King's County (UK Parliament constituency) explained

King's County
Type:	county
Region:	Ireland
County:	King's County
Parliament:	uk
Year:	1801
Abolished:	1885
Seats:	2
Previous:	King's County (IHC)
Year2:	1918
Abolished2:	1922
Seat2:	1
Previous2:	King's County Birr and King's County Tullamore (IHC)
Next2:	Laois–Offaly (in Dáil Éireann)

King's County was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. It returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) from 1801 to 1885 and one from 1918 to 1922.

Boundaries

This constituency comprised the whole of King's County now known as County Offaly.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1801–1885

Election	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
1801, 1 January		Sir Lawrence Parsons, Bt <	-- 21 May 1758 to 24 Feb 1841 -->	<	-- party -->
1802, 22 July					Thomas Bernard <	-- c 1769 to 18 May 1834 -->	Tory^[1]
1807, 22 May
1818, 30 June
1821, 30 July		William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse Lord Oxmantown<		-- 17 Jun 1800 to 31 Oct 1867 -->		Tory^[2]
1830, 12 August				Whig^[3]
1833, 1 January					Nicholas Fitzsimon <	-- died 31 Jul 1849 -->	Repeal Association
1835, 16 January		Hon. John Westenra <		-- 31 Mar 1798 to 5 Dec 1874 -->		Whig^[4] ^[5]
1841, 24 February					Whig
1852, 26 July		Sir Patrick O'Brien, Bt <	-- 1823 to 23 Apr 1895 -->	Independent Irish^[6]		Loftus Henry Bland <	-- 1805 to 21 Jan 1862 -->	Independent Irish^[7]
1857, 11 April			Whig^[8]		Whig
1859, 19 May			Liberal			Conservative
1865, 24 July					Conservative
1868, 23 November				David Sherlock <	-- 1814 to 16 Apr 1884 -->	Liberal
1874, 11 February			Home Rule			Home Rule
1880, 13 April					Home Rule
1885	Constituency divided: see King's County Birr and King's County Tullamore

MPs 1918–1922

Year		Member	Party
			Sinn Féin
		Constituency abolished

Elections

• Note: Turnout estimated by dividing votes cast by 2. This will underestimate turnout to the extent that electors only used one of their two possible votes. Where there are two seats available but one party fields just one candidate, the turnout is estimated as the sum of the highest vote for each party. This method may overestimate turnout.

Elections in the 1840s

Fitzsimon resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1880s

• Constituency abolished 1885 and re-created as a single member constituency 1918

Elections in the 1910s

• Constituency abolished 1922

References

Book: Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Brian M.. Walker. Royal Irish Academy. 1978. Dublin. 0901714127.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Salmon . Philip . BERNARD, Thomas (?1769-1834), of Castle Bernard, King's Co. . The History of Parliament . 16 May 2020.
2. Web site: Salmon . Philip . PARSONS, William, Lord Oxmantown (1800-1867). . The History of Parliament . 16 May 2020.
3. Book: Smith. Henry Stooks. The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections. 1842. Simpkin, Marshall & Company. 35. Second. 2 October 2018 . .
4. News: King's County . 2 October 2018 . Shipping and Mercantile Gazette . 28 July 1847 . 3 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
5. News: The Irish Members . 2 October 2018 . Dublin Weekly Nation . 14 August 1847 . 4 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
6. News: Kings County Chronicle . 2 October 2018 . 21 July 1852 . 2 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
7. News: Kings County Chronicle . 2 October 2018 . 14 July 1852 . 2–3 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
8. News: King's County Chronicle . 2 October 2018 . 18 May 1859 . 2–3 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .