| Election Name: | 1920 Dublin Corporation election |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Flag Image: | IRL_Dublin_flag.svg |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Party Colour: | yes |
| Previous Election: | 1914 Dublin Corporation election |
| Previous Year: | 1914 |
| Next Election: | 1925 Dublin Corporation election |
| Next Year: | 1925 |
| Seats For Election: | All 80 seats to Dublin Corporation |
| Majority Seats: | 41 |
| Election Date: | 15 January 1920 |
| Party1: | Sinn Féin |
| Seats1: | 42 |
| Party2: | Labour Party (Ireland) |
| Seats2: | 14 |
| Party3: | Municipal Reform Party |
| Seats3: | 9 |
| Map Size: | 300px |
| Lord Mayor of Dublin | |
| Before Election: | Laurence O'Neill |
| Before Party: | Independent Nationalist |
| After Election: | Thomas Kelly (Latin: de jure) Laurence O'Neill (Latin: de facto) |
| After Party: | Sinn Féin |
An election to Dublin Corporation took place on Thursday, 15 January 1920 as part of the 1920 Irish local elections. Dublin was divided into ten borough electoral areas to elect 80 councillors for a five-year term of office on the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).
Sinn Féin won a slight majority in the council, with 42 seats. Whilst the Sinn Féin majority was small, they emerged from the election as by far the largest party on the Dublin Corporation council.[1]
Following the election Thomas Kelly, the Sinn Féin MP for Dublin St Stephen's Green, was unanimously elected by the council as the new Lord Mayor of Dublin. Kelly was elected despite being held at the time as a political prisoner in Wormwood Scrubs prison in England. Kelly was nominated for the position by the outgoing Lord Mayor Laurence O'Neill. Due to Kelly's imprisonment O'Neill continued as effective Lord Mayor.
These were the first elections under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1919, which introduced a form of proportional representation. Under the old ward system, each of 20 wards had elected one alderman and three additional councillors. In 1919, the Local Government Board of Ireland created 10 borough electoral areas (BEAs), taking a greater account of population in the city, which took effect at these elections. Two councillors from each BEA were designated as aldermen.[2]
| BEA | Seats | Wards | Former representation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 1 | 9 | Arran Quay | 4 | |
| No. 2 | 8 | Clontarf East, Clontarf West, Drumcondra and Glasnevin | 16 | |
| No. 3 | 9 | Fitzwilliam, Mansion House, Royal Exchange, South City | 16 | |
| No. 4 | 10 | Inns Quay and Rotunda | 8 | |
| No. 5 | 7 | Merchant's Quay | 4 | |
| No. 6 | 7 | Mountjoy | 4 | |
| No. 7 | 9 | New Kilmainham and Usher's Quay | 8 | |
| No. 8 | 8 | North City and North Dock | 8 | |
| No. 9 | 6 | Wood Quay | 4 | |
| No. 10 | 7 | Trinity and South Dock | 8 |
| Party | Seats | ± | ±% | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42 | 38 | 28,069 | 45.92 | |||||
| 14 | 5 | 7,693 | 12.58 | |||||
| 9 | 9 | 7,011 | 11.47 | New | ||||
| 7 | 9,607 | 15.72 | ||||||
| 4 | 52 | 3,302 | 5.40 | |||||
| 2 | 4,087 | 6.69 | ||||||
| 1 | 4 | 702 | 1.49 | |||||
| 1 | 1 | 265 | 0.43 | New | ||||
| 0 | 275 | 0.45 | ||||||
| 0 | 182 | 0.30 | ||||||
| 0 | 8 | 0.01 | ||||||
| Totals | align=right | 80 | align=right | 61,131 | 100.00 |
Arran Quay Ward.
Clontarf East Ward, Clontarf West Ward, Drumcondra Ward and Glasnevin Ward
The count was particularly long, with no candidates meeting the quota from counts 2 to 14.
Fitzwilliam Ward, Mansion House Ward, Royal Exchange Ward and South City Ward.
Inns Quay Ward and Rotunda Ward.
Merchant's Quay Ward.
Mountjoy Ward.
New Kilmainham Ward and Usher's Quay Ward.
North City Ward and North Dock Ward.
Wood Quay Ward.
Trinity Ward and South Dock Ward.