County Antrim (Parliament of Ireland constituency)

County Antrim
County Antrim
Former county constituency ; for the Irish House of Commons
County	County Antrim
?–1801
Seats	2
Replaced by	Antrim

Last updated April 25, 2023

County Antrim was a constituency represented in the Irish House of Commons until 1800.

History

The county constituency was enfranchised as a parliamentary constituency at an uncertain date, between the first known meeting of the Parliament in 1264 and the division of the area into baronies in 1584. It sent two knights of the shire to the Irish House of Commons.

The county was represented in the Parliament of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, under the Instrument of Government, after it was established in 1654 as part of the constituency of Down, Antrim and Armagh (constituency). Following the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 the Parliament of Ireland was re-established and the constituency again returned two Members of Parliament. In the Patriot Parliament of 1689 summoned by King James II, County Antrim was represented with two members.^[1]

Boundaries and Boundary Changes

1264-1800: A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland by Samuel Lewis discusses the administrative history of Antrim. It is uncertain when Antrim was made a County and given representation as such in Parliament. Something like the modern arrangements seems to have originated in 1584 when the Lord Deputy Sir John Perrot divided the area into baronies. From whatever point the county constituency existed it comprised the whole of County Antrim, excluding the parts in the borough constituencies of Antrim (from 1666), Belfast (1613), Carrickfergus (1326), Lisburn (1661) and Randalstown (1683).

Members of Parliament

Election	First member	Second member
1585	Edward Berkeley	Shane McBrien O'Neill
1613	Sir Fulke Conway	Sir Moyses Hill ^[2]
1634	Arthur Chichester	John Clotworthy
1639	Arthur Chichester	Sir Roger Langford
1660	Sir John Clotworthy	Sir George Rawdon^[3]
1661	Sir John Skeffington, Bt	John Davys
1665	Sir Toby (or John) Poyntz, vice Skeffington succeeded as 2nd Viscount Massereene^{[lower-alpha 1]}	Conway Hill, Esq, vice Davys, long absent without leave^[2]
1689 Patriot Parliament	Cormack O'Neile	Randal MacDonnell
1692	Sir Robert Colville	Clotworthy Skeffington
1695	Sir Robert Colville	Arthur Upton
1697	Hugh Colville	Arthur Upton
1703	Clotworthy Skeffington	Clotworthy Upton ^[4]
November 1715	John Skeffington ^{[lower-alpha 2]}
1715	Sir Arthur Langford, 2nd Bt
1716	Thomas Upton
1725	Thomas Upton	John Upton
1727	John Skeffington	John Upton
1741	Arthur Skeffington	Henry Seymour Conway
1747	Hugh Skeffington	Henry Seymour Conway
1768	Viscount Dunluce	Viscount Beauchamp
1776	Hon. Henry Seymour-Conway	James Willson
1783	John O'Neill	Hon. Hercules Rowley
1792	John O'Neill	Edward Jones-Agnew
1794	Hugh Boyd
1796	John Staples
1798	John Staples	Edmund Alexander Macnaghten
1801	Succeeded by the Westminster constituency Antrim

Notes

↑ The Lord Lieutenant wrote to the Sheriff of Antrim on 2 November 1665 recommending Poyntz as the successor of Skeffington, who had inherited a peerage in September as Viscount Massereene. In the absence of evidence to the contrary it is assumed that, in this period, such a recommendation was tantamount to election.
↑ Declared not duly elected in 1715.

Elections

General Election 1761: County Antrim^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Henry Seymour Conway	663
		Hugh Skeffington	659
		John O'Neill	406
		C. O'Hara	351

General Election 1768: County Antrim^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Viscount Dunluce	Uncontested
		Viscount Beauchamp	Uncontested

General Election 1776: County Antrim^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Hon. Henry Seymour-Conway	1,246
		James Willson	1,234
		Hugh Skeffington	1,125
		M. Dalway	1,021

General Election 1783: County Antrim^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John O'Neill	Uncontested
		Hon. Hercules Rowley	Uncontested

General Election 1790: County Antrim^[5]
Party	Candidate	Votes
	John O'Neill	1,939
	Hon. Hercules Rowley	1,867
	J. Leslie	1,708
	Edmund Alexander Macnaghten	1,499
Turnout		3,507

County Antrim by-election, 1793^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Hugh Boyd	Uncontested

County Antrim by-election, 1795^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Staples	Uncontested

General Election 1797: County Antrim^[5]
Party	Candidate	Votes
	John Staples	1,984
	Edmund Alexander Macnaghten	1,518
	Edward Jones-Agnew	981
Turnout		4,483

References

↑ O'Hart 2007, p. 500.
1 2 Return of Members of Parliament, Part II (1878), p. 605
↑ Clarke, Aidan. Prelude to Restoration in Ireland: The End of the Commonwealth, 1659–1660.
↑ Bergin 2009.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Johnston-Liik, E. M. (2006). MPs in Dublin: Companion to History of the Irish Parliament, 1692-1800. Ulster Historical Foundation. p. 235. ISBN 9781903688601.

Bibliography

Bergin, John (2009). "Upton, Arthur". In Kinsella, Eoin; Clavin, Terry; Evers, Liz; Gallagher, Niav; Maume, Patrick; O'Riordan, Turlough (eds.). Dictionary of Irish Biography. Royal Irish Academy; Cambridge University Press. doi:10.3318/dib.008767.v1 . Retrieved 2 November 2022.
O'Hart, John (2007). The Irish and Anglo-Irish Landed Gentry: When Cromwell came to Ireland. Vol. II. Heritage Books. ISBN 978-0-7884-1927-0.
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.

Coordinates: 54°42′40″N6°11′46″W / 54.711°N 6.196°W / 54.711; -6.196

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[4] The Lord Lieutenant wrote to the Sheriff of Antrim on 2 November 1665 recommending Poyntz as the successor of Skeffington, who had inherited a peerage in September as Viscount Massereene. In the absence of evidence to the contrary it is assumed that, in this period, such a recommendation was tantamount to election.

[6] Declared not duly elected in 1715.

[FOOTNOTEO'Hart2007500-1] O'Hart 2007, p. 500.

[Return-2] 1 2 Return of Members of Parliament, Part II (1878), p. 605

[3] Clarke, Aidan. Prelude to Restoration in Ireland: The End of the Commonwealth, 1659–1660.

[FOOTNOTEBergin2009-5] Bergin 2009.

[Liik_235-7] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Johnston-Liik, E. M. (2006). MPs in Dublin: Companion to History of the Irish Parliament, 1692-1800. Ulster Historical Foundation. p. 235. ISBN 9781903688601.

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