Under the Acts of Union 1800, with effect from 1 January 1801, there were a 100 MPs representing Ireland in the United Kingdom Parliament. These were divided into 66 constituencies for elections to the United Kingdom Parliament, specified as "two for each County of Ireland, two for the City of Dublin, two for the City of Cork, one for the University of Trinity College, and one for each of the thirty-one most considerable Cities, Towns, and Boroughs": 32 county constituencies, each electing 2 MPs; 33 borough constituencies, each electing 1 MP, except for Cork City and Dublin City, which elected 2 MPs; and 1 university constituency, electing 1 MP.
This distribution remained substantively until 1885, subject to the following alterations: Representation of the People (Ireland) Act 1832: the total number of seats from Ireland increased to 105, with Belfast, Galway Borough, Limerick City, Waterford City and Dublin University gaining a second seat. Parliamentary Boundaries (Ireland) Act 1832: minor boundary changes to the borough constituencies. Representation of the People (Ireland) Act 1868: in the case of boroughs retained under the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840, boundaries of parliamentary boroughs extended to include the whole municipal borough. Sligo and Cashel Disfranchisement Act 1870: the boroughs of Cashel and Sligo were disfranchised for corruption, reducing the number of constituencies to 64 and seats to 103.
In the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, there was a substantial revision of constituencies, taking a greater account of changes to the population. Most borough constituencies were abolished and county constituencies were divided into single-member districts. These new constituencies were first used at the 1885 United Kingdom general election in Ireland.
List of constituencies
ConstituencyTypeCountySeats 1801 1832County AntrimCountyCounty Antrim2County ArmaghCountyCounty Armagh2ArmaghBoroughCounty Armagh1AthloneBoroughCounty Westmeath1BandonBoroughCounty Cork1BelfastBoroughCounty Antrim12County CarlowCountyCounty Carlow2CarlowBoroughCounty Carlow1CarrickfergusBoroughCounty Antrim1CashelBoroughCounty Tipperary1County CavanCountyCounty Cavan2County ClareCountyCounty Clare2ClonmelBoroughCounty Tipperary1ColeraineBoroughCounty Londonderry1County CorkCountyCounty Cork2CorkBoroughCounty Cork2County DonegalCountyCounty Donegal2County DownCountyCounty Down2DownpatrickBoroughCounty Down1DroghedaBoroughCounty Louth1County DublinCountyCounty Dublin2DublinBoroughCounty Dublin2Dublin UniversityUniversityCounty Dublin12DundalkBoroughCounty Louth1DungannonBoroughCounty Tyrone1DungarvanBoroughCounty Waterford1EnnisBoroughCounty Clare1EnniskillenBoroughCounty Fermanagh1County FermanaghCountyCounty Fermanagh2County GalwayCountyCounty Galway2GalwayBoroughCounty Galway12County KerryCountyCounty Kerry2County KildareCountyCounty Kildare2County KilkennyCountyCounty Kilkenny2KilkennyBoroughCounty Kilkenny1King's CountyCountyKing's County2KinsaleBoroughCounty Cork1County LeitrimCountyCounty Leitrim2County LimerickCountyCounty Limerick2LimerickBoroughCounty Limerick12LisburnBoroughCounty Antrim1County LondonderryCountyCounty Londonderry2LondonderryBoroughCounty Londonderry1County LongfordCountyCounty Longford2County LouthCountyCounty Louth2MallowBoroughCounty Cork1County MayoCountyCounty Mayo2County MeathCountyCounty Meath2County MonaghanCountyCounty Monaghan2New RossBoroughCounty Wexford1NewryBoroughCounty Down1PortarlingtonBoroughQueen's County1Queen's CountyCountyQueen's County2County RoscommonCountyCounty Roscommon2County SligoCountyCounty Sligo2SligoBoroughCounty Sligo1County TipperaryCountyCounty Tipperary2TraleeBoroughCounty Kerry1County TyroneCountyCounty Tyrone2County WaterfordCountyCounty Waterford2WaterfordBoroughCounty Waterford12County WestmeathCountyCounty Westmeath2County WexfordCountyCounty Wexford2WexfordBoroughCounty Wexford1County WicklowCountyCounty Wicklow2YoughalBoroughCounty Cork1
Map of boroughs
See also List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies in Ireland and Northern Ireland
References