Dublin City was an Irish borough constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It comprised the city of Dublin in the county of Dublin, and was represented by two Members of Parliament from its creation in 1801 until 1885.
In 1885, Dublin City was split into four divisions which were separate single-member constituencies: College Green, Dublin Harbour, St Stephen's Green and St Patrick's.
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History
Under article 4 of the Acts of Union 1800, Dublin was one of two boroughs which has retained two seats among the initial 100 Irish MPs sitting in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801.
A report into the boundaries was undertaken in 1831. The report found that the Circular Road was "in a popular sense, generally regarded as the Boundary of the Town". The Parliamentary Boundaries (Ireland) Act 1832 defined the boundaries of the parliamentary borough as:
The County of the City of Dublin, and such Parts of the County at large as lie within the Circular Road.
Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, the representation of the parliamentary borough was increased to 4 members, and it was divided into four divisions: College Green, Dublin Harbour, St Stephen's Green and St Patrick's.
Profile
The city of Dublin was accounted a county of itself, although it remained connected with County Dublin for certain purposes. A Topographical Directory of Ireland (1837), describes the parliamentary history of the city:
The city returns two members to the Imperial parliament; the right of election, formerly vested in the corporation, freemen, and 40s. freeholders, has been extended to the £10 householders, and £20 and £10 leaseholders for the respective terms of 14 and 20 years, by the act of the 2nd of William IV., cap. 88. The number of voters registered at the first general election under that act was 7041, of which number, 5126 voted. The limits of the city, for electoral purposes, include an area of 3538 statute acres, the boundaries of which are minutely detailed in the Appendix; the number of freemen is about 3500, of whom 2500 are resident and 1000 non-resident, and the number of £10 houses is 16,000 : the sheriffs are the returning officers.
Elections
From 1832 (when registers of electors were first prepared) a turnout figure is given, for the percentage of the registered electors who voted. If the number of registered electors eligible to take part in a contested election is unknown, then the last known electorate figure is used to calculate an estimated turnout. If the numbers of registered electors and electors taking part in the poll are known, an exact turnout figure is calculated. In two-member elections (in which an elector could cast one or two votes as he chose), where the exact number of electors participating is unknown, an estimated turnout figure is given. This is calculated by dividing the total number of votes cast by two. To the extent that electors used only one of their votes the estimated turnout figure is an underestimate.
Elections in the 1830s
On petition, Harty and Perrin were unseated, causing a by-election.
On petition, O'Connell and Ruthven were unseated and Hamilton and West were declared elected on 16 May 1836
Elections in the 1840s
West's death caused a by-election.
On petition, the poll was amended and 92 votes were struck off Reynolds, although this did not cause him to be declared unelected.
Elections in the 1860s
Guinness' death caused a by-election.
Following the election, a publication was printed listing the names of those who had voted, and for whom. The listing was categorised by the seventeen individual wards and districts of Dublin, and a further category solely reserved for the Freemen of Dublin. A similar publication was produced for the voters in the wider County of Dublin.
Elections in the 1870s
On petition, Guinness was unseated.