West Limerick (UK Parliament constituency)

West Limerick was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament from 1885 to 1922.

West Limerick
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1922
Seats	1
Created from	County Limerick
Replaced by	Kerry–Limerick West

Prior to the 1885 United Kingdom general election the area was part of the County Limerick constituency. Representation at Westminster in this constituency ceased at the 1922 United Kingdom general election, which took place on 15 November, shortly before the establishment of the Irish Free State on 6 December 1922.

Boundaries

This constituency comprised the western part of County Limerick.

1885–1922: The baronies of Connello Lower, Connello Upper, Glenquin, Kenry and Shanid, and that part of the barony of Coshma contained within the parishes of Adare, Drehidtarsna and Killonohan.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party	Note
	1885, December 1	William Abraham	Irish Parliamentary	Party split
	1890, December 1		Anti-Parnellite	Joined new organisation
	1891, March 1		Irish National Federation
	1892, July 13	Michael Austin	Irish National Federation
	1900, October 5	Patrick O'Shaughnessy	Irish Parliamentary
	1918, December 14 2	Con Collins	Sinn Féin	Did not take his seat at Westminster
1922, October 26		UK constituency abolished

Notes:-

• ¹ Not an election, but the date of a party change. The Irish Parliamentary Party had been created in 1882, on the initiative of Charles Stewart Parnell's Irish National League. Both the IPP and the INL split into Parnellite and Anti-Parnellite factions, in December 1890. The Parnellites remained members of the Irish National League after the split and the Anti-Parnellites organised the Irish National Federation in March 1891. The two organisations and the United Irish League merged in 1900, to re-create the Irish Parliamentary Party.
• ² Date of polling day. The result was declared on 28 December 1918, to allow time for votes cast by members of the armed forces to be included in the count.

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

1885 general election: West Limerick

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	William Abraham	Unopposed
	Irish Parliamentary win (new seat)

1886 general election: West Limerick

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	William Abraham	Unopposed
	Irish Parliamentary hold

Elections in the 1890s

1892 general election: West Limerick

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish National Federation	Michael Austin	3,257	86.3	N/A
	Irish National League	Henry Harrison	516	13.7	N/A
Majority			2,741	72.6	N/A
Turnout			3,773	53.0	N/A
Registered electors			7,118
	Irish National Federation gain from Irish Parliamentary		Swing	N/A

1895 general election: West Limerick

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish National Federation	Michael Austin	Unopposed
	Irish National Federation hold

Elections in the 1900s

1900 general election: West Limerick

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Patrick O'Shaughnessy	Unopposed
	Irish Parliamentary hold

1906 general election: West Limerick

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Patrick O'Shaughnessy	Unopposed
	Irish Parliamentary hold

Elections in the 1910s

January 1910 general election: West Limerick

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Patrick O'Shaughnessy	Unopposed
	Irish Parliamentary hold

December 1910 general election: West Limerick

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Patrick O'Shaughnessy	3,052	70.4	N/A
	All-for-Ireland	D. D. Sheehan	1,285	29.6	N/A
Majority			1,767	40.8	N/A
Turnout			4,337	57.4	N/A
Registered electors			7,550
	Irish Parliamentary hold		Swing	N/A

1918 general election: West Limerick

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Con Collins	Unopposed
	Sinn Féin gain from Irish Parliamentary

References

• Walker, B. M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Royal Irish Academy.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 3)