County Sligo (UK Parliament constituency)

County Sligo
County Sligo
Former county constituency; for the House of Commons
County	County Sligo
1801–1885
Seats	2
Created from	County Sligo (IHC)
Replaced by	North Sligo; South Sligo;

County Sligo is a former county constituency in Ireland, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It returned two Members of Parliament (MPs), elected by the bloc vote system of election.

History and boundaries

In 1801, the constituency succeeded the constituency of County Sligo in the Irish House of Commons, comprising the whole of County Sligo, except the parliamentary borough of Sligo. After the Sligo and Cashel Disfranchisement Act 1870, the borough ceased to have separate representation, and eligible voters were added to the roll for the county constituency.

From 1885 the constituency was divided into North Sligo and South Sligo.

Members of Parliament

Election	1st Member		1st Party		2nd Party
1801		Joshua Edward Cooper	Tory	Charles O'Hara	Tory
Nov 1806		Edward Synge Cooper	Tory^[1]	Charles O'Hara	Tory
Dec 1822		Edward Synge Cooper	Tory^[1]	Henry King	Whig^[2]
Aug 1830		Edward Joshua Cooper	Tory^[2]^[3]	Henry King	Whig^[2]
May 1831			Tory^[2]^[3]	Alexander Perceval	Tory^[2]^[3]
Dec 1834			Conservative^[2]^[3]		Conservative^[2]^[3]
Jul 1841		William Ormsby-Gore	Conservative^[2]^[3]		Conservative^[2]^[3]
Sep 1841				John Ffolliott	Conservative^[2]^[3]
Mar 1850				Sir Robert Gore-Booth	Conservative^[3]
Jul 1852		Richard Swift	Ind. Irish^[3]
Apr 1857		Edward Joshua Cooper	Conservative^[3]
May 1859		Charles William Cooper changed name to O'Hara, 1860	Conservative^[3]
Jul 1865		Edward Henry Cooper	Conservative^[3]
Dec 1868		Denis Maurice O'Conor	Liberal^[3]
Dec 1874			Home Rule League^[3]
Jan 1877				Edward King-Harman	Home Rule^[3]
Apr 1880				Thomas Sexton	Parnellite Home Rule League^[3]
Oct 1882			Irish Parliamentary		Irish Parliamentary^[3]
Aug 1883		Nicholas Lynch	Irish Parliamentary^[3]		Irish Parliamentary^[3]
1885	constituency abolished: see North Sligo and South Sligo

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: County Sligo (2 seats)^[3]^[2]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Edward Joshua Cooper	465	47.9
	Whig	Henry King	390	40.2
	Whig	Fitzstephen French	116	11.9
Turnout			514	84.3
Registered electors			610
Majority			75	7.7
	Tory hold
Majority			274	28.3
	Whig hold

General election 1831: County Sligo (2 seats)^[3]^[2]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Edward Joshua Cooper	361	43.0	+19.1
	Tory	Alexander Perceval	287	34.2	+10.3
	Whig	Henry King	191	22.8	−29.3
Majority			96	11.4	+3.7
Turnout			c. 420	c. 69.9	c. −14.4
Registered electors			600
	Tory hold		Swing	+16.9
	Tory gain from Whig		Swing	+12.5

General election 1832: County Sligo (2 seats)^[3]^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Tory	Edward Joshua Cooper	Unopposed
	Tory	Alexander Perceval	Unopposed
Registered electors			695
	Tory hold
	Tory hold

General election 1835: County Sligo (2 seats)^[3]^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Edward Joshua Cooper	Unopposed
	Conservative	Alexander Perceval	Unopposed
Registered electors			694
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

General election 1837: County Sligo (2 seats)^[3]^[2]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Edward Joshua Cooper	511	38.5
	Conservative	Alexander Perceval	443	33.4
	Whig	Daniel Jones	368	27.7
	Whig	Charles Joseph McDermott	5	0.4
Majority			75	5.7
Turnout			c. 664	c. 64.1
Registered electors			1,036
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: County Sligo (2 seats)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	William Ormsby-Gore	Unopposed
	Conservative	Alexander Perceval	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,093
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Perceval was appointed a commissioner of the Treasury, causing a by-election.

By-election, 28 September 1841: County Sligo^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Ffolliott	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: County Sligo (2 seats)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	William Ormsby-Gore	Unopposed
	Conservative	John Ffolliott	Unopposed
Registered electors			837
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1850s

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

By-election, 12 March 1850: County Sligo^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Gore-Booth	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1852: County Sligo (2 seats)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Gore-Booth	943	35.9	*N/A*
	Independent Irish	Richard Swift	870	33.1	*New*
	Conservative	William Ormsby-Gore	774	29.5	N/A
	Whig	John Taaffe^[5]	39	1.5	New
Turnout			1,313 (est)	62.4 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			2,105
Majority			73	2.8	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
Majority			96	3.6	N/A
	Independent Irish gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

General election 1857: County Sligo (2 seats)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Gore-Booth	1,471	45.2	+9.3
	Conservative	Edward Joshua Cooper	1,471	45.2	+15.7
	Whig	John Ball^[6]	305	9.4	+7.9
	Independent Irish	Richard Swift	5	0.2	−32.9
Majority			1,166	35.9	+33.1
Turnout			1,776 (est)	74.3 (est)	+11.9
Registered electors			2,389
	Conservative hold		Swing	+12.9
	Conservative gain from Independent Irish		Swing	+16.1

General election 1859: County Sligo (2 seats)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Robert Gore-Booth	Unopposed
	Conservative	Charles William Cooper	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,445
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: County Sligo (2 seats)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Edward Henry Cooper	Unopposed
	Conservative	Robert Gore-Booth	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,181
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

General election 1868: County Sligo (2 seats)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Denis Maurice O'Conor	1,671	41.7	*New*
	Conservative	Robert Gore-Booth	1,208	30.1	*N/A*
	Conservative	Edward Henry Cooper	1,129	28.2	N/A
	Liberal	Cornelius Alexander Keogh	2	0.0	New
Turnout			2,840 (est)	87.8 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			3,233
Majority			542	13.5	N/A
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A
Majority			1,206	2.9	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: County Sligo (2 seats)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Home Rule	Denis Maurice O'Conor	Unopposed
	Conservative	Robert Gore-Booth	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,539
	Home Rule gain from Liberal
	Conservative hold

Gore-Booth's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 12 Jan 1877: County Sligo (1 seat)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Home Rule	Edward King-Harman	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,414
	Home Rule gain from Conservative

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: County Sligo (2 seats)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Parnellite Home Rule League	Thomas Sexton	1,591	36.1	*N/A*
	Home Rule	Denis Maurice O'Conor	1,551	35.2	*N/A*
	Home Rule	Edward King-Harman	1,267	28.7	N/A
Majority			284	6.5	N/A
Turnout			2,205 (est)	67.7 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			3,256
	Home Rule gain from Conservative		Swing
	Home Rule hold		Swing

O'Conor's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 18 Aug 1883: County Sligo (1 seat)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Nicholas Lynch (MP)	1,545	61.1	*N/A*
	Conservative	Charles Kane O'Hara^[7]	983	38.9	New
Majority			562	22.2	N/A
Turnout			2,528	79.6	+11.9
Registered electors			3,174
	Irish Parliamentary hold		Swing	N/A

References

^ Salmon, Philip. "COOPER, Edward Synge (1762-1830), of Markree Castle, co. Sligo and Boden Park, co. Westmeath". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. p. 239. Retrieved 9 October 2018 – via Google Books.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah ^ai Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 238, 312–313. ISBN 0901714127.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Co. Sligo". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
^ "Election Intelligence". The Atlas. 24 July 1852. pp. 5–6. Retrieved 9 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Belfast Mercury". 23 April 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 9 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Election Intelligence". South Wales Daily News. 15 August 1883. p. 4. Retrieved 22 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.

The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), 2nd edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973)
Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714127.
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 3)

[1] Salmon, Philip. "COOPER, Edward Synge (1762-1830), of Markree Castle, co. Sligo and Boden Park, co. Westmeath". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 21 May 2020.

[stookssmith1842-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. p. 239. Retrieved 9 October 2018 – via Google Books.

[walker-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah ^ai Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 238, 312–313. ISBN 0901714127.

[hop1820-1832-4] "Co. Sligo". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 21 May 2020.

[5] "Election Intelligence". The Atlas. 24 July 1852. pp. 5–6. Retrieved 9 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[6] "Belfast Mercury". 23 April 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 9 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[7] "Election Intelligence". South Wales Daily News. 15 August 1883. p. 4. Retrieved 22 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.

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