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County Meath
County Meath
Former county constituency; for the House of Commons
County	County Meath
1801–1885
Seats	2
Created from	County Meath (IHC)
Replaced by	North Meath; South Meath;

Meath was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, which from 1801 to 1885 returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.

Boundaries

This constituency comprised the whole of County Meath.

Members of Parliament

Election	1st Member		1st Party		2nd Party
1801		Hamilton Gorges		Sir Marcus Somerville, 4th Baronet	Whig^[1]
1802		Thomas Cherburgh Bligh	Whig^[1]
1812		Thomas Taylour, Earl of Bective (later Marquess of Headfort)	Whig^[2]
Feb 1830		Arthur Plunkett, Baron Killeen, later Earl of Fingall	Whig^[1]
Aug 1831		Arthur Plunkett, Baron Killeen, later Earl of Fingall	Whig^[1]	Henry Grattan	Repeal Association^[1]^[3]
1832		Morgan O'Connell	Repeal Association^[1]^[3]
Feb 1840		Matthew Corbally	Whig^[4]^[5]^[6]
1841		Daniel O'Connell^[7]	Repeal Association^[1]^[3]
Jun 1842		Matthew Corbally	Whig^[4]^[5]^[6]
1852			Ind. Irish^[3]	Frederick Lucas	Ind. Irish^[3]
1855			Ind. Irish^[3]	Edward McEvoy	Ind. Irish^[3]
1859			Liberal^[3]		Liberal^[3]
1871		John Martin	Ind. Nationalist^[3]		Liberal^[3]
1874		John Martin	Home Rule League^[3]	Nicholas Ennis	Home Rule League^[3]
1875		Charles Stewart Parnell^[8]	Home Rule League^[3]	Nicholas Ennis	Home Rule League^[3]
Apr 1880		Charles Stewart Parnell^[8]	Home Rule League^[3]	Robert Henry Metge	Home Rule League^[3]
May 1880		Alexander Martin Sullivan	Home Rule League^[3]
Feb 1882		Michael Davitt^[9]	Home Rule League^[3]
Apr 1882		Edward Sheil	Home Rule League^[3]
Feb 1884		Edward Sheil	Home Rule League^[3]	William Meagher	Home Rule League^[3]
1885	Constituency divided: see South Meath and North Meath

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

Taylour succeeded to the peerage, becoming 2nd Marquess of Headfort and causing a by-election.

By-election, 22 February 1830: Meath^[3]^[1]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Whig	Arthur Plunkett	Unopposed
Registered electors			977
	Whig hold

General election 1830: Meath^[3]^[1]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Whig	Sir Marcus Somerville, 4th Baronet	Unopposed
	Whig	Arthur Plunkett	Unopposed
Registered electors			977
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

General election 1831: Meath^[3]^[1]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Arthur Plunkett	417	47.2
	Whig	Sir Marcus Somerville, 4th Baronet	250	28.3
	Irish Repeal	Henry Grattan	198	22.4
	Whig	James Lenox William Naper	10	1.1
	Tory	Richard Rowley	8	0.9
Majority			52	5.9
Turnout			c. 442	c. 45.2
Registered electors			977
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

Somerville's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 11 August 1831: Meath^[3]^[1]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Repeal	Henry Grattan	309	67.3	+44.9
	Whig	John Duncan Bligh	150	32.7	−43.9
Majority			159	34.6	N/A
Turnout			459	47.0	c. +1.8
Registered electors			977
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig		Swing	+44.4

General election 1832: Meath^[3]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Repeal	Henry Grattan	Unopposed
	Irish Repeal	Morgan O'Connell	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,520
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig

General election 1835: Meath^[3]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Morgan O'Connell	838	35.7
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Henry Grattan	826	35.2
	Conservative	Randal Plunkett	346	14.7
	Conservative	Gustavus Lambert	337	14.4
Majority			480	20.5
Turnout			c. 1,174	c. 72.6
Registered electors			1,617
	Irish Repeal hold
	Irish Repeal hold

General election 1837: Meath^[3]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Morgan O'Connell	Unopposed
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Henry Grattan	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,872
	Irish Repeal hold
	Irish Repeal hold

Elections in the 1840s

O'Connell resigned after being appointed assistant registrar of deeds, causing a by-election.

By-election, 4 February 1840: Meath^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Matthew Corbally	Unopposed
	Whig gain from Irish Repeal

General election 1841: Meath^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Repeal	Daniel O'Connell	Unopposed
	Irish Repeal	Henry Grattan	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,236
	Irish Repeal hold
	Irish Repeal hold

O'Connell was also elected for County Cork and opted to sit there, causing a by-election.

By-election, 10 June 1842: Meath^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Matthew Corbally	Unopposed
	Whig gain from Irish Repeal

General election 1847: Meath^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Matthew Corbally	598	41.8	*N/A*
	Irish Repeal	Henry Grattan	503	35.1	*N/A*
	Conservative	Henry Corbet Singleton	331	23.1	New
Turnout			716 (est)	44.4 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			1,611
Majority			95	6.7	N/A
	Whig gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	N/A
Majority			172	12.0	N/A
	Irish Repeal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Meath^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Irish	Frederick Lucas	2,004	44.2	*N/A*
	Independent Irish	Matthew Corbally	1,968	43.4	+1.6
	Independent Irish	Henry Grattan	565	12.5	−22.6
Majority			1,403	30.9	N/A
Turnout			2,269 (est)	53.8 (est)	+9.4
Registered electors			4,218
	Independent Irish gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	N/A
	Independent Irish gain from Whig		Swing	N/A

Lucas' death caused a by-election.

By-election, 17 December 1855: Meath^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Irish	Edward McEvoy	1,639	64.6	*N/A*
	Whig	Henry Meredyth^[11]	899	35.4	New
Majority			740	29.2	−1.7
Turnout			2,538	60.2	+6.4
Registered electors			4,218
	Independent Irish hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1857: Meath^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Independent Irish	Matthew Corbally	Unopposed
	Independent Irish	Edward McEvoy	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,177
	Independent Irish hold
	Independent Irish hold

General election 1859: Meath^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Matthew Corbally	Unopposed
	Liberal	Edward McEvoy	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,383
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Meath^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Matthew Corbally	Unopposed
	Liberal	Edward McEvoy	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,155
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

General election 1868: Meath^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Matthew Corbally	1,696	49.3	*N/A*
	Liberal	Edward McEvoy	1,655	48.1	*N/A*
	Liberal	John Thomas Hinds	88	2.6	N/A
Majority			1,567	45.5	N/A
Turnout			1,720 (est)	42.8 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			4,018
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1870s

Corbally's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 17 Jan 1871: Meath^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Nationalist	John Martin	1,140	62.5	*New*
	Conservative	George John Plunkett	684	37.5	New
Majority			456	25.0	N/A
Turnout			1,824	43.6	+0.8
Registered electors			4,179
	Ind. Nationalist gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

General election 1874: Meath^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	Nicholas Ennis	1,716	38.8	*N/A*
	Home Rule	John Martin	1,709	38.7	*N/A*
	Conservative	James Lennox Napier	992	22.5	N/A
Majority			717	16.2	N/A
Turnout			2,705 (est)	66.5 (est)	+23.7
Registered electors			4,069
	Home Rule gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A
	Home Rule gain from Ind. Nationalist		Swing	N/A

Martin's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 17 Apr 1875: Meath^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	Charles Stewart Parnell	1,771	62.8	−14.7
	Conservative	James Lennox Napier	912	32.3	+9.8
	Home Rule	John Thomas Hinds	138	4.9	N/A
Majority			859	30.5	+14.3
Turnout			2,821	68.2	+1.7
Registered electors			4,139
	Home Rule hold		Swing	−12.3

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Meath^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Parnellite Home Rule League	Charles Stewart Parnell	2,283	45.2	+6.4
	Home Rule	Robert Henry Metge	2,252	44.6	+5.9
	Conservative	Henry Lorton Bourke	514	10.2	−12.3
Majority			1,738	34.4	+18.2
Turnout			2,797 (est)	72.1 (est)	+5.6
Registered electors			3,877
	Home Rule hold		Swing	+6.3
	Home Rule hold		Swing	+6.0

Parnell was also elected MP for Cork City and opted to sit there, causing a by-election.

By-election, 20 May 1880: Meath^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Home Rule	Alexander Martin Sullivan	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,877
	Home Rule hold

Sullivan resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 22 Feb 1882: Meath^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Home Rule	Michael Davitt	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,711
	Home Rule hold

Davitt was disqualified because he was in prison, causing a by-election.

By-election, 14 Apr 1882: Meath^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Home Rule	Edward Sheil	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,711
	Home Rule hold

Metge resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 21 Feb 1884: Meath^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Home Rule	William Meagher	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,660
	Home Rule hold

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. p. 236. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via Google Books.
^ Fitzpatrick, David (1994). Oceans of Consolation: Personal Accounts of Irish Migration to Australia. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. p. 301. ISBN 0-8014-2606-5. Retrieved 21 May 2020 – via Google Books.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah ^ai ^aj ^ak ^al ^am ^an ^ao ^ap Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 231–232, 303–304. ISBN 0901714127.
^ ^a ^b "Election News". Cambridge Independent Press. Cambridgeshire. 18 June 1842. p. 3. Retrieved 2 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ ^a ^b "Meath". Gloucestershire Chronicle. 1 February 1840. p. 4. Retrieved 3 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ ^a ^b "T.he Globe states that Mr. Matthew Elias Corbally,w ho declined". The Spectator. 28 May 1842. p. 11. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
^ O'Connell was also returned for County Cork and chose to sit for Cork
^ At the 1880 general election, Parnell was also returned for both Mayo and Cork City. He chose to sit for Cork
^ As a convicted felon, Davitt was held to be incapable of taking his seat. A by-election was held in April 1882
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Salmon, Philip. "Co. Meath". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
^ "County of Meath Election". Berkshire Chronicle. 15 December 1855. p. 8. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

References

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 "M" (part 2)