Youghal (UK Parliament constituency)

Youghal was a United Kingdom Parliament constituency in Ireland returning one MP from 1801 to 1885.

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

History

Tralee was a two-seat constituency in the Irish House of Commons. Under the Acts of Union 1800, which came into effect on 1 January 1801, it was one of the constituencies represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, with its representation reduced to one seat. The member who sat in the First Parliament of the United Kingdom was chosen by lot.

A Topographical Directory of Ireland, published in 1837, describes the parliamentary history of the borough:^[1]

The borough appears to have exercised the elective franchise by prescription, as, though no notice of that privilege appears in any of its charters, it continued to send two members to the Irish parliament from the year 1374 until the Union, since which period it has returned one member to the imperial parliament; the right of election was vested solely in the members of the corporation and the freemen, whether resident or not; but by the act of the 2nd of Wm. IV., cap. 88, it has been granted to the £10 householders, and the non-resident freemen have been disfranchised. A new boundary has been drawn round the town, including an area of 212 statute acres.

The borough was disfranchised under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, which took effect at the 1885 general election.^[2] The area was thereafter represented by the county constituency of East Cork.

Notable MPs included Isaac Butt, who was later leader of the Home Rule League.

Boundaries

This constituency was the parliamentary borough of Youghal in County Cork.

A report into the boundaries was undertaken in 1831.^[3] The Parliamentary Boundaries (Ireland) Act 1832 defined the boundaries of the parliamentary borough as:^[4]

From the Point to the South of the Town where the new Road to Cork quits the Sea-shore, Northward, in a straight Line to the Point in Windmill Lane where the same is joined by a Bye Road from the North, about Two hundred Yards to the West of the House occupied by Mr. Flyn; thence in a straight Line to the South-western Angle of the Ordnance Ground on which the Barracks stand, near the old Cork Road; thence along the Western Fence of the Ordnance Ground to the North-western Angle of the same; thence, Northward in a straight Line to the Spot where the upper Edge of the great Quarry near Counsellor Feuge's House is cut by a Road which runs through the same to the Mount Uniacke Road; thence along the Road so running through the Quarry to the Point where the same meets the Mount Uniacke Road; thence, Northward, in a straight Line to the Point where a Bye Road which leads from the Mount Uniacke Road to the Waterford Road makes a Turn almost at Right Angles a little to the South of the House called Eustace's Folly; thence, Northward, along the same Road, passing to the West of Eustace's Folly, to the Spot where the same Road meets the Waterford Road; thence in a straight Line to the nearest Point of the Sea-shore; thence along the Sea-shore to the Point first described.

Members of Parliament

Election	Member	Party		Note
1801, 1 January	Sir John Keane, Bt		Tory	Created baronet 1 August 1801.
1806, 10 November	James Bernard, Viscount Bernard		Tory
1807, 18 May	Henry Boyle, Viscount Boyle		Tory	Became the 3rd Earl of Shannon
1807, 28 July	Sir John Keane, Bt		Tory	First returned at a by-election
1818, 27 June	James Bernard, Viscount Bernard		Tory
1820, 15 March	John Hyde
1826, 14 June	Hon. George Ponsonby		Whig[5]	Not George Ponsonby (1755–1817), but his nephew.
1832, 15 December	John O'Connell		Irish Repeal[5][6]	Re-elected as a candidate of a Liberal/Repealer pact
1837, 8 August	Frederick John Howard		Whig[5][7]
1841, 3 July	Hon. Charles Cavendish		Whig[5][8][9][10]
1847, 7 August	Thomas Chisholm Anstey		Irish Confederate[6][11]
1852, 15 July	Isaac Butt		Conservative[6]	Re-elected as a Liberal candidate
1857, 28 March			Peelite[12][13]
1859, 9 May			Liberal[6]
1865, 18 July	Joseph Neale McKenna		Liberal[6]
1868, 23 November	Christopher Weguelin		Liberal[6]	Unseated on petition and new writ issued
1869, 11 May	Montague Guest		Liberal[6]	Returned at a by-election
1874, 4 February	Sir Joseph Neale McKenna		Home Rule[6]
1885	constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Youghal^[6][5][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	George Ponsonby	66	95.7
	Nonpartisan	Richard Smyth	3	4.3
Majority			63	91.4
Turnout			69	c. 28.5
Registered electors			c. 242
	Whig hold

Ponsonby was appointed as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 4 December 1830: Youghal^[6][5][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	George Ponsonby	Unopposed
	Whig hold

General election 1831: Youghal^[6][5][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	George Ponsonby	Unopposed
Registered electors			242
	Whig hold

General election 1832: Youghal^[6][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Irish Repeal	John O'Connell	22	81.5
	Tory	Roger Green Davis	5	18.5
Majority			17	63.0
Turnout			27	9.1
Registered electors			297
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig

• Davis resigned on the second day of polling

General election 1835: Youghal^[6][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	John O'Connell	137	51.3	−30.2
	Conservative	Thomas Cusack-Smith	130	48.7	+30.2
Majority			7	2.6	−60.4
Turnout			267	79.0	+69.9
Registered electors			338
	Irish Repeal hold		Swing	−30.2

General election 1837: Youghal^[6][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Frederick John Howard	158	51.3	+−0.0
	Conservative	William Nicol	150	48.7	±0.0
Majority			8	2.6	N/A
Turnout			308	58.6	−20.4
Registered electors			526
	Whig gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Youghal^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Charles Cavendish	Unopposed
Registered electors			498
	Whig hold

General election 1847: Youghal^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Confederate	Thomas Chisholm Anstey	110	61.8	New
	Whig	William Ponsonby	68	38.2	N/A
Majority			42	23.6	N/A
Turnout			178	34.1	N/A
Registered electors			522
	Irish Confederate gain from Whig		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Youghal^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Isaac Butt	111	50.5	New
	Whig	John Fortescue[15][16]	109	49.5	+11.3
Majority			2	1.0	N/A
Turnout			220	84.3	+50.2
Registered electors			261
	Conservative gain from Irish Confederate		Swing	N/A

General election 1857: Youghal^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Peelite	Isaac Butt	Unopposed
Registered electors			220
	Peelite gain from Conservative

General election 1859: Youghal^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Isaac Butt	128	70.3	N/A
	Conservative	John Rowland Smyth	54	29.7	N/A
Majority			74	40.6	N/A
Turnout			182	77.8	N/A
Registered electors			234
	Liberal gain from Peelite		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Youghal^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Joseph Neale McKenna	122	80.3	N/A
	Liberal	Isaac Butt	30	19.7	−50.6
Majority			92	60.6	+20.0
Turnout			152	64.1	−13.7
Registered electors			237
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1868: Youghal^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Christopher Weguelin	127	54.5	N/A
	Liberal	Joseph Neale McKenna	106	45.5	−34.4
Majority			21	9.0	−51.6
Turnout			233	83.8	+19.7
Registered electors			278
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

On petition, Weguelin was unseated due to treating, and a by-election was called.^[17]

By-election, 11 May 1869: Youghal^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Montague Guest	126	50.6	N/A
	Conservative	Charles Green	123	49.4	New
Majority			3	1.2	−7.8
Turnout			249	89.6	+5.8
Registered electors			278
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Youghal^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	Joseph Neale McKenna	124	53.9	+8.4
	Conservative	Robert Penrose-Fitzgerald	106	46.1	N/A
Majority			18	7.8	−1.2
Turnout			230	83.3	−0.5
Registered electors			276
	Home Rule gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Youghal^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	Joseph Neale McKenna	133	52.6	−1.3
	Conservative	David Taylor Arnott	120	47.4	+1.3
Majority			13	5.2	−2.6
Turnout			253	87.5	+4.2
Registered electors			289
	Home Rule hold		Swing	−1.3