harbour Hill Road which is distant One hundred and eighty Yards (measured along the Harbour Hill Road) to the East of the Barrack Wall; thence in a straight Line to the Point first described.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party	Note
	1801, 1 January	William Rowley		1801: Co-opted
	1802, 13 July	Samuel Campbell Rowley		Resigned
	1806, 29 April	Henry Martin	Whig
	1818, 27 June	George Coussmaker		Died
	1821, 12 July	Sir Josias Rowley, Bt	Tory
	1826, 15 June	John Russell	Whig[1]
	1832, 18 December	Sampson Stawell	Whig[1]
	1835, 15 January	Henry Thomas	Conservative[1][2]
	1837, 7 August	Pierce Mahony	Whig[1]	Unseated on petition
	1838, 1 April	Henry Thomas	Conservative[1][2]	Declared duly elected
	1841, 9 July	William Henry Watson	Whig[1]
	1847, 6 August	Richard Samuel Guinness	Conservative[2]	Unseated on petition and new writ issued
	1848, 11 March	Benjamin Hawes	Whig[3][4][5]	Resigned
	1852, 12 February	John Isaac Heard	Whig[6][7]
	1859, 7 May	Sir John Arnott	Liberal[2]	Resigned
	1863, 8 June	Sir George Colthurst, Bt	Liberal-Conservative[8]
	1874, 3 February	Eugene Collins	Home Rule League[2]	Last MP from the constituency
1885		Constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Kinsale^[2][1][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	John Russell (MP)	Unopposed
	Whig hold

General election 1831: Kinsale^[2][1][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	John Russell (MP)	Unopposed
Registered electors			64
	Whig hold

General election 1832: Kinsale^[2][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Sampson Stawell	96	51.6
	Tory	John Cuthbert	90	48.4
Majority			6	3.2
Turnout			186	90.3
Registered electors			206
	Whig hold

General election 1835: Kinsale^[2][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Thomas (MP)	78	50.3	+1.9
	Whig	Thomas Dickson	77	49.7	−1.9
Majority			1	0.6	N/A
Turnout			155	70.1	−20.2
Registered electors			221
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+1.9

General election 1837: Kinsale^[2][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Pierce Mahony	103	51.2	+1.5
	Conservative	Henry Thomas (MP)	98	48.8	−1.5
Majority			5	2.4	N/A
Turnout			201	69.1	−1.0
Registered electors			291
	Whig gain from Conservative		Swing	+1.5

• On petition, Mahony was unseated in favour of Thomas

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Kinsale^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Henry Watson	98	55.1	+3.9
	Conservative	Matthias Wolverley Attwood	80	44.9	−3.9
Majority			18	10.2	+7.8
Turnout			178	59.3	−9.8
Registered electors			300
	Whig hold		Swing	+3.9

General election 1847: Kinsale^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Samuel Guinness	103	54.5	+9.6
	Whig	William Henry Watson	86	45.5	−9.6
Majority			17	9.0	N/A
Turnout			189	55.1	−4.2
Registered electors			343
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+9.6

On petition, Guinness was unseated and a new writ was issued, causing a by-election.

By-election, 11 March 1848: Kinsale^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Benjamin Hawes	97	50.8	+5.3
	Conservative	Robert Pelham-Clinton	94	49.2	−5.3
Majority			3	1.6	N/A
Turnout			191	55.7	+0.6
Registered electors			343
	Whig gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.3

Elections in the 1850s

Hawes resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, causing a by-election.

By-election, 12 February 1852: Kinsale^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Isaac Heard	Unopposed
	Whig gain from Conservative

General election 1852: Kinsale^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Isaac Heard	Unopposed
Registered electors			139
	Whig gain from Conservative

General election 1857: Kinsale^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Isaac Heard	Unopposed
Registered electors			149
	Whig hold

General election 1859: Kinsale^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Arnott	79	67.5	N/A
	Conservative	Frederick Brine	38	32.5	New
Majority			41	35.0	N/A
Turnout			117	81.3	N/A
Registered electors			144
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1860s

Arnott resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 8 June 1863: Kinsale^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal-Conservative	George Colthurst[8]	63	55.3	New
	Conservative	Victor Beare Fitzgibbon	51	44.7	+12.2
Majority			12	10.6	N/A
Turnout			114	78.6	−2.7
Registered electors			145
	Liberal-Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

General election 1865: Kinsale^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal-Conservative	George Colthurst[8]	62	52.5	N/A
	Liberal	Eugene Collins	56	47.5	−20.0
Majority			6	5.0	N/A
Turnout			118	81.4	+0.1
Registered electors			145
	Liberal-Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

General election 1868: Kinsale^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal-Conservative	George Colthurst[8]	Unopposed
Registered electors			172
	Liberal-Conservative hold

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Kinsale^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	Eugene Collins	107	69.5	New
	Conservative	Charles Andrews	47	30.5	N/A
Majority			60	39.0	N/A
Turnout			154	83.7	N/A
Registered electors			184
	Home Rule gain from Liberal-Conservative		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Kinsale^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	Eugene Collins	112	72.7	+3.2
	Conservative	John Carmichael	42	27.3	−3.2
Majority			70	45.4	+6.4
Turnout			154	79.4	−4.3
Registered electors			194
	Home Rule hold		Swing	+3.2