County Galway (UK Parliament constituency)

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

County Galway was a United Kingdom parliamentary constituency in Ireland, comprised the whole of County Galway, except for the Borough of Galway. It replaced the pre-Acts of Union Parliament of Ireland constituency. Its representatives sat in the British House of Commons.

It returned two Members of Parliament.

The constituency was abolished in 1885 and replaced by smaller constituencies in the county.

Members of Parliament

Constituency created (1801)

First member		Year	Second member
Richard Martin^{[notes 1]}	Ind. Conservative	1801	Richard Trench^{[notes 1]}	Tory
		1802	Richard Trench^{[notes 1]}	Tory
		1805	Denis Bowes Daly	Whig
		1806
		1807
James Daly	Tory^[1]	1812
		1818	Richard Martin	Ind. Conservative^{[notes 2]}
		1820
		1826
		1827	James Staunton Lambert	Whig^[1]
Sir John Burke	Whig^[1]	1830
Sir John Burke	Whig^[1]	1831
Thomas Barnwall Martin	Whig^[1]^[2]^[3]	1832	James Daly	Tory^[1]
		1834	James Daly	Conservative^[1]
		1835	John James Bodkin	Whig^[1]^[4]^[3]
		1837
		1841
Thomas Burke	Irish Repeal^[5]	May 1847
	Irish Repeal^[5]	Aug 1847	Christopher St George	Conservative^[5]
	Ind. Irish^[5]	1852	Thomas Bellew	Ind. Irish^[5]
	Whig^[6]^[7]	1857	William Henry Gregory	Peelite^[8]^[9]
	Liberal	1859		Liberal
Lord Dunkellin	Liberal	1865
Viscount Burke	Liberal	1867
Viscount Burke	Liberal	1868
Mitchell Henry	Home Rule	1871
		1872	John Philip Nolan^{[notes 3]}	Irish Parliamentary
		1872	William Le Poer Trench^{[notes 3]}	Irish Conservative
		1874	John Philip Nolan^{[notes 4]}	Irish Parliamentary
		1880	John Philip Nolan^{[notes 4]}	Irish Parliamentary

As a result of the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, the constituency was abolished at the 1885 general election and replaced by 4 single-member constituencies:

Notes

^ ^a ^b MPs in the First Parliament of the United Kingdom were co-opted from the Parliament of Ireland, where both MPs had previously represented County Galway.
^ Richard Martin stood as an independent but generally supported and voted with the Tory government of Lord Liverpool.
^ ^a ^b The 1872 by-election was contested at an election petition, with the IPP candidate John Philip Nolan being unseated after allegations of treating, in favour of the Conservative candidate William Le Poer Trench.
^ John Philip Nolan continued to sit at Westminster until 1895, as IPP MP for Galway North.

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: County Galway^[5]^[1]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	James Staunton Lambert	755	32.3
	Whig	John Burke	700	30.0
	Tory	James Daly	666	28.5
	Tory	John D'Arcy	216	9.2
Majority			34	1.5	N/A
Turnout			1,422	69.3
Registered electors			2,052
	Whig gain from Tory		Swing
	Whig gain from Ind. Conservative		Swing

General election 1831: County Galway^[5]^[1]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Whig	James Staunton Lambert	Unopposed
	Whig	John Burke	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,052
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

General election 1832: County Galway^[5]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Thomas Barnwall Martin	1,456	31.2
	Tory	James Daly	1,368	29.3
	Whig	John Burke	1,356	29.1
	Tory	Xaverius Blake	482	10.3
Turnout			2,732	89.3
Registered electors			3,061
Majority			88	1.9
	Whig hold
Majority			12	0.2
	Tory gain from Whig

General election 1835: County Galway^[5]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John James Bodkin	420	51.5	+22.4
	Whig	Thomas Barnwall Martin	383	47.0	+15.8
	Conservative	John D'Arcy	12	1.5	−38.1
Majority			371	45.5	+43.6
Turnout			c. 408	c. 12.2	c. −77.1
Registered electors			3,349
	Whig hold		Swing	+20.7
	Whig gain from Conservative		Swing	+17.4

General election 1837: County Galway^[5]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Whig	Thomas Barnwall Martin	Unopposed
	Whig	John James Bodkin	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,765
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: County Galway^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Whig	Thomas Barnwall Martin	Unopposed
	Whig	John James Bodkin	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,990
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

Martin's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 17 May 1847: County Galway^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Repeal	Thomas Burke	Unopposed
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig

General election 1847: County Galway^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Repeal	Thomas Burke	Unopposed
	Conservative	Christopher St George	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,893
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig
	Conservative gain from Whig

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: County Galway^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Independent Irish	Thomas Burke	Unopposed
	Independent Irish	Thomas Bellew	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,491
	Independent Irish gain from Irish Repeal
	Independent Irish gain from Conservative

General election 1857: County Galway^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Thomas Burke	1,948	46.7	*N/A*
	Peelite	William Henry Gregory	1,464	35.1	*New*
	Independent Irish	Thomas Belllew	756	18.1	N/A
Turnout			2,084 (est)	49.0 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			4,251
Majority			484	11.6	N/A
	Whig gain from Independent Irish		Swing
Majority			708	17.0	N/A
	Peelite gain from Independent Irish		Swing

General election 1859: County Galway^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Burke	2,536	39.2	−7.5
	Liberal	William Henry Gregory	2,435	37.7	+2.6
	Conservative	Richard Trench	1,496	23.1	New
Majority			939	14.6	+3.0
Turnout			3,982 (est)	78.4 (est)	+29.4
Registered electors			5,082
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: County Galway^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Ulick de Burgh	Unopposed
	Liberal	William Henry Gregory	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,516
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

de Burgh's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 12 September 1867: County Galway^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hubert de Burgh-Canning	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1868: County Galway^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Hubert de Burgh-Canning	Unopposed
	Liberal	William Henry Gregory	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,387
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

de Burgh-Canning resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 21 Feb 1871: County Galway^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	Mitchell Henry	Unopposed
	Home Rule gain from Liberal

Gregory was appointed Governor of Ceylon, causing a by-election.

By-election, 8 Feb 1872: County Galway^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	John Philip Nolan	2,823	81.19	*N/A*
	Conservative	William Le Poer Trench	658	18.90	New
Majority			2,165	62.29	N/A
Turnout			3,481	64.5	N/A
Registered electors			5,400
	Home Rule gain from Liberal

On 13 June 1872, on petition, Nolan was unseated due to "undue influence exerted by the Roman Catholic clergy", and Trench was declared elected.^[11]

General election 1874: County Galway^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	John Philip Nolan	2,348	41.2	*N/A*
	Home Rule	Mitchell Henry	2,270	39.8	*N/A*
	Home Rule	Hyacinth D'Arcy	1,080	19.0	N/A
Majority			1,190	20.8	N/A
Turnout			2,849 (est)	56.5 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			5,044
	Home Rule gain from Liberal
	Home Rule gain from Liberal

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: County Galway^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Home Rule	John Philip Nolan	Unopposed
	Home Rule	Mitchell Henry	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,902
	Home Rule hold
	Home Rule hold

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Stooks Smith, Henry (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections: Containing the Uncontested Elections Since 1830. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. p. 228. Retrieved 21 August 2019 – via Google Books.
^ Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer. p. 155. Retrieved 21 August 2019 – via Google Books.
^ ^a ^b The Irish Franchise and Registration Question. London: Ridgway. 1841. p. 4. Retrieved 21 August 2019 – via Google Books.
^ Mosse, Richard Bartholomew (1838). The Parliamentary Guide: a concise history of the Members of both Houses, etc. p. 143. Retrieved 21 August 2019 – 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 Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 218–219, 283–284. ISBN 0901714127.
^ "General Intelligence". Coventry Standard. 17 April 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 1 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Undue Influence Exerted in the Irish Elections". Belfast News-Letter. 22 April 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 1 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ Wiebe, M. G.; Millar, Mary S.; Robson, Ann P.; Hawman, Elen L., eds. (January 1982). Benjamin Disraeli Letters: 1857–1859. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 385. ISBN 0-8020-8728-0. Retrieved 1 October 2018 – via Google Books.
^ "Armagh Guardian". 17 April 1857. pp. 3–4. Retrieved 1 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ ^a ^b Farrell, Stephen. "Co. Galway". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
^ "Galway". Carlisle Patriot. 31 May 1872. p. 7. Retrieved 30 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 "G" (part 1)

[1801_co-option-1] MPs in the First Parliament of the United Kingdom were co-opted from the Parliament of Ireland, where both MPs had previously represented County Galway.

[3] Richard Martin stood as an independent but generally supported and voted with the Tory government of Lord Liverpool.

[1872_by-election-12] The 1872 by-election was contested at an election petition, with the IPP candidate John Philip Nolan being unseated after allegations of treating, in favour of the Conservative candidate William Le Poer Trench.

[John_Philip_Nolan-13] John Philip Nolan continued to sit at Westminster until 1895, as IPP MP for Galway North.

[stookssmith-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Stooks Smith, Henry (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections: Containing the Uncontested Elections Since 1830. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. p. 228. Retrieved 21 August 2019 – via Google Books.

[4] Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer. p. 155. Retrieved 21 August 2019 – via Google Books.

[irishfranchise-5] The Irish Franchise and Registration Question. London: Ridgway. 1841. p. 4. Retrieved 21 August 2019 – via Google Books.

[mosse-6] Mosse, Richard Bartholomew (1838). The Parliamentary Guide: a concise history of the Members of both Houses, etc. p. 143. Retrieved 21 August 2019 – via Google Books.

[walker-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 218–219, 283–284. ISBN 0901714127.

[8] "General Intelligence". Coventry Standard. 17 April 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 1 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[9] "Undue Influence Exerted in the Irish Elections". Belfast News-Letter. 22 April 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 1 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[10] Wiebe, M. G.; Millar, Mary S.; Robson, Ann P.; Hawman, Elen L., eds. (January 1982). Benjamin Disraeli Letters: 1857–1859. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 385. ISBN 0-8020-8728-0. Retrieved 1 October 2018 – via Google Books.

[11] "Armagh Guardian". 17 April 1857. pp. 3–4. Retrieved 1 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[hop1820-1832-14] Farrell, Stephen. "Co. Galway". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 15 May 2020.

[15] "Galway". Carlisle Patriot. 31 May 1872. p. 7. Retrieved 30 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.

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