1920 Cork Corporation election

Elections to the Cork Corporation took place on Thursday 15 January 1920 as part of that year's Irish local elections.[1]

Campaign

The Labour vote was split between the Cork and District Labour Council and the more militant Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU); the latter formed an electoral alliance with Sinn Féin, whose MPs elected in December 1918 had proclaimed an Irish Republic in January 1919. Polling day was marred by scenes of violence between supporters of Sinn Féin and ex-servicemen.[2]

Results by party
Party Candidates Seats ± First Pref. votes FPv% ±%
Sinn Féin–ITGWU[3] 54 30
Irish Nationalist 33 14
Cork Ratepayers' Association 22 4
Cork and District Labour Council 12 3
Ex-Soldiers & Sailors 2
Independent 37 3
Totals 160 56 100% —

Results by electoral area

The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1919 introduced the single transferable vote, so the seven wards used in previous council elections were revised into seven borough electoral areas (BEAs). Four inner wards were merged into one BEA, two outer wards were split into two and three BEAs, and one was retained as a BEA.[4] The first two candidates elected in each area would be styled "alderman", the rest "councillor".[5]

Central

37 candidates. Wards: Centre, North Centre, South Centre, and West.

Central: 10 seats[6]
PartyCandidateFPv%Count
1
Sinn Féin James Joseph Walsh MP[n 1]
Ratepayers Richard Beamish[n 2]
Irish Nationalist Daniel Gamble[n 3]
Sinn Féin Terence MacSwiney MP
Sinn Féin Prof Alfred O'Rahilly
Irish Nationalist Thomas Stack[n 2]
Ratepayers William Desmond[n 3][n 4]
Labour Council Jeremiah Kelleher[n 5]
Sinn Féin John Fitzpatrick
Irish Nationalist William F. O'Connor[n 6][n 4]
Irish Nationalist R. H. Tilson[n 3]
Irish Nationalist Cornelius Desmond[n 3]
Irish Nationalist John Dunlea[n 3]
Irish Nationalist Denis Cullinane[n 3]
Irish Nationalist Denis Buckley[n 3][n 4]
Irish Nationalist John Murphy[n 3]
Sinn Féin Richard Hawkins
Sinn Féin John Jennings
Sinn Féin Francis Keogh
Sinn Féin Cornelius O'Donovan[n 7]
Sinn Féin Timothy Francis O'Leary
Sinn Féin Denis O'Neill
Ratepayers Daniel Williams[n 3][n 8]
Ratepayers T. H. G. Wallis
Ratepayers Daniel Humphreys
Labour Council John Hurley[n 9]
Independent William Hart[n 3]
Independent Jeremiah Lane[n 3]
Independent Patrick J. Bradley[n 3]
Independent Eugene Buckley
Independent John Callanan[n 3]
Independent Cornelius Curtin[n 10]
Independent John Hurley[n 9]
Independent John Hoare
Independent Mortimer Kelleher[n 11]
Independent Cornelius O'Donovan[n 7]
Independent Robert Joseph Warren

    North-East

    26 candidates

    North-East: 10 seats[6]
    PartyCandidateFPv%Count
    1
    Sinn Féin William Stockley
    Irish Nationalist James Daly
    Sinn Féin Anne Sutton
    Irish Nationalist Daniel Horgan[n 3][n 12]
    Irish Nationalist Michael Joseph O'Riordan
    Sinn Féin Robert F. Day
    Ratepayers Sir John Scott
    Ratepayers James Thomas Mulligan
    Sinn Féin Seán O'Leary
    Sinn Féin Seán French
    Irish Nationalist Matthew Kenneally[n 3]
    Irish Nationalist Cornelius Mullanny[n 2]
    Sinn Féin Ed. Goggin
    Sinn Féin Stephen Heffernan
    Sinn Féin Paul O'Flynn
    Ratepayers A. M. Cole, JP
    Ratepayers Simon Spiro, JP
    Ratepayers John Ronan
    Ratepayers Clarence de Foubert
    Ratepayers Daniel Williams[n 3][n 8]
    Independent Patrick Clarke
    Independent William Dalton
    Independent Denis Mack[n 13]
    Independent Maurice O'Carroll
    Independent Robert Edwin Roberts
    Independent Edward E. Whitaker

      North-West No.1

      23 candidates; covering Sunday's Well area

      North-West No.1: 7 seats[7]
      PartyCandidateFPv%Count
      1
      Sinn Féin Frederick J. Murray
      Sinn Féin Tadhg Barry[n 14]
      Labour Council Patrick J. Murphy
      Irish Nationalist William F. O'Connor[n 6][n 4]
      Sinn Féin James Allen
      Sinn Féin Thomas Daly
      Independent Michael Joseph O'Callaghan
      Irish Nationalist John Joseph Doherty
      Irish Nationalist Patrick Keane
      Irish Nationalist Patrick F. O'Sullivan[n 3][n 15]
      Sinn Féin Patrick O'Sullivan[n 15]
      Sinn Féin James Purcell
      Sinn Féin James Walsh[n 1]
      Ratepayers Thomas Andrews
      Ratepayers R. A. Atkins
      Ratepayers Henry Dawson
      Labour Council John O'Connor
      Independent Cornelius Curtin[n 10]
      Independent Mortimer Kelleher[n 11]
      Independent Daniel Lynch
      Independent Laurence Prior
      Independent John Roche
      Independent James Walsh[n 1]

        North-West No.2

        13 candidates; covering Shandon area.

        North-West No.2: 6 seats[7]
        PartyCandidateFPv%Count
        1
        Sinn Féin Edmond Coughlan
        Sinn Féin Patrick Higgins
        Irish Nationalist John Francis O'Sullivan[n 16]
        Irish Nationalist Patrick F. O'Sullivan[n 3][n 15]
        Sinn Féin Simon Daly
        Ex-Soldiers & Sailors Timothy O'Neill
        Irish Nationalist Daniel Horgan[n 3][n 12]
        Irish Nationalist Patrick Stack[n 3]
        Sinn Féin John Kelleher
        Sinn Féin Henry Lorton
        Sinn Féin John O'Keeffe
        Ratepayers Michael D. Spillane[n 17]
        Independent John Flynn
        Independent Joseph Leonard

          North-West No.3

          18 candidates; covering Blackpool area

          North-West No. 3: 6 seats[6]
          PartyCandidateFPv%Count
          1
          Sinn Féin Tomás Mac Curtain
          Sinn Féin Denis Lucey
          Ex-Soldiers & Sailors Gerald Byrne[n 18]
          Sinn Féin Mícheál Ó Cuill (Michael O'Quill)
          Sinn Féin Thomas Patrick Forde
          Labour Council Michael Egan[n 3]
          Irish Nationalist Edward A. Lyons
          Irish Nationalist Charles Whelan
          Sinn Féin Timothy Gearan
          Sinn Féin Bartholomew Quinlan
          Ratepayers Michael D. Spillane[n 17]
          Labour Council Cornelius Hobart
          Labour Council Thomas Walsh
          Independent Mortimer Kelleher[n 11]
          Independent Denis Mack[n 13]
          Independent John McAuley[n 3]
          Independent Daniel O'Leary
          Independent Michael O'Connell

            South No.1

            30 candidates

            South No. 1: 11 seats[7]
            PartyCandidateFPv%Count
            1
            Sinn Féin Charles Coughlan
            Sinn Féin Seán O'Sullivan[n 16]
            Independent Nationalist John (Seán) Cronin[n 2][n 19]
            Sinn Féin John (Seán) Good
            Irish Nationalist John Horgan[n 3]
            Sinn Féin Jeremiah Kelleher[n 5]
            Irish Nationalist Simon Mahony[n 3]
            Irish Nationalist William F. O'Connor[n 6][n 4]
            Sinn Féin Liam (William) Russell[n 20]
            Sinn Féin John F. Sheehan[n 21]
            Sinn Féin Maurice Walsh
            Irish Nationalist Jeremiah Ahern
            Irish Nationalist David Murphy
            Irish Nationalist Simon Mahony
            Irish Nationalist James O'Connell[n 3]
            Sinn Féin William Kenneally
            Sinn Féin Michael Landy
            Sinn Féin Michael Murphy
            Sinn Féin Frank O'Neill
            Ratepayers Robert Pulvertaft
            Labour Council James Harty
            Labour Council William Waldrock
            Labour Council John Donovan
            Independent Thomas Donovan
            Independent Fred Howe
            Independent Dr. E. Magner
            Independent John O'Sullivan[n 16]
            Independent William James Russell[n 20]
            Independent John Sheehan[n 21]
            Independent Daniel Sheehan

              South No.2

              18 candidates

              South No.2: 6 seats[7][9]
              PartyCandidateFPv%Count
              1
              Sinn Féin Liam de Róiste MP 697
              Independent Nationalist Sir Edward Fitzgerald, 1st baronet[n 2] 474
              Sinn Féin Daniel Barry
              Sinn Féin Stephen John O'Riordan
              Irish Nationalist John Desmond
              Irish Nationalist William Ellis[n 3]
              Irish Nationalist John McCarthy
              Sinn Féin Stephen Harrington
              Sinn Féin Denis Hegarty
              Sinn Féin P. Austin O'Riordan
              Ratepayers Thomas Farrington
              Ratepayers Thomas A. Callanan
              Labour Council William Byrne
              Labour Council Martin Hawkins
              Ex-Soldiers & Sailors Gerald Byrne[n 18]
              Independent Nationalist John (Seán) Cronin[n 2][n 19]
              Independent Joseph O'Brien
              Independent Joseph Parfrey

                Subsequent changes

                William F. O'Connor, having been returned in three BEAs, chose to represent North-West No.1, triggering by-elections in the other two BEAs on 10 March, both won by Sinn Féin candidates: Barry Egan defeated Jeremiah Lane in the Central ward, while Donal O'Callaghan was returned unopposed in South No.1. Ten subsequent by-elections returned: Joseph Hennessy, Madeline Hegarty, William Kenneally, Michael Moroney, Cornelius Neenan, Seán Nolan, Michael O'Donovan, Paul O'Flynn, James O'Riordan, and Jeremiah Walsh. Among the vacancies filled were several deaths related to the Irish War of Independence: Tomás Mac Curtain (assassinated by Royal Irish Constabulary members on 20 March 1920), his successor as Lord Mayor Terence MacSwiney (died on hunger strike on 25 October 1920), and Tadhg Barry (shot in Ballykinlar Camp, 15 November 1921).[10]

                In 1924 the Cumann na nGaedheal government dissolved the city council for misgovernment, after which the corporation was administered by an unelected commissioner. The next Free State local elections, originally scheduled for 1923, were repeatedly postponed until 1925. The city council was excluded from the 1925 and 1928 local elections and not restored until 1929, reduced to 21 councillors, with the entire county borough forming a single 21-seat electoral area.[11]

                References

                Footnotes
                1. The two candidates in North-West No.1 BEA named James Walsh and the James Joseph Walsh in Central BEA were three different people.
                2. Outgoing alderman
                3. Outgoing councillor
                4. The following Nationalists in Centre BEA were also endorse by the Ratepayers: Denis Buckley, William F. O'Connor, and William Desmond.
                5. Two different men named Jeremiah Kelleher were elected: a Labour candidate and outgoing alderman from Gillabbey Terrace in Central BEA, and a Sinn Féin candidate from Lough Road in South No.1 BEA.
                6. William F. O'Connor, the incumbent Lord Mayor, was returned in three electoral areas.
                7. There were two candidates named Cornelius O'Donovan in Central BEA.
                8. Daniel Williams ran in Central and North-East BEAs.
                9. Two men named John Hurley ran in Central BEA.
                10. Cornelius Curtin ran in Central and North-West No.1 BEAs.
                11. Mortimer Kelleher ran in Central, North-West No.1 and North-West No.3 BEAs.
                12. Daniel Horgan ran in North-East and North-West No.2 BEAs.
                13. Denis Mack ran in both North-East and North-West No.3 BEAs.
                14. Tadhg Barry was a union official representing the ITGWU portion of the join ITGWU–Sinn Fein ticket.[8]
                15. Patrick F. O'Sullivan of Dominick Street ran in North-West No.1 and No.2 BEAs; Patrick O'Sullivan of St. Mary's Terrace, Fair Hill, ran in North-West No.1 BEA.
                16. Seán O'Sullivan, John Francis O'Sullivan and John O'Sullivan were different people.
                17. Michael D. Spillane ran in North-West No.2 and No.3 BEAs.
                18. Gerald Byrne ran in both North-West No.3 and South No.2 BEAs.
                19. John (Seán) Cronin ran in South No.1 amd No.2 BEAs.
                20. William (Liam) Russell and William James Russell were different people.
                21. John F. Sheehan and John Sheehan were different people.

                Sources
                • McCabe, Conor (2010). "The Irish Labour Party and the 1920 local elections". Saothar. 35: 7–20. ISSN 0332-1169. JSTOR 23200073.
                • McCarthy, Kieran (2 January 2020). "Our City, Our Town: Remembering 1920: Preparing for local elections". Cork Independent. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
                • McCarthy, Kieran (16 January 2020). "Our City, Our Town: Remembering 1920: The Newly Elected Corporation". Cork Independent. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
                • Quinlivan, Aodh (26 January 2020). "Cork City Council Centenary: When Tomás MacCurtain was elected Lord Mayor of Cork". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
                • "Cork Municipal Elections: Candidates nominated". Cork Examiner. 6–7 January 1920. Retrieved 3 February 2020 – via Cork Genealogy.

                Citations
                1. "Municipal elections: Dublin Townships". Dublin Evening Telegraph. Dublin. 19 January 1920. pp. 1–3 – via britishnewspaperarchive.
                2. "Municipal elections — Sinn Féin and Labour perform strongly as unionists falter". Century Ireland. RTÉ. 14 January 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
                3. McCabe 2010 p.12
                4. "Table 6" (PDF). Census of Ireland 1926. I. p. 12.
                5. Local Government Board for Ireland (1921). "Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1919: Elections". Annual report for the year ended 31st March 1920. Command papers. Cmd.1432. Dublin: HMSO. pp. i–xi, Appendix p.1.
                6. "Dublin Evening Telegraph". britishnewspaperarchive. Dublin. 19 January 1920.
                7. "Dublin Evening Telegraph". britishnewspaperarchive. Dublin. 17 January 1920.
                8. McCabe 2010 p.20 fn.57
                9. "Irish Independent". britishnewspaperarchive. Dublin. 17 January 1920.
                10. Ó Drisceoil, Donal (January 2008). "Labour lives: Tadgh Barry (1885-1921)". Saothar: Journal of Irish Labour History. 33: 89–92. hdl:10468/3035.
                11. Moran, John (1972). "Local Elections in Cork City (1929-1967)". Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society: 124–125. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
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