Athlone (UK Parliament constituency)

Athlone
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	County Roscommon and County Westmeath
Borough	Athlone
1801–1885
Seats	1
Created from	Athlone (IHC)
Replaced by	South Westmeath

Athlone was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, which from 1801 to 1885 returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

History

Prior to 1801, the town of Athlone was a two-seat borough constituency in the Irish House of Commons. ^[1] Under the Acts of Union 1800, which united the Kingdom of Ireland with the Kingdom of Great Britain to form the United Kingdom, the 33 most populous boroughs (including Athlone) continued to return MPs, but except for Dublin and Cork, they were reduced to one MP. Its first MP in 1801 was chosen by lot.

As was customary in Irish boroughs, created before the reforms of the nineteenth century, Athlone had an oligarchic constitution. The borough existed as a local government unit until it was abolished by the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840, but the parliamentary borough was not affected by this change in administrative arrangements.

The style of the corporation was "The Sovereign, Bailiffs, Burgesses, and Freemen of the Town of Athlone". The officers were a sovereign, two bailiffs, thirteen burgesses (including the constable of the castle, who in 1837 was Viscount Castlemaine), a recorder, town-clerk, serjeant-at-mace, and billet-master; and there was a select body called the common council. The sovereign was elected by the common council from among the burgesses, annually on 29 June, and had the privilege of appointing a vice-sovereign with the approbation of the bailiffs and a majority of the burgesses. The bailiffs were elected from the freemen by the common council, on the same day as the sovereign, and were ex officio members of the council. The burgesses were elected for life from among the free men, and the freemen also for life, by the common council, of which body, according to the practice of the corporation, twelve had to be present to constitute an election. The common council were unlimited in number, but usually consisted of not more than twenty persons, including the sovereign and vice-sovereign and two bailiffs; they held their office for life, and vacancies were filled up by themselves from among the burgesses and freemen. The borough sent two representatives to the Irish parliament prior to the Union, after which it sent one to the Westminster parliament.

The right of election was vested in the burgesses and freemen. They numbered 71 in April 1831. By the Representation of the People (Ireland) Act 1832, the non-resident freemen (except those living within seven miles) were disfranchised and the right to vote was extended to the £10 householders. The registered electorate, in 1832, numbered 243.

Athlone ceased to have parliamentary representation under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, which took effect at the 1885 general election. ^[2]

Boundaries

This constituency was the parliamentary borough of Athlone. When the borough was represented in the UK Parliament, it was partly in County Westmeath and partly within County Roscommon. Although the River Shannon which runs through the town forms the historic border between County Roscommon and County Westmeath, the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 included much of the town entirely in Westmeath, including areas west of the river.

Athlone was described (by Samuel Lewis in 1837) as "a borough, market and post-town, and an important military station, partly in the barony of Brawney, county of Westmeath, and province of Leinster, and partly in the barony of Athlone, county of Roscommon, and province of Connaught, 12 miles (N. E. by E.) from Ballinasloe, 15¼ (S.E.by S.) from Roscommon, and 59½ (W.) from Dublin ..."

Before 1832 the limit of the borough, under its charter, was a circle of a mile and a half radius from the centre of the bridge over the River Shannon, which waterway divided the town in two. However, for electoral purposes, those boundaries were diminished in 1832 and thereafter included only the town and a very small surrounding district, comprising 485 statute acres.

The boundaries of the parliamentary borough as set out in the Parliamentary Boundaries (Ireland) Act 1832 was:

From the Point at which the Southern End of the Canal joins the River Shannon, along the Canal, to the Point at which the Northern End thereof joins the River Shannon; thence along the River Shannon to the Point at which the same is met by the North-western Inclosure Wall of the Barracks; thence in a straight Line to the Angle in the Hare Island Road at which the same turns Northward, and at which there are Two Gateways with Pillars opposite each other; thence in a straight Line to a Gateway with Pillars on the Ballymahon Road, about Twenty Yards to the East of the Glebe Wall; thence in a straight Line to the North-eastern Corner of the Wall of the Townland called Anchor's Bower; thence, Southward, along the Wall of Anchor's Bower to the Point at which the same meets the old Dublin Road; thence in a straight Line in the Direction of Mr. Dawson's House in Bunavally to the Point at which such straight Line cuts a small Bye Road which runs into the Dublin Road; thence along the said small Bye Road to the Point at which the same joins the Dublin Road; thence in a straight Line to the Point at which the Brideswell Bog Road is joined by a Bye Road leading thereto from the East, about Three hundred Yards from the Point at which the Brideswell Bog Road leaves the Dublin Road; thence in a straight Line in the Direction of the Chimney of Mr. Robinson's Distillery to the Point at which such straight Line cuts the River Shannon; thence along the River Shannon to the Point first described.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1801	William Handcock
	1803	Thomas Tyrwhitt Jones
	1806	George Tierney	Whig
	May 1807	Henry Wellesley	Tory
	Jul. 1807	John Frewen-Turner
	1812	John Wilson Croker	Tory
	1818	John Gordon
	Mar. 1820	John McClintock	Tory
	Jun. 1820	David Ker	Tory
	1826	Richard Handcock	Tory [3]
	1832	James Talbot	Whig [4] [3]
	1835	George Mathew	Conservative [4] [3]
	1837	John O'Connell [lower-alpha 1]	Radical [4] [3]
	1841	George Beresford	Conservative [4] [3]
	1842	Daniel Farrell	Whig [4] [5]
	1843	John Collett	Whig [4] [6] [7]
	1847	William Keogh [lower-alpha 2]	Peelite [4] [8] [9]
	1852		Ind. Irish [4]
	1853		Peelite [4] [10]
	1856	Henry Handcock	Conservative [4]
	1857	John Ennis	Ind. Irish [4]
	1859		Liberal [4]
	1865	Denis Rearden	Liberal [4]
	1868	Sir John Ennis	Liberal [4]
	1874	Edward Sheil	Home Rule League [4]
	1880	Sir John Ennis	Liberal [4]
	1884	Justin Huntly McCarthy	Irish Parliamentary [4]
1885		Constituency abolished: See South Westmeath

Notes

1. O'Connell was the candidate of a Liberal/Repealer pact.
2. Keogh belonged to a number of parties during his tenure. He was elected in 1847 as a Peelite and he was re-elected in 1852 as a Liberal pledged to form an independent opposition in Parliament. Shortly after the election he briefly joined the Independent Irish Party, but upon being appointed Solicitor-General for Ireland he was re-elected as a Liberal candidate in 1853. Until he was appointed a judge in 1856, Keogh remained a Liberal.

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

By-election, 12 June 1884: Athlone ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Justin Huntly McCarthy	Unopposed
Registered electors			365
	Irish Parliamentary gain from Liberal

• Caused by Ennis' death.

General election 1880: Athlone ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Ennis	163	50.2	+1.0
	Home Rule	Edward Sheil	162	49.8	−1.0
Majority			1	0.4	N/A
Turnout			325	90.3	+4.5
Registered electors			360
	Liberal gain from Home Rule		Swing	+1.0

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Athlone ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	Edward Sheil	153	50.8	New
	Liberal	John Ennis	148	49.2	−8.9
Majority			5	1.6	N/A
Turnout			301	85.8	+2.2
Registered electors			351
	Home Rule gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

• The original count for the 1874 election had both candidates receiving 140 votes. However, on petition, the poll was amended to the above figures.

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1868: Athlone ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Ennis	154	57.9	+26.0
	Conservative	Robert Preston Bayley	111	41.7	+30.5
	Liberal	John Staniforth (1832-1894)	1	0.4	N/A
Majority			43	16.2	−8.8
Turnout			266	83.6	+7.2
Registered electors			318
	Liberal hold		Swing	−2.3

General election 1865: Athlone ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Denis Rearden	107	56.9	N/A
	Liberal	John Ennis	60	31.9	−29.4
	Conservative	George Handcock	21	11.2	−27.5
Majority			47	25.0	+2.4
Turnout			188	76.4	−8.5
Registered electors			246
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1859: Athlone ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Ennis	117	61.3	−5.4
	Conservative	Robert Preston Bayley	74	38.7	+5.4
Majority			43	22.6	−10.8
Turnout			191	84.9	−0.8
Registered electors			225
	Liberal hold		Swing	−5.4

General election 1857: Athlone ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Irish	John Ennis	100	66.7	−23.0
	Conservative	Henry Handcock	50	33.3	+23.0
Majority			50	33.4	−46.0
Turnout			150	85.7	+32.1
Registered electors			175
	Independent Irish hold		Swing	−23.0

By-election, 14 April 1856: Athlone ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Handcock	82	53.9	+43.6
	Peelite	John Ennis [11]	70	46.1	N/A
Majority			12	7.8	N/A
Turnout			152	86.9	+33.3
Registered electors			175
	Conservative gain from Independent Irish		Swing	N/A

• Caused by Keogh's resignation after being appointed a judge of the Court of Common Pleas

By-election, 7 March 1855: Athlone ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Peelite	William Keogh	Unopposed
	Peelite gain from Independent Irish

• Caused by Keogh's appointment as Attorney-General for Ireland

By-election, 23 April 1853: Athlone ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Peelite	William Keogh	79	66.4	−23.3
	Whig	Thomas Norton [12]	40	33.6	N/A
Majority			39	32.8	N/A
Turnout			119	70.0	+16.4
Registered electors			170
	Peelite gain from Independent Irish		Swing	N/A

• Caused by Keogh's appointment as Solicitor-General for Ireland

General election 1852: Athlone ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Irish	William Keogh	87	89.7	+38.2
	Conservative	Robert Bartholomew Lawes	10	10.3	New
Majority			77	79.4	N/A
Turnout			97	53.6	+7.3
Registered electors			181
	Independent Irish gain from Peelite		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1840s

General election 5 August 1847: Athlone ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Peelite	William Keogh	101	51.5	New
	Irish Repeal	John L M O'Beirne	95	48.5	New
Majority			6	3.0	N/A
Turnout			196	46.3	+32.6
Registered electors			423
	Peelite gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

By-election, 4 April 1843: Athlone ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Collett	114	51.4	+15.2
	Conservative	George Beresford	108	48.6	-15.2
Majority			6	2.8	N/A
Turnout			222	64.9	+51.2
Registered electors			342
	Whig gain from Conservative		Swing

• Caused by the previous election being declared void on petition. Originally, Farrell had been declared elected, with the poll amended to 110 votes for Farrell and 60 votes for Beresford, but a counter-petition was successful ^[13] and a new writ was issued.

General election 8 July 1841: Athlone ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Beresford	30	63.8	New
	Whig	Daniel Farrell	17	36.2	N/A
Majority			13	27.6	N/A
Turnout			47	13.7	N/A
Registered electors			342
	Conservative gain from Radical		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1830s

General election 4 August 1837: Athlone ^{[4] [3]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Radical	John O'Connell	Unopposed
Registered electors			385
	Radical gain from Conservative

General election 12 January 1835: Athlone ^{[4] [3]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Benvenuto Mathew	96	53.6	+8.2
	Whig	James Talbot	83	46.4	−8.2
Majority			13	7.2	N/A
Turnout			179	65.3	−28.9
Registered electors			274
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	−8.2

General election 15 December 1832: Athlone ^{[4] [3]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	James Talbot	125	54.6	+46.3
	Tory	Richard Handcock	104	45.4	−46.3
Majority			21	9.2	N/A
Turnout			229	94.2	c. +43.5
Registered electors			243
	Whig gain from Tory		Swing	+46.3

General election 4 May 1831: Athlone ^{[4] [3] [14]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Richard Handcock	33	91.7	−2.7
	Whig	James Talbot	3	8.3	+2.7
Majority			30	83.4	-5.4
Turnout			36	c. 50.7	c. ±0.0
Registered electors			c. 71
	Tory hold		Swing

General election 6 August 1830: Athlone ^{[4] [3] [14]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Richard Handcock	34	94.4
	Whig	James Talbot	2	5.6
Majority			32	88.8
Turnout			36	c. 50.7
Registered electors			c. 71
	Tory hold

References

Citations

1. "Athlone". History of the Irish Parliament. Ulster Historical Foundation. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
2. Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23). Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales.
3. Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. p. 215.
4. Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN   0901714127.
5. "Limerick Chronicle" . 10 July 1841. p. 2. Retrieved 18 August 2019– via British Newspaper Archive.
6. "Stamford Mercury" . 14 April 1843. p. 4. Retrieved 18 August 2019– via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "Athlone Election" . Coventry Standard. 7 April 1843. p. 4. Retrieved 18 August 2019– via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Athlone" . Bell's Weekly Messenger. 7 August 1847. p. 1. Retrieved 15 September 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "Irish Members Returned" . Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser. 11 August 1847. p. 3. Retrieved 15 September 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
10. "Dublin Weekly Nation" . 9 April 1853. pp. 8–9. Retrieved 15 September 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
11. "Ennis and Athlone" . Kilkenny Journal, and Leinster Commercial and Literary Advertiser. 9 April 1856. p. 3. Retrieved 15 September 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
12. "Athlone" . Warder and Dublin Weekly Mail. 16 April 1853. p. 5. Retrieved 15 September 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
13. "Athlone Election (1843)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . House of Commons. 21 March 1843.
14. Salmon, Philip. "Athlone". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 9 May 2020.

Sources

• 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, Brian M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Royal Irish Academy. pp. 197, 251–252.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 3)
• Jupp, P. J. "Athlone". The History of Parliament.
• Salmon, Philip. "Athlone". The History of Parliament.
• Part of the Library Ireland: Irish History and Culture website containing the text of A Topographical Directory of Ireland, by Samuel Lewis (a work published by S. Lewis & Co of London in 1837) including an article on Athlone