March 1875 Tipperary by-election

The Tipperary by-election of March 1875 took place on 11 March 1875. The by-election, to one of two seats in the House of Commons constituency of Tipperary, arose due to the disqualification of the recently elected member, John Mitchel, who had won an uncontested by-election the previous month.

At a meeting of the Mitchell Committee on 21 February in the Hibernian Hotel Tipperary, it was resolved that "no honourable course was open to the constituency but to re-nominate John Mitchel as the candidate of the people's choice".[1] Mitchel made it clear that, if he was elected, he had no intention of going to Parliament.[2] Although it was widely expected that no other candidate would be nominated, at the last moment, a Conservative, Captain Stephen Moore, put himself forward. It was expected that he would be defeated in the vote, but since Mitchel was bound to be disqualified again it was anticipated that Moore would then be awarded the seat by default.[3] As expected, Mitchel won a comfortable majority.[4] His majority was over 2,300, with around 500 spoilt votes.[5]

Having complained of ill-health during the campaign, Mitchel died unexpectedly on 20 March 1875.[6] As expected, the courts subsequently invalidated his election and awarded the seat to Moore, who remained as MP until the next election, in 1880, when he retired.[7]

March 1875 Tipperary by-election[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Nationalist John Mitchel 3,114 80.7 N/A
Conservative Stephen Moore 746 19.3 New
Majority 2,368 61.4 N/A
Turnout 3,860 37.4 N/A
Registered electors 10,315
Conservative gain from Independent Nationalist

References
  1. OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT. "The Election For Tipperary." Times [London, England] 25 Feb. 1875
  2. "Election Intelligence." Times [London, England] 12 Mar. 1875
  3. OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT. "The Representation Of Tipperary." Times [London, England] 8 Mar. 1875
  4. OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT. "The Tipperary Election." Times [London, England] 16 Mar. 1875
  5. "The Tipperary Election." Times [London, England] 18 Mar. 1875
  6. "London, Monday, March 22, 1875." Times [London, England] 22 Mar. 1875
  7. Alan O'Day, Irish Home Rule, 1867-1921 (Manchester University Press, 1998) page xxviii.
  8. Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714127.
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