Donegal (UK Parliament constituency)

County Donegal was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning two Members of Parliament (MPs).

County Donegal
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Location of County Donegal within Ireland.
County	County
1801–1885
Seats	2
Created from	County Donegal (IHC)
Replaced by	North Donegal East Donegal South Donegal West Donegal

Boundaries

This constituency comprised the whole of County Donegal. In 1885, it was divided into separate constituencies of East Donegal, North Donegal, South Donegal and West Donegal.

Members of Parliament

• Constituency created (1801)

Election	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
1801		Henry Vaughan Brooke			Viscount Sudley	Tory
1802		Sir James Stewart, Bt
1806					Henry Vaughan Brooke
1808					Henry Montgomery	Tory[1]
1812					George Vaughan Hart	Tory[1]
1818		Earl of Mount Charles	Tory
1825		Earl of Mount Charles	Tory[1][2]
1831		Sir Edmund Hayes	Tory[1]		Edward Conolly	Tory[1]
1831			Conservative[1]			Conservative[1]
1849					Thomas Conolly	Conservative
1860		Viscount Hamilton (known as the Marquess of Hamilton from August 1868)	Conservative
1876					William Wilson	Conservative
1879					Thomas Lea	Liberal
1880		John Kinnear	Liberal

• Constituency abolished (1885)

Elections

Elections of the 1880s

General election 1880: Donegal^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Lea	2,274	36.4	+12.2
	Liberal	John Kinnear	2,015	32.3	+9.0
	Irish Conservative	James Hamilton	1,954	31.3	−21.2
Majority			61	1.0	N/A
Turnout			4,228 (est)	91.7 (est)	+9.4
Registered electors			4,612
	Liberal gain from Irish Conservative		Swing	+11.4
	Liberal gain from Irish Conservative		Swing	+9.8

Elections of the 1870s

By-election, 15 Dec 1879: Donegal^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Lea	2,313	58.7	+11.2
	Irish Conservative	David Bartholomew McCorkeil	1,630	41.3	−11.2
Majority			683	17.4	N/A
Turnout			3,943	84.3	+2.0 (est)
Registered electors			4,680
	Liberal gain from Irish Conservative		Swing	+11.2

• Caused by Wilson's death.

By-election, 26 Aug 1876: Donegal^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Conservative	William Wilson	1,975	51.3	−1.2
	Liberal	Thomas Lea	1,876	48.7	+1.2
Majority			99	2.6	+2.1
Turnout			3,851	83.8	+1.5 (est)
Registered electors			4,597
	Irish Conservative hold		Swing	−1.2

• Caused by Conolly's death.

General election 1874: Donegal^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Conservative	James Hamilton	2,102	27.8	N/A
	Irish Conservative	Thomas Conolly	1,866	24.7	N/A
	Liberal	Tristram Kennedy	1,826	24.2	New
	Liberal	Evory Kennedy	1,757	23.3	New
Majority			40	0.5	N/A
Turnout			3,776 (est)	82.3 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			4,587
	Irish Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Irish Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections of the 1860s

General election 1868: Donegal^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Conservative	Thomas Conolly	Unopposed
	Irish Conservative	James Hamilton	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,596
	Irish Conservative hold
	Irish Conservative hold

General election 1865: Donegal^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Conservative	Thomas Conolly	Unopposed
	Irish Conservative	James Hamilton	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,685
	Irish Conservative hold
	Irish Conservative hold

By-election, 17 July 1860: Donegal^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Conservative	James Hamilton	Unopposed
	Irish Conservative hold

• Caused by Hayes' death.

Elections of the 1850s

General election 1859: Donegal^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Conservative	Thomas Conolly	Unopposed
	Irish Conservative	Edmund Hayes	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,307
	Irish Conservative hold
	Irish Conservative hold

General election 1857: Donegal^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Conservative	Thomas Conolly	Unopposed
	Irish Conservative	Edmund Hayes	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,254
	Irish Conservative hold
	Irish Conservative hold

General election 1852: Donegal^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Conservative	Thomas Conolly	1,839	39.9	N/A
	Irish Conservative	Edmund Hayes	1,624	35.3	N/A
	Whig	Patrick Francis Campbell-Johnston[4]	1,143	24.8	New
Majority			481	10.5	N/A
Turnout			2,875 (est)	76.7 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			3,748
	Irish Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Irish Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1840s

By-election, 20 February 1849: Donegal^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Conservative	Thomas Conolly	Unopposed
	Irish Conservative hold

• Caused by Conolly's death

General election 1847: Donegal^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Conservative	Edward Michael Conolly	Unopposed
	Irish Conservative	Edmund Hayes	Unopposed
Registered electors			848
	Irish Conservative hold
	Irish Conservative hold

General election 1841: Donegal^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Conservative	Edward Michael Conolly	Unopposed
	Irish Conservative	Edmund Hayes	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,446
	Irish Conservative hold
	Irish Conservative hold

Elections of the 1830s

General election 1837: Donegal^[3][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Irish Conservative	Edmund Hayes	Unopposed
	Irish Conservative	Edward Michael Conolly	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,960
	Irish Conservative hold
	Irish Conservative hold

General election 1835: Donegal^[3][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Irish Conservative	Edmund Hayes	Unopposed
	Irish Conservative	Edward Michael Conolly	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,618
	Irish Conservative hold
	Irish Conservative hold

General election 1832: Donegal^[3][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Edmund Hayes	795	38.2	+2.4
	Tory	Edward Michael Conolly	734	35.3	+3.2
	Whig	Hamilton Francis Chichester	552	26.5	−5.5
Majority			182	8.8	−6.8
Turnout			1,323	91.4	c. +1.4
Registered electors			1,448
	Tory hold		Swing	+2.6
	Tory hold		Swing	+3.0

General election 1831: Donegal^[3][1][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Edmund Hayes	416	35.8
	Tory	Edward Michael Conolly	373	32.1
	Whig	Sir Thomas Style, 8th Baronet	192	16.5
	Whig	Arthur Chichester	180	15.5
Majority			181	15.6
Turnout			c. 600	c. 90.0
Registered electors			c. 667
	Tory hold
	Tory hold

General election 1830: Donegal^[3][1][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	George Vaughan Hart	Unopposed
	Tory	Francis Conyngham	Unopposed
Registered electors			667
	Tory hold
	Tory hold

Elections of the 1810s

General election 1818: Donegal

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	George Vaughan Hart	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory	Henry Conyngham	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
Turnout			N/A	N/A	N/A

General election 1812: Donegal

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		James Stewart	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory	George Vaughan Hart	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
Turnout			N/A	N/A	N/A

Elections of the 1800s

1808 Donegal by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Henry Conyngham Montgomery	433	54.8	N/A
	Tory	George Vaughan Hart	357	45.2	N/A
Majority			76	9.6	N/A
Turnout			790		N/A
	Tory gain from		Swing

General election 1807: Donegal

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		James Stewart	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
		Henry Vaughan Brooke	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
Turnout			N/A	N/A	N/A

General election 1806: Donegal

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		James Stewart	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
		Henry Vaughan Brooke	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
Turnout			N/A	N/A	N/A

General election 1802: Donegal

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Arthur Gore	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
		James Stewart	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
Turnout			N/A	N/A	N/A

1801 co-option: Donegal

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Henry Vaughan Brooke	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory	Arthur Gore	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
Turnout			N/A	N/A	N/A

References

1. Stooks Smith, Henry (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections: Containing the Uncontested Elections Since 1830. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. p. 221. Retrieved 12 May 2020 – via Google Books.
2. Fisher, David R.; Farrell, Stephen. "CONYNGHAM, Francis Nathaniel, earl of Mount Charles (1797-1876)". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
3. Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 207, 267. ISBN 0901714127.
4. "The General Election". London Evening Standard. 29 July 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 30 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
5. Farrell, Stephen. "Co. Donegal". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 12 May 2020.

• 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 "D" (part 2)