Armagh (UK Parliament constituency)

For other constituencies of the same name, see Armagh (disambiguation).

54°20′53″N 6°39′22″W / 54.348°N 6.656°W / 54.348; -6.656

Armagh
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
County	County
1922–1983
Seats	1
Created from	Mid Armagh, North Armagh and South Armagh
Replaced by	Newry and Armagh and Upper Bann
1801–1885
Seats	2
Created from	County Armagh
Replaced by	Mid Armagh, North Armagh and South Armagh

Armagh or County Armagh was a parliamentary constituency in the House of Commons. It was replaced in boundary changes in 1983.

The Act of Union 1800 provided for the Parliament of Ireland to be merged with the Parliament of Great Britain, to form the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The 300 seats in the Irish House of Commons were reduced to 100 Irish members in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The thirty-two Irish counties retained two seats in Parliament.

Members of Parliament

Election	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
1801		Archibald Acheson	Non-partisan/Tory		Robert Camden Cope	Non-partisan
1802					Henry Caulfeild	Whig^[1]
1807		William Brownlow	Tory		William Richardson	Tory^[1]
1815		Henry Caulfeild	Whig^[1]
1818		Charles Brownlow	Whig^[1]
1820					Henry Caulfeild	Whig^[1]
1830					Archibald Acheson	Whig^[1]^[2]
1832		William Verner	Tory^[1]
1834			Conservative^[1]
1847					James Caulfeild	Whig^[3]^[4]
1857					Maxwell Close	Conservative
1864					James Stronge	Conservative
1868		William Verner	Conservative
1873		Edward Wingfield Verner	Conservative
1874					Maxwell Close	Conservative
1880		James Richardson	Liberal
1885	Constituency abolished. See Mid Armagh, North Armagh and South Armagh

Election		Member	Party
1922		Constituency recreated
	1922	Sir William Allen	Ulster Unionist
	1948 by-election	Richard Harden	Ulster Unionist
	1954 by-election	C. W. Armstrong	Ulster Unionist
	1959	John Maginnis	Ulster Unionist
	Feb 1974	Harold McCusker	Ulster Unionist
1983		Constituency abolished

Politics and history of the constituency

The union took effect on 1 January 1801. There was no new election for the members of the 1st Parliament of the United Kingdom, as the House of Commons was composed of members elected to the previous Parliaments of Ireland and Great Britain. The constituencies consisted of the whole of County Armagh, excluding the part in the Parliamentary borough constituency of Armagh City.

Catholics were excluded from taking Irish seats in Parliament from 1691 until 1829. See Catholic emancipation for further details.

Catholics, who were otherwise qualified to vote, had to take various oaths before doing so; under Acts of 1691 and 1703. An Act of 1727 prohibited "papists" from voting at all. They were not again permitted to qualify to vote until 1793.

Before 1885 there was a restrictive property based franchise. In 1829 the traditional county 40 shilling freehold landowning qualification was changed to a £10 qualification (which was an increase to five times the previous level). It was not until the householder franchise was introduced for county elections, in the electoral reforms which took effect in 1885, that most (but not all) adult males became voters.

In these circumstances most members of parliament came from a limited number of Protestant aristocratic and gentry families. There were few contested elections.

In the first half century or so after the union this constituency was fairly evenly balanced between Whig/Liberal and Tory/Conservative parties. Thereafter the area became more Conservative.

The constituency was represented by two MPs from 1801 until 1885, and by one MP from 1922 until 1983. In 1885, it was split into Mid Armagh, North Armagh and South Armagh.

A new seat was created in 1922 when as part of the establishment of the devolved Stormont Parliament for Northern Ireland, the number of MPs in the Westminster Parliament was drastically cut. The seat consisted of the entirety of County Armagh. In 1983 most of it became part of the Newry and Armagh constituency, with part going to Upper Bann.

From its inception Armagh had a unionist majority, though by the 1970s the nationalist vote was in the mid 30s%.

In 1951, it was one of the last four seats to be uncontested in a UK general election, and in 1954 it saw the last uncontested by-election in the UK.

In 1974 the Ulster Unionist Party repudiated the Sunningdale Agreement and so did not reselect the pro Sunningdale MP, John Maginnis. Instead they ran Harold McCusker, who held the seat until 1983. He was then elected for Upper Bann, which contained part of Armagh.

For the history of the area post 1983, please see Newry and Armagh and Upper Bann.

Elections

In two-member elections the bloc voting system was used. Voters could cast a vote for one or two candidates, as they chose. The two candidates with the largest number of votes were elected.

In by-elections, to fill a single seat, the first past the post system applied.

There was no election in 1801. The representatives of the county in the former Parliament of Ireland became members of the 1st Parliament of the United Kingdom.

After 1832, when registration of voters was introduced, a turnout figure is given for contested elections. In two-member elections, when the exact number of participating voters is unknown, this is calculated by dividing the number of votes by two. To the extent that voters did not use both their votes this will be an underestimate of turnout. If the electorate figure is unknown the last known electorate figure is used to provide an estimate of turnout.

Where a party had more than one candidate in one or both of a pair of successive elections change is calculated for each individual candidate, otherwise change is based on the party vote.

 

Armagh election results

Elections in the 19th century

Archibald Acheson and Robert Camden Cope were co-opted as non-partisans in 1801.

At the 1802 and 1806 general elections, Archibald Acheson and Henry Caulfeild were elected unopposed.

At the 1807 Armagh by-election, Brownlow was elected unopposed.

At the 1807 general election, Richardson and Brownlow were elected unopposed.

At the 1812 general election, Richardson and William Brownlow were elected unopposed.

At the 1815 Armagh by-election, Henry Caulfeild was elected unopposed.

Elections in the 1810s

General election 10 July 1818: Armagh (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Charles Brownlow	1,839	38.53	N/A
	Tory	William Richardson	1,673	35.05	N/A
	Whig	Henry Caulfeild	1,261	26.42	New
Majority			412	8.63	N/A
Turnout			4,773		N/A
	Tory hold		Swing
	Tory hold		Swing

Elections in the 1820s

At the 1820 general election, Charles Brownlow and Henry Caulfeild were elected unopposed.

General election 29 June 1826: Armagh (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Caulfeild	2,897	35,84	N/A
	Whig	Charles Brownlow	2,563	31.70	N/A
	Tory	William Verner	1,894	23.43	New
	Tory	John Ynyr Burgess	730	9.03	New
Majority			669	7.27	N/A
Turnout			8,084		N/A
	Whig hold		Swing
	Whig hold		Swing

Elections in the 1830s

General election 9 August 1830: Armagh (2 seats)^[5][1][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Charles Brownlow	Unopposed
	Whig	Archibald Acheson	Unopposed
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

General election 11 May 1831: Armagh (2 seats)^[5][1][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Charles Brownlow	Unopposed
	Whig	Archibald Acheson	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,361
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

General election 19 December 1832: Armagh (2 seats)^[5][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	William Verner	Unopposed
	Whig	Archibald Acheson	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,342
	Tory gain from Whig
	Whig hold

General election 15 January 1835: Armagh (2 seats)^[5][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	William Verner	Unopposed
	Whig	Archibald Acheson	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,423
	Conservative hold
	Whig hold

General election 7 August 1837: Armagh (2 seats)^[5][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	William Verner	Unopposed
	Whig	Archibald Acheson	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,574
	Conservative hold
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 9 July 1841: Armagh (2 seats)^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Verner	Unopposed
	Whig	Archibald Acheson	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,578
	Conservative hold
	Whig hold

General election 9 August 1847: Armagh (2 seats)^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Verner	Unopposed
	Whig	James Caulfeild	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,054
	Conservative hold
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 16 July 1852: Armagh (2 seats)^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Verner	Unopposed
	Whig	James Caulfeild	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,341
	Conservative hold
	Whig hold

General election 16 April 1857: Armagh (2 seats)^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Maxwell Close	940	50.2	N/A
	Conservative	William Verner	928	49.5	N/A
	Whig	James Caulfeild	6	0.3	N/A
Majority			922	49.2	N/A
Turnout			937 (est)	16.7 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			5,596
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	N/A

General election 7 May 1859: Armagh (2 seats)^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Maxwell Close	Unopposed
	Conservative	William Verner	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,805
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s

By-election, 23 March 1863: Armagh^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Stronge	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

• Caused by Close's resignation.

General election, 19 July 1865: Armagh^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Stronge	Unopposed
	Conservative	William Verner	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,721
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

General election, 21 November 1868: Armagh^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Stronge	Unopposed
	Conservative	William Verner	Unopposed
Registered electors			7,443
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1870s

By-election, 15 February 1873: Armagh^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Wingfield Verner	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Conservative hold

• Caused by Verner's death.

General election 7 February 1874: Armagh (2 seats)^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Wingfield Verner	3,527	40.7	N/A
	Conservative	Maxwell Close	3,469	40.0	N/A
	Liberal	Frederick William McBlaine	1,673	19.3	New
Majority			1,796	20.7	N/A
Turnout			5,171 (est)	73.4 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			7,044
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 9 April 1880: Armagh (2 seats)^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Richardson	2,738	29.0	+9.7
	Conservative	Maxwell Close	2,654	28.1	−11.9
	Conservative	St John Thomas Blacker^[7]	2,275	24.1	N/A
	Conservative	William Verner	1,781	18.9	−21.8
Turnout			4,724 (est)	68.1 (est)	−5.3
Registered electors			6,937
Majority			84	4.0	N/A
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+10.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	William Allen	Unopposed
	Ulster Unionist hold

General election 1923: Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	William Allen	Unopposed
	Ulster Unionist hold

General election 1924: Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	William Allen	29,021	71.2	N/A
	Sinn Féin	James McKee	11,756	28.8	New
Majority			17,265	42.4	N/A
Turnout			40,777	75.0	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1929: Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	William Allen	29,966	67.4	−3.8
	Ulster Liberal	William Todd	13,052	32.6	New
Majority			13,914	34.8	−7.6
Turnout			40,018	60.2	−14.8
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	William Allen	Unopposed
	Ulster Unionist hold

General election 1935: Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	William Allen	34,002	67.6	N/A
	Independent Republican	Charles McGleenan	16,284	32.4	New
Majority			17,718	35.2	N/A
Turnout			50,286	73.3	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

1945 general election: Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	William Allen	Unopposed
	Ulster Unionist hold

1948 Armagh by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	James Harden	36,200	59.7	N/A
	Anti-Partition	James O'Reilly	24,422	40.3	New
Majority			12,314	20.4	N/A
Turnout			60,622		N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	James Harden	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Ulster Unionist hold

General election 1951: Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	James Harden	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Ulster Unionist hold

1954 Armagh by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	C. W. Armstrong	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Ulster Unionist hold

General election 1955: Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	C. W. Armstrong	38,617	64.4	N/A
	Sinn Féin	Tomás Mac Curtain	21,363	35.6	New
Majority			17,254	28.8	N/A
Turnout			59,980	82.7	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1959: Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	John Maginnis	40,325	85.5	+21.1
	Sinn Féin	John Lynch	6,823	14.5	-21.1
Majority			33,502	71.0	+42.2
Turnout			47,148	64.2	-18.5
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	John Maginnis	35,223	65.0	−20.5
	Independent Republican	John Lynch	12,432	23.0	N/A
	NI Labour	Samuel Ewart	6,523	12.0	New
Majority			22,791	42.0	-29.0
Turnout			54,178	73.0	-8.8
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1966: Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	John Maginnis	34,687	72.0	+7.0
	Independent Republican	Charles McGleenan	13,467	28.0	+5.0
Majority			21,220	44.0	+2.0
Turnout			48,154	63.3	-9.7
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	John Maginnis	37,667	55.3	−16.7
	Unity	Hugh Lewis	21,696	31.9	New
	NI Labour	Erskine Holmes	8,781	12.9	New
Majority			15,971	23.4	-20.6
Turnout			68,144	78.4	+15.1
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Harold McCusker	33,194	53.7	−1.6
	SDLP	Paddy O'Hanlon	18,090	29.3	New
	Alliance	Robin Glendinning	4,983	8.1	New
	Republican Clubs	Thomas Moore	4,129	6.7	New
	Unity	Hugh Lewis	1,364	2.2	−29.7
Majority			15,104	24.4	+1.0
Turnout			61,760	68.4	-10.0
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Harold McCusker	37,518	60.0	+6.3
	SDLP	Seamus Mallon	19,855	31.8	+2.5
	Republican Clubs	Malachy McGurran	5,138	8.2	+1.5
Majority			17,663	28.2	+3.8
Turnout			62,511	68.6	+0.2
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1979: Armagh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Harold McCusker	31,668	48.5	−11.5
	SDLP	Seamus Mallon	23,545	36.1	+4.3
	DUP	Davy Calvert	5,634	8.6	New
	Republican Clubs	Thomas Moore	2,310	3.5	−4.7
	Alliance	William Ramsay	2,074	3.2	New
Majority			8,123	12.4	-15.8
Turnout			65,231	70.1	+1.5
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

References

1. Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. pp. 214–215. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via Google Books.
2. Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer. p. 10. Retrieved 18 August 2019 – via Google Books.
3. "Newry Telegraph". 24 August 1847. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
4. "Armagh (County)". Evening Mail. 12 July 1852. p. 2. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
5. Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714127.
6. Farrell, Stephen. "Co. Armagh". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
7. "The Representation of Co. Armagh". Dublin Daily Express. 5 April 1880. p. 5. Retrieved 18 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.

• The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), second 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. 196–197, 250–251.
• Who's Who of British members of parliament: Volume I 1832–1885, edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)
• Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results 1921–1972, compiled and edited by Sydney Elliott (Political Reference Publications 1973)

External links

• http://www.oireachtas.ie/members-hist/default.asp?housetype=0
• http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/en.toc.dail.html 23 April 2006 at the Wayback Machine
• http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1923/en/act/pub/0012/index.html
• For the exact definition of Northern Ireland Parliament constituency boundaries see http://www.election.demon.co.uk/stormont/boundaries.html