Armagh (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

Armagh
Former County constituency for the Parliament of Northern Ireland
Armagh shown within Northern Ireland
Former constituency
Created	1921
Abolished	1929
Election method	Single transferable vote

Armagh was a county constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland from 1921 to 1929. It returned four MPs, using proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.

Boundaries

Armagh was created by the Government of Ireland Act 1920 and consisted of the entirety of County Armagh. The House of Commons (Method of Voting and Redistribution of Seats) Act (Northern Ireland) 1929 divided the constituency into four constituencies elected under first past the post: Central, Mid, North and South Armagh constituencies.

Second Dáil

In May 1921, Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the self-declared Irish Republic run by Sinn Féin, passed a resolution declaring that elections to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland would be used as the election for the Second Dáil. All those elected were on the roll of the Second Dáil, but Michael Collins, who was also elected for Cork Mid, North, South, South East and West, was the only MP elected for Armagh to sit as a TD in Dáil Éireann.

Politics

Armagh had a slight Unionist majority, but this was fairly evenly balanced with a Nationalist minority. In both general elections, two Unionists were elected, alongside one Nationalist and one Republican.

Members of Parliament

Election	MP (Party)		MP (Party)		MP (Party)		MP (Party)
1921		Michael Collins (Sinn Féin)		John Dillon Nugent (Nationalist)		Richard Best (UUP)		David Graham Shillington (UUP)
1922	vacant
1925		Eamon Donnelly (Republican)		John Henry Collins (Nationalist)
1925 by						John Clarke Davison (UUP)

MPs' lifespans

Name	Born	Died
Richard Best	11 December 1869	23 February 1939
Michael Collins	16 October 1890	22 August 1922
David Graham Shillington	10 December 1872	22 January 1944
John Dillon Nugent	22 December 1869	1 March 1940
Eamon Donnelly	19 July 1877	29 December 1944
John Henry Collins	3 March 1880	12 June 1952
John Clarke Davison	19 April 1875	19 February 1946

Elections

24 May 1921 General Election: Armagh (4 seats)

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	UUP	Richard Best	34.36	15,988
	Sinn Féin	Michael Collins	27.20	12,656
	UUP	David Graham Shillington	20.91	9,730
	Nationalist	John Dillon Nugent	14.74	6,857	6,960
	Sinn Féin	Frank Aiken	2.80	1,301	1,329
Electorate: 53,977   Valid: 46,532   Quota: 9,307   Turnout: 86.2%

• Collins died on 22 August 1922; his seat remained vacant at dissolution.

3 April 1925 General Election: Armagh (4 seats)

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	UUP	Richard Best	37.50	15,969
	UUP	David Graham Shillington	24.83	10,575
	Republican	Eamon Donnelly	13.57	5,788	5,823	5,838
	Nationalist	John Henry Collins	12.38	5,272	5,354	5,393
	Nationalist	John Dillon Nugent	11.72	4,991	5,063	5,116
Electorate: 54,082   Valid: 42,595   Quota: 8,520   Turnout: 78.8%

• Appointment of Best as Lord Justice of Appeal

Armagh by-election, 1925

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	John Clarke Davison	22,390	79.20
	Unbought Tenants	William Robert Todd	5,880	20.80	New
Majority			16,510	58.40
Turnout			54,082	52.3	−26.5
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

See also

• Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results 1921-1972, compiled and edited by Sydney Elliott (Political Reference Publications 1973)