Clonmel (UK Parliament constituency)

Clonmel was a United Kingdom Parlbiament constituency, in Ireland, returning one MP. It was an original constituency represented in Parliament when the Union of Great Britain and Ireland took effect on 1 January 1801.

History

The corporation of Clonmel, which was the local government of its area, was reformed by the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840. The parliamentary borough was not affected by this change in administrative arrangements.

Samuel Lewis, writing in 1837, described the oligarchic constitution of the unreformed borough.

"The corporation is of great antiquity, and probably exists by prescription. Numerous charters have at various times been granted since the reign of Edw. I.; that under which the borough is now governed was granted in the 6th of Jas. I. (1608), and, under the title of "The Mayor, Bailiffs, Free Burgesses, and Commonalty of the Town or Borough of Clonmel," ordains that the corporation shall consist of a mayor, two bailiffs, twenty free burgesses (including the mayor and bailiffs), and a commonalty, with a recorder, chamberlain, town-clerk, and other officers. The freedom was formerly obtained by nomination of a burgess to the common council, a majority of whom decided on the admission; but at present the rights of birth, extending only to the eldest son, apprenticeship to a freeman within the borough, and marriage with a freeman's daughter, are recognised as titles to it. The borough returned two members to the Irish Parliament till the Union, since which time it has sent one to the Imperial Parliament. The elective franchise was vested in the freemen at large, amounting, in the year 1832, to 94 in number; but by the act of the 2nd of Wm. IV., cap. 88, it has extended to the £10 householders: the number of voters registered at the close of 1835 was 805; the mayor is the returning officer. The electoral boundary, under the act of the 2nd and 3rd of Wm. IV., cap. 89, is confined to the town, including Long Island on the south and a space on the north side of the river for buildings contemplated in that quarter, and comprises an area of 361 statute acres, the limits of which are minutely described in the Appendix. The jurisdiction of the corporation extends over a large rural district comprising about 4800 statute acres, of which 3800 are in the county of Waterford, and 1000 in Tipperary: the mayor and recorder are justices of the peace."

Boundaries

This constituency was the parliamentary borough of Clonmel in County Tipperary.

The boundaries of the Cities and Boroughs in Ireland were defined by an Act passed in 1832, whose long title was "An Act to settle and describe the Limits of Cities, Towns, and Boroughs in Ireland, in so far as respects the Election of Members to serve in Parliament." This legislation was subsequently given the short title of the Parliamentary Boundaries (Ireland) Act 1832.

The boundaries of this constituency were described as follows.

"From the Point at which the Western Enclosure Wall of the House of Industry meets the River Suir, along the said Western Wall to the Point at which the same meets Marl Street; thence along Saint Stephen's Lane to the Point at which the same meets the old Cahir Road; thence, Eastward, along the old Cahir Road to the Point at which the same is met by a Lane running Northward; thence, Northward, along the said Lane to the Point at which the same is met by the first Bank on the Right; thence, Eastward, along the said Bank to the Point at which the same is met by a Lane coming from the North and turning to the East; thence, Eastward, along the last-mentioned Lane to the Point at which the same meets Heywood Street; thence along a Bank which runs Eastward from a House a little to the South of the Point last described to the Point at which the said Bank meets a small Bye Lane leading into the Cashel Road; thence along the said Bye Lane to the Cashel Road; thence, Southward, along the said Cashel Road to the Point at which the same is met by the Southern Boundary Wall of the Park or Pleasure Grounds of Mr. David Malcolmson; thence along the said Boundary Wall to the Point where the said Wall meets Upper Johnson Street; thence, Eastward, along Backbone Lane to the Extremity thereof; thence to a Point in the new Road to Fethard, which Point is Sixty-four Yards to the North of the Spot at which the said Road is crossed by Bonlie Lane; thence, Southward, for Sixty-four Yards, to the said Spot where the Fethard Road is crossed by Bonlie Lane; thence, Eastward, along Bonlie Lane for about Six hundred and forty-four Yards, to a Point at which the same is met by a Bank on the Right opposite a small House; thence, Southward, along the said Bank for the Distance of about Two hundred and nine Yards to the Point where it is met by another Bank running Eastward; thence, Eastward, along the last-mentioned Bank for about Fifty Yards to a Point where the same makes an Angle in turning to the South; thence, Southward, for about Fifty Yards along a Bank which leads to a Bye Road to Powers Town until the said Bank reaches the said Bye Road; thence, Eastward, along the said Bye Road for the Distance of about Two hundred and seventeen Yards to the Spot where it is met by the first Bank on the Right; thence in a straight Line to the most Northern Point of a Bank on the Southern Side of the Dublin Road, which Point is distant about Four hundred and sixty-four Yards from a Stone in Barrack Street which marks the South-eastern Corner of the Ordnance Land; thence along the last-mentioned Bank to the Point at which the same meets the River Suir; thence along the Southernmost Channel of the River Suir as far as Moore's Island; thence along the Channel of the same to the North of Moore's Island to the Point first described."

Members of Parliament

Elections

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External links

• Part of the Library Ireland: Irish History and Culture website containing the text of A Topographical Directory of Ireland, by Samuel Lewis (a work published by S. Lewis & Co of London in 1837) including an article on Clonmel

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)
• Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922, edited by B.M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 5)