Youghal (Parliament of Ireland constituency)

Youghal was a parliamentary borough represented in the Irish House of Commons until its abolition on 1 January 1801. It was a corporation with burgesses and freemen.

Youghal
Former borough constituency
for the Irish House of Commons
CountyCounty Cork
BoroughYoughal
1374 (1374) (1374 (1374))–1801 (1801)
Seats2
Replaced byYoughal (UKHC)

History edit

In 1700 the borough was under the patronage of Charles Boyle, 2nd Earl of Burlington. It passed through his granddaughter Charlotte Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington to her husband William Cavendish, later Duke of Devonshire, who by 1758 had entrusted it to Henry Boyle, 1st Earl of Shannon. Following the Act of Union 1800 the borough sent one MP to Westminster, still under the patronage of the Earls of Shannon.

A Topographical Directory of Ireland, published in 1837, describes the parliamentary history of the borough of Youghal in County Cork:

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 till 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.

Members of Parliament 1559–1801 edit

Election First member First party Second member Second party
1559 John Walch John Portyngall
1585 Thomas Coppinger James Collen
1613 Edmund Coppinger John Forrest
1634 Edward Gough Theobald Ronayne
1661 Sir Boyle Maynard Owen Silver
1689 Patriot Parliament Thomas Uniack Edward Gough
1692 Henry Boyle Robert FitzGerald
1695 Henry Boyle
1703 Henry Luther John Hayman
1713 Boyle Smyth
1715 Francis Palmes Arthur Hyde
1719 Henry Rugge
October 1721 Richard FitzPatrick
1721 Arthur Hyde
1727 James Tynte James O'Brien
1758 Arthur Hyde
1761 Sir John Colthurst, 1st Bt Bellingham Boyle
1768 James Dennis Joseph Lysaght
1776 James Uniacke
1777 Robert Uniacke
1798 John Keane
1801 Succeeded by Westminster constituency of Youghal

Elections edit

1613 June 7
Edmund Coppinger 62 votes; John Forrest 53; Thomas Ronayne 12; Henry Gosnold 6.[1]
1628 October 9
William Bluet and Edward Gough returned.[2]
1634 June/July
Edward Gough 59; Theobald Ronane 41; Edward Stoute 21; Christmas Harford 5.[3]
1639 February 25
Edward Gough 51; Theobald Ronaine 44; William Gough (son of Richard) 21; Nicholas Forest 10.[4]
1695
1703
1713
1715
1719 July 20
(by-election on the death of Francis Palmes) Henry Rugge 88 votes; Sir John Osberne, baronet, 60.[5]
1727
1761
1768
1776
1783
1790
1797
1800 January
Robert Uniacke re-elected after appointment as Master General of the Ordnance of Ireland.[6]

References edit

Sources edit

  • Johnston-Liik, E.M., ed. (28 February 2002). "Youghal". History of the Irish Parliament, 1692–1800. Ulster Historical Foundation. ISBN 978-1-903688-09-0. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  • T. W. Moody, F. X. Martin, F. J. Byrne, A New History of Ireland 1534-1691, Oxford University Press, 1978
  • Tim Cadogan and Jeremiah Falvey, A Biographical Dictionary of Cork, 2006, Four Courts Press ISBN 978-1-84682-030-4
  • Caulfield, Richard (1878). The Council Book of the Corporation of Youghal: From 1610 to 1659, from 1666 to 1687, and from 1690 to 1800. J. Billings and Sons. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  • Leigh Rayment's historical List of Members of the Irish House of Commons. Cites: Johnston-Liik, Edith Mary (2002). The History of the Irish Parliament 1692-1800 (6 volumes). Ulster Historical Foundation.

Citations edit