Meath–Westmeath (Dáil Éireann constituency)

Meath–Westmeath
Former Dáil Éireann Parliamentary constituency
1937–1948
Seats	5
County/City council	County Meath County Westmeath

Meath–Westmeath was a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas from 1937 to 1948. The constituency elected 5 deputies (Teachtaí Dála, commonly known in English as TDs) to the Dáil, using the single transferable vote form of proportional representation (PR-STV).

History

The constituency was created under the Electoral (Revision of Constituencies) Act 1935 for the 1937 general election to the 9th Dáil.^[1] It was last used for the 1944 general election to the 12th Dáil.

Meath–Westmeath was abolished under the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1947, and replaced by the two new constituencies of Meath and Longford–Westmeath.

Boundaries

The 1935 Act defined its area as: "The administrative County of Meath and the administrative County of Westmeath except the portion thereof which is comprised in the County Constituency of Athlone–Longford."^[1]

TDs

Teachtaí Dála (TDs) for Meath–Westmeath 1937–1948[2]
Key to parties   FF = Fianna Fáil ·   FG = Fine Gael
Dáil	Election	Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)
9th	1937[3]		James Kelly (FF)		Matthew O'Reilly (FF)		Charles Fagan (FG)		Michael Kennedy (FF)		Patrick Giles (FG)
10th	1938[4]
11th	1943[5]		Michael Hilliard (FF)
12th	1944[6]
13th	1948	Constituency abolished. See Meath and Longford–Westmeath

Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to the order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election.

Elections

1944 general election

1944 general election: Meath–Westmeath[6]
Party		Candidate	1st Pref	%	Seat	Count
	Fianna Fáil	Michael Hilliard	8,648	19.5	1	1
	Fine Gael	Charles Fagan	6,606	14.9	2
	Fianna Fáil	Michael Kennedy	5,560	12.6	3
	Fianna Fáil	Matthew O'Reilly	4,828	10.9	4
	Fine Gael	Patrick Giles	5,497	12.4	5
	Labour Party	Peadar Cowan	3,961	8.9
	Fianna Fáil	James Kelly	3,522	8.0
	Fianna Fáil	Patrick McKenna	1,970	4.5
	Independent	Gerry L'Estrange	1,189	2.7
	Independent	Michael Bracken	1,613	3.6
	Labour Party	Owen Comiskey	863	2.0
Electorate: ?   Valid: 44,257   Quota: 7,377   Turnout:

1943 general election

1943 general election: Meath–Westmeath[5]
Party		Candidate	1st Pref	%	Seat	Count
	Fianna Fáil	Michael Hilliard	7,160	14.8	1
	Fine Gael	Charles Fagan	7,163	14.9	2
	Fine Gael	Patrick Giles	4,202	8.7	3
	Fianna Fáil	Michael Kennedy	5,161	10.7	4
	Fianna Fáil	Matthew O'Reilly	3,786	7.9	5
	Labour Party	Peadar Cowan	3,983	8.3
	Fianna Fáil	James Kelly	3,736	7.8
	Independent	Joseph Cooney	3,284	6.8
	Fine Gael	Michael Sweeney	2,439	5.1
	Labour Party	John Fitzgerald	2,081	4.3
	Fianna Fáil	Patrick McKenna	1,719	3.6
	Independent	Patrick McMahon	1,351	2.8
	Independent	Seán Doyle	1,349	2.8
	Labour Party	Charles McGurk	818	1.7
Electorate: ?   Valid: 48,232   Quota: 8,039   Turnout:

1938 general election

1938 general election: Meath–Westmeath[4]
Party		Candidate	1st Pref	%	Seat	Count
	Fianna Fáil	James Kelly	9,690	19.9	1	1
	Fianna Fáil	Michael Kennedy	9,139	18.8	2	1
	Fianna Fáil	Matthew O'Reilly	7,552	15.5	3
	Fine Gael	Patrick Giles	6,959	14.3	4
	Fine Gael	Charles Fagan	7,665	15.8	5
	Labour Party	Peadar Cowan	4,621	9.5
	Fine Gael	Michael Sweeney	2,962	6.1
Electorate: ?   Valid: 48,588   Quota: 8,099   Turnout:

1937 general election

1937 general election: Meath–Westmeath[3]
Party		Candidate	1st Pref	%	Seat	Count
	Fianna Fáil	James Kelly	9,328	19.4	1	1
	Fianna Fáil	Matthew O'Reilly	7,111	14.8	2
	Fine Gael	Charles Fagan	7,514	15.6	3
	Fine Gael	Patrick Giles	6,354	13.2	4
	Fianna Fáil	Michael Kennedy	6,641	13.8	5
	Fianna Fáil	Eugene Robbins	2,815	5.9
	Fine Gael	Gerald Williamson	2,292	4.8
	Labour Party	Peadar Cowan	2,160	4.5
	Fine Gael	Michael Sweeney	1,750	3.6
	Labour Party	John Hayden	1,667	3.5
	Independent	James Daly	486	1.0
Electorate: ?   Valid: 48,118   Quota: 8,020   Turnout:

See also

• Parliamentary constituencies in the Republic of Ireland
• Politics of the Republic of Ireland
• List of historic Dáil Éireann constituencies
• Elections in the Republic of Ireland

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Electoral (Revision of Constituencies) Act, 1935". Irish Statute Book database. http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1935/en/act/pub/0005/gen_1.html. Retrieved 23 September 2010. 
2. ^ Walker, Brian M, ed (1992). Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1918–92. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0 901714 96 8. ISSN 0332-0286. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "General election 1937: Meath–Westmeath". ElectionsIreland.org. http://www.electionsireland.org/result.cfm?election=1937&cons=181. Retrieved 23 September 2010. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "General election 1938: Meath–Westmeath". ElectionsIreland.org. http://www.electionsireland.org/result.cfm?election=1938&cons=181. Retrieved 23 September 2010. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "General election 1943: Meath–Westmeath". ElectionsIreland.org. http://www.electionsireland.org/result.cfm?election=1943&cons=181. Retrieved 23 September 2010. 
6. ^ ^{a b} "General election 1944: Meath–Westmeath". ElectionsIreland.org. http://www.electionsireland.org/result.cfm?election=1944&cons=181. Retrieved 23 September 2010. 

External links

• Oireachtas Members Database