Cavan (UK Parliament constituency)

County Cavan
County Cavan
Former county constituency ; for the House of Commons
County	County Cavan
1801–1885
Seats	2
Created from	County Cavan
Replaced by	East Cavan ; West Cavan ;

Last updated August 25, 2025

County Cavan was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, which from 1801 to 1885 returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Boundaries

This constituency comprised the whole of County Cavan.

Members of Parliament

From 1801 to 1885 County Cavan was one constituency with two Members of Parliament, who both represented the whole of the county.

Election	1st Member		1st Party		2nd Party
1801		Francis Saunderson	Whig	Nathaniel Sneyd	Tory
1802		Francis Saunderson	Whig
1806		John Maxwell-Barry	Tory
1807
1812
1818
1820
1824		Henry Maxwell	Tory ^[1]
1826				Alexander Saunderson	Whig ^[1]^[2]
1830				Alexander Saunderson	Whig ^[1]^[2]
1831				Sir John Young, Bt.	Tory ^[1]
1832					Tory ^[1]
1835			Conservative ^[1]		Conservative ^[1]
1837			Conservative ^[1]
1839		Somerset Maxwell	Conservative ^[1]
1840		Henry John Clements	Conservative ^[1]
1841
1841
1843		James Maxwell	Conservative
1847					Peelite
1852					Peelite
1853					Peelite
1855				Robert Burrowes	Conservative
1857				Hugh Annesley	Conservative
1859
1865		Edward James Saunderson	Palmerstonian Liberal
1869		Edward James Saunderson	Conservative
1874		Charles Joseph Fay	Home Rule League	Joseph Biggar	Home Rule League
1880		Charles Joseph Fay	Home Rule League	Joseph Biggar	Home Rule League
1885	constituency abolished: see Cavan East and Cavan West

Election results

Elections in the 1800s

Co-option 1 January 1801: Cavan
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Francis Saunderson	Unopposed
	Tory	Nathaniel Sneyd	Unopposed

General Election 1802: Cavan
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Francis Saunderson	Unopposed
	Tory	Nathaniel Sneyd	Unopposed

General Election 1806: Cavan
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Nathaniel Sneyd	Unopposed
	Tory	John Maxwell-Barry	Unopposed

General Election 1807: Cavan
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Nathaniel Sneyd	Unopposed
	Tory	John Maxwell-Barry	Unopposed

Elections in the 1810s

General Election 1812: Cavan
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Nathaniel Sneyd	Unopposed
	Tory	John Maxwell-Barry	Unopposed

General Election 1818: Cavan
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Nathaniel Sneyd	Unopposed
	Tory	John Maxwell-Barry	Unopposed

Elections in the 1820s

General Election 1820: Cavan
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Nathaniel Sneyd	Unopposed
	Tory	John Maxwell-Barry	Unopposed

John Maxwell-Barry succeeded as 5th Baron Farnham, causing a by-election.

By-election 24 February 1824: Cavan
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Henry Maxwell	Unopposed

General Election 1826: Cavan
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Tory	Henry Maxwell	2,854	30.5	*N/A*
Whig	Alexander Saunderson	2,673	28.6	*N/A*
	Robert Henry Southwell	1,917	20.5	N/A
	Charles Coote	1,901	20.3	N/A

Elections in the 1830s

General Election 1830: Cavan^[3]^[1]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Henry Maxwell	786	51.5	+21.0
	Whig	Alexander Saunderson	452	29.6	+1.0
	Tory	William Young	287	18.8
Turnout			879	66.3
Registered electors			1,325
Majority			334	21.9
	Tory hold		Swing
Majority			165	10.8
	Whig hold		Swing

General Election 1831: Cavan^[3]^[1]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Henry Maxwell	664	41.3	−10.2
	Tory	John Young	614	38.2	+19.4
	Whig	Robert Henry Southwell	331	20.6	−9.0
Majority			283	17.6	−4.3
Turnout			c. 805	c. 60.7	c. −5.6
Registered electors			1,325
	Tory hold		Swing	−2.9
	Tory gain from Whig		Swing	+12.0

General Election 1832: Cavan^[3]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Tory	Henry Maxwell	Unopposed
	Tory	John Young	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,248
	Tory hold
	Tory hold

General Election 1835: Cavan^[3]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Henry Maxwell	Unopposed
	Conservative	John Young	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,241
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

General Election 1837: Cavan^[3]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Henry Maxwell	Unopposed
	Conservative	John Young	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,918
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Henry Maxwell succeeded to the peerage, becoming 7th Baron Farnham and causing a by-election.

By-election, 18 February 1839: Cavan^[3]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Somerset Maxwell	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

Somerset Maxwell resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 12 August 1840: Cavan^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry John Clements	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General Election 1841: Cavan^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Henry John Clements	Unopposed
	Conservative	John Young	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,050
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

John Young was appointed a Commissioner of the Treasury, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 30 September 1841: Cavan^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Young	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Henry John Clements's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 17 February 1843: Cavan^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Maxwell	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General Election 1847: Cavan^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	James Maxwell	Unopposed
	Peelite	John Young	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,492
	Conservative hold
	Peelite gain from Conservative

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Cavan^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Maxwell	2,252	44.8	*N/A*
	Peelite	John Young	2,049	40.8	*N/A*
	Tenant Rights	Hercules Ellis^[5]	727	14.5	New
Turnout			2,514 (est)	65.3	N/A
Registered electors			3,850
Majority			203	4.0	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
Majority			1,322	26.3	N/A
	Peelite hold		Swing	N/A

John Young was appointed Chief Secretary of Ireland, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 10 January 1853: Cavan^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Peelite	John Young	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,909
	Peelite hold

John Young resigned after being appointed Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands, causing a by-election.

By-election, 13 April 1855: Cavan^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Burrowes	2,163	53.7	+8.9
	Whig	Henry George Hughes ^[6]	1,866	46.3	N/A
Majority			297	7.4	+3.4
Turnout			4,029	82.1	+16.8
Registered electors			4,909
	Conservative gain from Peelite		Swing

General election 1857: Cavan^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Maxwell	3,164	47.0	+2.2
	Conservative	Hugh Annesley	2,164	32.1	*N/A*
	Radical	Matthew O'Reilly Dease ^[7]	1,409	20.9	N/A
Majority			755	11.2	+7.2
Turnout			4,073 (est)	72.2 (est)	+6.9
Registered electors			5,638
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative gain from Peelite		Swing

General election 1859: Cavan^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	James Maxwell	Unopposed
	Conservative	Hugh Annesley	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,989
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Cavan^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Hugh Annesley	Unopposed
	Liberal	Edward James Saunderson	Unopposed
Registered electors			6,304
	Conservative hold
	Liberal gain from Conservative

General election 1868: Cavan^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Hugh Annesley	Unopposed
	Liberal	Edward James Saunderson	Unopposed
Registered electors			6,415
	Conservative hold
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Cavan^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	Charles Joseph Fay	3,229	37.5	*New*
	Home Rule	Joseph Biggar	3,079	35.7	*New*
	Conservative	Edward James Saunderson	2,310	26.8	N/A
Majority			769	8.9	N/A
Turnout			5,464 (est)	87.8 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			6,225
	Home Rule gain from Conservative		Swing
	Home Rule gain from Liberal		Swing

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Cavan^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	Charles Joseph Fay	3,097	36.9	−0.6
	Parnellite Home Rule League	Joseph Biggar	3,061	36.5	+0.8
	Conservative	Somerset Maxwell	2,233	26.6	−0.2
Majority			828	9.9	+1.0
Turnout			5,330 (est)	87.4 (est)	−0.4
Registered electors			6,096
	Home Rule hold		Swing
	Home Rule hold		Swing

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Stooks Smith, Henry (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections: Containing the Uncontested Elections Since 1830. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. pp. 218–219. Retrieved 10 May 2020– via Google Books.
↑ Farrell, Stephen. "SAUNDERSON, Alexander (1783-1857), of Castle Saunderson, co. Cavan". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 202, 259–260. ISBN 0901714127.
1 2 Farrell, Stephen. "Co. Cavan". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
↑ "Irish Counties" . Freeman's Journal. 8 July 1852. p. 2. Retrieved 18 September 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
↑ "Carlisle Journal" . 20 April 1855. p. 8. Retrieved 18 September 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
↑ "Cavan Election" . Newry Telegraph. 9 April 1857. p. 3. Retrieved 18 September 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 3)
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..
The Anglo-Celt 150th Anniversary Souvenir Supplement (dated 30 May 1996).

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[stookssmith-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Stooks Smith, Henry (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections: Containing the Uncontested Elections Since 1830. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. pp. 218–219. Retrieved 10 May 2020– via Google Books.

[2] Farrell, Stephen. "SAUNDERSON, Alexander (1783-1857), of Castle Saunderson, co. Cavan". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 10 May 2020.

[walker-3] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 202, 259–260. ISBN 0901714127.

[hop1820-1832-4] 1 2 Farrell, Stephen. "Co. Cavan". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 10 May 2020.

[5] "Irish Counties" . Freeman's Journal. 8 July 1852. p. 2. Retrieved 18 September 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.

[6] "Carlisle Journal" . 20 April 1855. p. 8. Retrieved 18 September 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.

[7] "Cavan Election" . Newry Telegraph. 9 April 1857. p. 3. Retrieved 18 September 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.

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County Cavan
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
County	County Cavan
1801–1885
Seats	2
Created from	County Cavan
Replaced by	East Cavan West Cavan