Athlone–Longford (Dáil constituency)

Athlone–Longford was a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas from 1937 to 1948. The constituency elected 3 deputies (Teachtaí Dála, commonly known as TDs) to the Dáil, on the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).

Athlone–Longford
Former Dáil constituency
Former constituency
Created	1937
Abolished	1948
Seats	3
Local government areas	County Longford County Roscommon County Westmeath
Created from	Longford–Westmeath
Replaced by	Longford–Westmeath

History

The constituency was created for the 1937 general election under the Electoral (Revision of Constituencies) Act 1935,^[1] replacing the old Longford–Westmeath constituency.

Under the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1947, the constituency was abolished, and the Longford–Westmeath constituency was re-created for the 1948 general election.^[2]

Boundaries

The constituency consisted of all of County Longford and parts of counties Roscommon and Westmeath. In the 1935 Act, its boundaries were defined as:^[1]

"The administrative County of Longford,

The district electoral divisions of:

Athlone West Rural, Ballydangan, Ballynamona, Caltragh, Carnagh, Carrowreagh, Castlesampson, Cloonburren, Cloonown, Crannagh, Creagh, Culliagh, Drumlosh, Dysart, Kilcar, Kiltoom, Lecarrow, Moore, Rockhill, Taghboy, Taghma-connell, Thomastown and Turrock in the administrative County of Roscommon; and

The district electoral divisions of:

Ardnagragh, Athlone East Rural, Auburn, Carn, Castledaly, Doonis, Glassan, Killinure, Mount Temple, Moydrum, Muckanagh, Noughaval and Tubbrit and the Urban District of Athlone in the administrative County of Westmeath."

TDs

Teachtaí Dála (TDs) for Athlone–Longford 1937–1948^[3]
Dáil	Election	Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)
9th	1937^[4]		Matthew Davis (FF)		James Victory (FF)		Seán Mac Eoin (FG)
10th	1938^[5]		Erskine H. Childers (FF)
11th	1943^[6]				Thomas Carter (FF)
12th	1944^[7]
13th	1948	Constituency abolished. See Longford–Westmeath

Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to the order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election.

Elections

1944 general election

1944 general election: Athlone–Longford^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Fianna Fáil	Thomas Carter	24.6	6,501	6,564	6,638
	Fine Gael	Seán Mac Eoin	23.6	6,235	8,090
	Fianna Fáil	Erskine H. Childers	17.8	4,716	4,857	5,003	7,484
	Labour	Martin Timlin	12.3	3,266	3,701	4,537	4,923
	Fianna Fáil	James Victory	11.7	3,110	3,198	3,273
	Fine Gael	Michael O'Meara	10.0	2,646
Electorate: 38,932   Valid: 26,474   Quota: 6,619   Turnout: 68.0%

1943 general election

1943 general election: Athlone–Longford^[6][8]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Fine Gael	Seán Mac Eoin	24.4	6,979	7,183
	Fianna Fáil	Erskine H. Childers	14.6	4,180	4,251	4,253	4,564	4,851	7,063	7,831
	Fianna Fáil	Thomas Carter	14.1	4,041	4,407	4,417	4,640	4,794	6,245	7,122
	Fianna Fáil	James Victory	14.0	4,010	4,121	4,121	4,237	4,421
	Labour	Martin Timlin	10.9	3,119	3,380	3,386	4,512	5,347	5,671
	Fine Gael	William Finnerty	10.5	3,012	3,055	3,065	3,281
	Labour	Henry Broderick	7.2	2,055	2,100	2,101
	Independent	Thomas Murray	4.2	1,216
Electorate: 38,932   Valid: 28,612   Quota: 7,154   Turnout: 73.5%

1938 general election

1938 general election: Athlone–Longford^[5][8]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Fine Gael	Seán Mac Eoin	23.8	6,936	7,963
	Fianna Fáil	James Victory	21.0	6,107	6,527	6,620	8,891
	Fianna Fáil	Erskine H. Childers	16.8	4,885	5,321	5,420	7,308
	Fianna Fáil	Matthew Davis	15.2	4,418	4,700	4,741
	Fine Gael	William Finnerty	14.4	4,183	4,382	4,837	5,144
	Labour	Martin Timlin	8.8	2,570
Electorate: 38,108   Valid: 29,099   Quota: 7,275   Turnout: 76.4%

1937 general election

1937 general election: Athlone–Longford^[4][8]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Fine Gael	Seán Mac Eoin	25.8	7,587
	Fianna Fáil	James Victory	15.5	4,565	4,573	4,682	4,908	5,176	6,224	7,116	7,966
	Fianna Fáil	Matthew Davis	14.0	4,132	4,135	4,197	4,302	4,562	5,077	5,356	6,428
	Fine Gael	William Finnerty	12.1	3,556	3,717	3,795	3,840	4,006	4,093	4,289	4,973
	Labour	Henry Broderick	10.2	3,018	3,025	3,064	3,361	3,476	3,594	3,828
	Independent	Seán Lynch	6.6	1,929	1,945	2,074	2,206	2,424	2,491
	Fianna Fáil	Patrick Killion	6.1	1,808	1,810	1,853	1,909	1,966
	Independent	Joseph Burke	3.9	1,159	1,167	1,239	1,382
	Independent	Hubert Wilson	3.5	1,031	1,039	1,106
	Independent	Seán Duffy	2.2	662	674
Electorate: 38,295   Valid: 29,447   Quota: 7,362   Turnout: 76.9%

See also

• Dáil constituencies
• Politics of the Republic of Ireland
• Historic Dáil constituencies
• Elections in the Republic of Ireland

References

1. "Electoral (Revision of Constituencies) Act, 1935: First Schedule (Revised constituencies)". Irish Statute Book database. from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
2. "Electoral (Amendment) Act, 1947: First Schedule (Constituencies)". Irish Statute Book database. from the original on 23 July 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
3. Walker, Brian M, ed. (1992). Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1918–92. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0-901714-96-8. ISSN 0332-0286.
4. "General election 1937: Athlone–Longford". ElectionsIreland.org. from the original on 21 February 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
5. "General election 1938: Athlone–Longford". ElectionsIreland.org. from the original on 21 February 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
6. "General election 1943: Athlone–Longford". ElectionsIreland.org. from the original on 30 January 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
7. "General election 1944: Athlone–Longford". ElectionsIreland.org. from the original on 21 February 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
8. Gallagher, Michael (1993). Irish Elections 1922-44: Results and Analysis. PSAI Press. ISBN 0951974815.

External links

• Oireachtas Members Database