Carlow was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom by one Member of Parliament (MP) from 1801 to 1885.

History and boundaries This constituency was the parliamentary borough of Carlow on the border of County Carlow and Queen's County. Prior to 1801, Carlow was a two-seat borough constituency in the Irish House of Commons. Under the Acts of Union 1800, which united the Kingdom of Ireland with the Kingdom of Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, it was one of 33 boroughs to retain representation, but was reduced to one MP. Its first MP in 1801 was chosen by lot.

Following a report of boundary commissioners, the parliamentary borough was defined by the Parliamentary Boundaries (Ireland) Act 1832 as:

It was disfranchised by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, becoming part of the constituencies of County Carlow and Queen's County Leix.

Members of Parliament Notable MPs for Carlow included F. J. Robinson, later Prime Minister of the United Kingdom as Viscount Goderich, the zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors, and the historian and writer John Dalberg-Acton, later known as Lord Acton.

ElectionMemberPartyNote 1801 Hon. Henry Prittie Succeeded as the 2nd Baron Dunalley 1801 b Hon. Francis Aldborough Prittie Resigned (appointed Escheator of Munster) 1801 b Charles Ormsby Appointed Recorder of Prince of Wales Island 1806 Michael Symes 1806 Hon. F. J. Robinson 1807 Andrew Strahan 1812 Frederick Falkiner 1818 Charles Harvey-Saville-Onley 1826Charles Bury 1830 1831 1832 Nicholas Aylward Vigors 1835 Francis Bruen 1837 William Henry Maule Appointed a Baron of the English Court of Exchequer 1839 b Francis Bruen Unseated on petition 1839 Thomas Gisborne Seated on petition 1841 Brownlow Layard 1847 John Sadleir 1852 Accepted an office. Defeated for re-election as a Liberal. 1853 b John Alexander 1859 Sir John Dalberg-Acton, Bt 1865 Thomas Stock 1868 William Fagan 1874 Henry Owen Lewis 1880 Charles Dawson Member of the Parnellite faction1885 Divided between County Carlow and Queen's County Leix

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

Maule was appointed as Baron of the Exchequer in England, requiring a by-election.

After meeting 59 times, an election committee amended the poll to 160 for Gisborne and 159 for Bruen and, in July 1839, Gisborne was declared elected.

Elections in the 1840s

Elections in the 1850s

Sadleir was appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, requiring a by-election.

Elections in the 1860s

Elections in the 1870s

Elections in the 1880s

References

Sources