County Wexford (UK Parliament constituency)

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

Last updated August 25, 2025

County Wexford was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, which returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the United Kingdom House of Commons.

Boundaries

This constituency comprised the whole of County Wexford, except for the parliamentary boroughs of New Ross and Wexford Borough.

Members of Parliament

Year	1st Member		1st Party		2nd Party
1801, 1 January		Viscount Loftus		Abel Ram	Tory ^[1]
1806, 27 May		Caesar Colclough	Whig ^[1]	Abel Ram	Tory ^[1]
1806, 17 November		John Colclough	Whig ^[1]	Robert Shapland Carew
1807, 1 June		Abel Ram	Tory ^[1]	William Congreve Alcock	Tory ^[1]
1812, 10 October		Robert Carew	Whig ^[1]	Sir Frederick Flood, Bt
1818, 21 July				Caesar Colclough	Whig ^[1]
1820, 21 March				Viscount Stopford	Tory ^[2]^[1]
1830, 19 August		Arthur Chichester	Whig ^[1]	Viscount Valentia	Tory ^[1]
1831, 18 May		Arthur Chichester	Whig ^[1]	Henry Lambert	Whig ^[1]
1831, 27 September		Robert Carew	Whig ^[1]
1834, 3 July		Cadwallader Waddy	Repeal Association ^[3]
1835, 27 January		John Maher	Repeal Association ^[1]^[3]	James Power	Repeal Association ^[1]^[3]
1841, 16 Jul		Villiers Francis Hatton	Whig ^[1]	James Power	Repeal Association ^[1]^[3]
1847, 10 August		James Fagan	Repeal Association ^[3]	Hamilton Knox Grogan Morgan	Repeal Association ^[3]
1852, 26 July		Patrick McMahon	Ind. Irish ^[3]	John George	Conservative ^[3]
1857, 10 March			Ind. Irish ^[3]	John Hatchell	Whig ^[4]^[5]
1859, 16 May			Liberal ^[3]	John George	Conservative ^[3]
1865, 24 Jul		Sir James Power, Bt.	Liberal ^[3]	John George	Conservative ^[3]
1866, 15 November		Sir James Power, Bt.	Liberal ^[3]	Arthur MacMurrough Kavanagh	Conservative ^[3]
1868, 24 November		John Talbot Power	Liberal ^[3]	Matthew Peter D'Arcy	Liberal ^[3]
1874, 23 February		Sir George Bowyer, Bt.	Home Rule ^[3]	Keyes O'Clery	Home Rule ^[3]
1880, 14 April		John Barry	Parnellite Home Rule League ^[3]	Garrett Byrne	Parnellite Home Rule League ^[3]
1883, 15 June		John Barry	Parnellite Home Rule League ^[3]	John Francis Small	Irish Parliamentary ^[3]
1885	Constituency divided: see North Wexford and South Wexford

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: County Wexford^[3]^[1]^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Arthur Chichester	528	34.5
	Tory	George Arthur Annesley, Viscount Valentia	415	27.1
	Whig	Henry Lambert (MP)	300	19.6
	Tory	John Rowe	289	18.9
Turnout			c. 766	c. 71.9
Registered electors			1,066
Majority			113	7.4
	Whig hold
Majority			115	7.5
	Tory hold

General election 1831: County Wexford^[3]^[1]^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Arthur Chichester	546	36.0	+1.5
	Whig	Henry Lambert (MP)	513	33.8	+14.2
	Tory	George Arthur Annesley, Viscount Valentia	440	29.0	−17.0
	Nonpartisan	Darcy Talbot	17	1.1	New
Majority			73	4.8	−2.6
Turnout			c. 758	c. 71.1	c. −0.8
Registered electors			1,066
	Whig hold		Swing	+5.0
	Whig gain from Tory		Swing	+11.4

Chichester was elevated to the peerage, becoming 1st Baron Templemore and causing a by-election.

By-election, 27 September 1831: County Wexford^[3]^[1]^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Whig	Robert Carew	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,066
	Whig hold

General election 1832: County Wexford^[3]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Robert Carew	1,550	41.3	+5.3
	Whig	Henry Lambert (MP)	1,423	38.0	+4.2
	Tory	John Rowe	756	20.2	N/A
	Tory	John Wilson Croker	13	0.3	N/A
	Tory	Martin Doyle	7	0.2	N/A
	Irish Repeal	Cadwallader Waddy	0	0.0	New
Majority			667	17.8	N/A
Turnout			2,193	75.4	c. +4.3
Registered electors			2,907
	Whig hold		Swing	+5.3
	Whig hold		Swing	+4.2

Carew was elevated to the peerage, becoming 1st Baron Carew and causing a by-election.

By-election, 3 July 1834: County Wexford^[3]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Repeal	Cadwallader Waddy	1,004	51.8	+51.8
	Whig	William Hervey	933	48.2	−31.1
Majority			71	3.6	N/A
Turnout			1,937	c. 54.3	c. −21.1
Registered electors			c. 3,567
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig		Swing	+41.5

General election 1835: County Wexford^[3]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	John Maher (MP)	1,358	32.3	−9.0
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	James Power	1,349	32.1	−5.9
	Conservative	Anthony Cliffe	759	18.1	−2.1
	Conservative	Patrick Walter Redmond	735	17.5	+17.0
Majority			590	14.0	−3.8
Turnout			c. 2,101	c. 58.9	c. −16.5
Registered electors			3,567
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig		Swing	−8.2
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig		Swing	−6.7

General election 1837: County Wexford^[3]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	John Maher (MP)	Unopposed
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	James Power	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,442
	Irish Repeal hold
	Irish Repeal hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: County Wexford^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Villiers Francis Hatton	873	40.0	*N/A*
	Irish Repeal	James Power	859	39.3	*N/A*
	Conservative	Hamilton Knox Grogan Morgan	450	20.6	New
	Conservative	Samuel Carter Hall	1	0.0	New
Turnout			1,092 (est)	62.8 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			1,739
Majority			14	0.7	N/A
	Whig gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	N/A
Majority			409	18.7	N/A
	Irish Repeal hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1847: County Wexford^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Repeal	James Fagan	Unopposed
	Irish Repeal	Hamilton Knox Grogan Morgan	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,165
	Irish Repeal hold
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: County Wexford^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Irish	Patrick McMahon	2,302	28.6	*New*
	Conservative	John George	1,556	19.3	*New*
	Whig	Hamilton Knox Grogan Morgan ^[7]	1,545	19.2	New
	Whig	Robert Carew	1,412	17.5	New
	Peelite	Edward Westby Nunn^[8]	1,248	15.5	New
Turnout			4,032 (est)	68.1 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			5,917
Majority			746	9.3	N/A
	Independent Irish gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	N/A
Majority			11	0.1	N/A
	Conservative gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	N/A

General election 1857: County Wexford^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Irish	Patrick McMahon	4,306	44.4	+15.8
	Whig	John Hatchell	2,870	29.6	−7.1
	Conservative	John George	2,522	26.0	+6.7
Turnout			4,849 (est)	76.1 (est)	+8.0
Registered electors			6,371
Majority			1,436	14.8	+5.5
	Independent Irish hold		Swing	+11.5
Majority			348	3.6	N/A
	Whig gain from Conservative		Swing	−6.9

General election 1859: County Wexford^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Patrick McMahon	3,906	40.1	−4.3
	Conservative	John George	3,024	31.0	+5.0
	Liberal	John Hatchell	2,810	28.9	−0.7
Turnout			4,870 (est)	76.0 (est)	−0.1
Registered electors			6,406
Majority			882	9.1	−5.7
	Liberal hold		Swing	−3.4
Majority			214	2.1	N/A
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+5.0

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: County Wexford^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John George	3,548	44.8	+13.8
	Liberal	James Power	2,616	33.1	+4.2
	Liberal	Patrick McMahon	1,750	22.1	−18.0
Majority			932	11.8	+9.7
Turnout			5,731 (est)	88.8 (est)	+12.8
Registered electors			6,457
	Conservative hold		Swing	+13.8
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.4

George resigned after being appointed judge of the Queen's Bench Division.

By-election, 15 November 1866: County Wexford^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur MacMurrough Kavanagh	2,640	58.4	*N/A*
	Conservative	John Pope Hennessy	1,883	41.6	N/A
Majority			757	16.8	+5.0
Turnout			4,523	70.0	−18.8
Registered electors			6,457
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1868: County Wexford^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	John Power	Unopposed
	Liberal	Matthew Peter D'Arcy	Unopposed
Registered electors			6,204
	Liberal hold
	Liberal gain from Conservative

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: County Wexford^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	George Bowyer	3,407	39.0	*New*
	Home Rule	Keyes O'Clery	2,784	31.8	*New*
	Liberal	John Power	1,332	15.2	N/A
	Conservative	Robert Westley Hall Dare	1,224	14.0	New
Majority			1,452	16.6	N/A
Turnout			5,652 (est)	91.4 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			6,184
	Home Rule gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A
	Home Rule gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: County Wexford^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Parnellite Home Rule League	John Barry	3,075	42.4	*N/A*
	Parnellite Home Rule League	Garrett Byrne	2,879	39.7	*N/A*
	Conservative	John George Gibbon	847	11.7	−2.3
	Home Rule	Keyes O'Clery	457	6.3	−25.5
Majority			2,032	28.0	+11.4
Turnout			4,281 (est)	74.0 (est)	−17.4
Registered electors			5,783
	Home Rule hold		Swing
	Home Rule hold		Swing

Byrne resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 13 June 1883: County Wexford^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Parliamentary	John Francis Small	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,367
	Irish Parliamentary hold

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. p. 243. Retrieved 14 October 2018– via Google Books.
↑ Salmon, Philip. "STOPFORD, James Thomas, Visct. Stopford (1794-1858)". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 244–245, 321–323. ISBN 0901714127.
↑ "Oxford University and City Herald" . 18 April 1857. p. 8. Retrieved 14 October 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
↑ "Wexford County" . The Atlas. 18 April 1857. p. 3. Retrieved 14 October 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
1 2 3 Salmon, Philip. "Co. Wexford". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
↑ "Evening Mail" . 28 July 1852. p. 1. Retrieved 14 October 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
↑ "Ireland" . Morning Chronicle. 23 July 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 14 October 2018– 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 "W" (part 3)

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[stookssmith1842-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. p. 243. Retrieved 14 October 2018– via Google Books.

[2] Salmon, Philip. "STOPFORD, James Thomas, Visct. Stopford (1794-1858)". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 24 May 2020.

[walker-3] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 244–245, 321–323. ISBN 0901714127.

[4] "Oxford University and City Herald" . 18 April 1857. p. 8. Retrieved 14 October 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.

[5] "Wexford County" . The Atlas. 18 April 1857. p. 3. Retrieved 14 October 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.

[hop1820-1832-6] 1 2 3 Salmon, Philip. "Co. Wexford". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 24 May 2020.

[7] "Evening Mail" . 28 July 1852. p. 1. Retrieved 14 October 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.

[8] "Ireland" . Morning Chronicle. 23 July 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 14 October 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.

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