As the constituency for theparliamentary borough ofWaterford inCounty Waterford, it returned oneMP from 1801 to 1832, two from 1832 to 1885 and one from 1885 to 1922.[2] It was an original constituency represented in Parliament when the Union of Great Britain and Ireland took effect on 1 January 1801.[3]
In 1918, the boundary was redefined to exclude the Kilculliheen area which had been transferred to County Kilkenny[4] under theLocal Government (Ireland) Act 1898 (61 & 62 Vict. c. 37).[5] It was defined as consisting of the county borough of Waterford and thedistrict electoral divisions of Ballynakill, Kilbarry, Killoteran and Waterford Rural in the rural district of Waterford.
The constituency was a predominantlyNationalist area in 1918.[7] The seat was contested byWilliam Redmond, the son of the IPP leader John Redmond whom he replaced in the Waterford City constituency in a by-election held in March 1918.[8] In the general election of December 1918, it was the only Irish seat the IPP won outside Ulster.[9]
Sinn Féin contested the1918 general election on the platform that instead of taking up any seats they won in theUnited Kingdom Parliament, they would establish a revolutionary assembly in Dublin.[10] In republican theory every MP elected in Ireland was a potential Deputy to this assembly. In practice only the Sinn Féin members accepted the offer.
The revolutionaryFirst Dáil assembled on 21 January 1919 and last met on 10 May 1921.[11] The First Dáil, according to a resolution passed on 10 May 1921, was formally dissolved on the assembling of theSecond Dáil. This took place on 16 August 1921.
^Jonathan Githens-Mazer,Myths and Memories of the Easter Rising, Cultural and Political Nationalism in Ireland, (Dublin and Portland, OR: Irish Academic Press, 2006), 202
^Brian, Walker, ed,Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922, (Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 1978), 187–191
^Correspondant, our Irish (16 December 1918)."The Sinn Fein tide".The Guardian. Retrieved20 November 2018.
GITHENS-MAZER, Jonathan.Myths and Memories of the Easter Rising, Cultural and Political Nationalism in Ireland. Dublin and Portland, OR: Irish Academic Press, 2006, 238p.
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)
Walker, Brian M., ed. (1978).Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Royal Irish Academy.
Stenton, M.; Lees, S., eds. (1978).Who's Who of British members of parliament: Volume II 1886–1918. The Harvester Press.
Stenton, M.; Lees, S., eds. (1979).'Who's Who of British members of parliament: Volume III 1919–1945. The Harvester Press.
