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West Cork County constituency
Created:	1885
Abolished:	1922
Type:	House of Commons
Members:	One

West Cork was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament 1885-1922.

Prior to the United Kingdom general election, 1885 the area was part of the Cork County constituency. From 1922 it was not represented in the UK Parliament.

Contents 1 Boundaries 2 Members of Parliament 3 Elections 3.1 1885-1910 3.2 1916 3.3 1918 4 Sources

This constituency comprised the western part of County Cork.

Years	Member	Party
1885 - 1890	James Gilhooly	Irish Parliamentary Party
1891 - 1900		Anti-Parnellite
1900 - 1910		Irish Parliamentary Party
1910 - 1916		All-for-Ireland League
1916 - 1918	Daniel O'Leary	Irish Parliamentary Party
1918 - 1922	Seán Hayes	Sinn Féin

• December 1885 - James Gilhooly (1845-16 October 1916 aged 71), Nationalist, Vintner

• 1886 - James Gilhooly, Nationalist

• 1892 - James Gilhooly, Nationalist (3155 votes); Somers Payne (Unionist) stood against

• 1895 - James Gilhooly, Anti-Parnellite

• 1900 - James Gilhooly, Nationalist

• 1906 - James Gilhooly, Nationalist

• 1910 (January) - James Gilhooly, All-for-Ireland League (2155 votes); Daniel O'Leary, Official Nationalist (1382 votes)

• 1910 (December) - James Gilhooly, All-for-Ireland League (2218 votes); Daniel O'Leary, Official Nationalist (1959 votes)

• 15 November 1916, (By-Election on Gilhooley's death)

During World War I the major political parties observed an electoral truce and most elections were uncontested with the incumbent party nominating a successor who was returned unopposed. Unusually, when Gilhooly died, the seat was contested by three candidates none of whom had official recognition from the Irish Nationalist political organisations but all of whom supported the broad Nationalist agenda.

15 November 1916 (by-election)
Candidate	Party	Votes
Daniel O'Leary	Redmondite1	1806
Frank J. Healy	O'Brienite2	1750
Dr. Michael B. Shipsey	Independent Nationalist3	370

¹O'Leary had pledged to join the Irish Parliamentary Party and was a supporter of John Redmond. However, the official Nationalists (the United Irish League) had withheld approval of his candidacy.

²Healy was in jail supposedly for being associated with Sinn Féin, but Sinn Féin had repudiated his candidacy and he had instead been supported by William O'Brien, who was leader of the All-for-Ireland League.

³Shipsey was a member of the All-for-Ireland League who stood in protest against William O'Brien's adoption of an unofficial candidate.

The 1916 by-election, which contrasted so obviously with Gilhooly's long tenure of the seat, was viewed as a farce by Unionist opinion.^[1]

• 1918 - 14 December 1918, Sean Hayes, Sinn Féin, returned unopposed

• Tony Williams, House of Commons Information Office
• Brian M. Walker, Parliamentary Election Results In Ireland 1801 -1922 (Royal Irish Academy, 1978)
• Michael Stenton and Stephen Lees, Who's Who in British Members of Parliament 1919 -1945 p.156 (Hayes)
• Michael Stenton and Stephen Lees, Who's Who in British Members of Parliament 1886 -1918 p.136 (Gilhooley), p.273 (O'Leary)

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs.

v • d • e Parliamentary constituencies in County Cork and Borough/City
Parliament of Ireland to 1800	Baltimore (1614–1800) · Bandonbridge (1614–1800) · Castlemartyr (1676–1800) · Charleville (1673–1800) · Clonakilty (1613–1800) · Cork City (1264–1800) · Cork County (????–1800) · Doneraile (1640–1800) · Kinsale (1334?–1800) · Mallow (1613–1800) · Midleton (1671–1800) · Rathcormack (c.1611–1800) · Youghal (????–1800)
Westminster 1801–1922	Bandon (1801–1885) · Cork County (1801–1885) · Cork City (1801–1922) · East Cork (1885–1922) · Mid Cork (1885–1922) · North Cork (1885–1922) · North East Cork (1885–1922) · South Cork (1885–1922) · South East Cork (1885–1922) · West Cork (1885–1922) · Kinsale (1801–1885) · Mallow (1801–1885) · Youghal (1801–1885) ·
Dáil Éireann 1918–present	Cork Borough (1921–1969) · Cork City (1918–1921) · Cork City (1977–1981) · Cork City North West (1969–1977) · Cork City South East (1969–1977) · East Cork (1918–1921) · Cork East (1923–1937), 1948–1961, 1981— ) · Cork East and North East (1921–1923) · Mid Cork (1918–1921) · Mid Cork (1961–1981) · Cork Mid, North, South, South East and West (1921–1923) · North Cork (1918–1921) · Cork North (1923–1961) · Cork North Central (1981— ) · North East Cork (1918–1921) · Cork North East (1961–1981) · Cork North West (1981— ) · South Cork (1918–1921) · Cork South (1948–1961) · Cork South Central (1981— ) · South East Cork (1918–1921) · Cork South East (1937–1948) · Cork South West (1961— ) · West Cork (1918–1921) · Cork West (1923–1961) ·