1921 Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland general elections

none August 2020 April 2013 24 May 1921 1918 United Kingdom general election in Ireland 1918 1922 Southern Ireland yes yes House of Commons of Southern Ireland All 128 seats in the House of Commons 65 yes yes Sinn Féin Éamon de Valera n/a 124 Independent Unionist None n/a 4 yes House of Commons of Northern Ireland All 52 seats in the House of Commons 27 1925 yes Ulster Unionist Party James Craig 66.9 40 Sinn Féin Éamon de Valera 20.5 6 Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland) Joseph Devlin 11.8 6 375px Results of the 1921 Irish elections General elections took place in Ireland in May 1921 to elect members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland. These legislatures had been established by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which granted Home Rule to a partitioned Ireland within the United Kingdom.O'Day 1998 299Jackson 2004 368–370 Polling day was 24 MayVoting continued until 28 May for Queen's University, Belfast.Queen's University, Belfast https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000038/19210525/084/0005 20 July 2026 Belfast News-Letter 25 May 1921 5 col 3 britishnewspaperarchive subscription "QUB28May" "nb" and nomination day was 13 May.Nomination day was 14 May for the National University of Ireland. "nb" "NUI14May"Southern Parliament Elected https://epaper.irishtimes.com/titles/irishtimes/5088/publications/25973/pages/5 subscription 19 July 2026 The Irish Times 14 May 1921 5 Since no seats were contested in Southern Ireland, all candidates were returned unopposed on 13 May: 124 for Sinn Féin and 4 Independent Unionists. Polling only took place in Northern Ireland, where the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) won a landslide majority. Only the Northern Ireland Commons actually sat as a functional body; the Sinn Féin candidates elected to either Commons as abstentionists boycotted them both and instead assembled as the Second Dáil. Background On 21 January 1919, the Sinn Féin MPs elected to the British House of Commons at the 1918 general election met as Dáil Éireann and declared independence from the United Kingdom as the Irish Republic. This declaration was followed by the Irish War of Independence between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Crown forces, which continued until a truce in July 1921. In November 1920, the British Parliament passed the Government of Ireland Act 1920. This partitioned Ireland into two distinct polities, each with their own Home Rule Parliament: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. Both parliaments would be composed of a directly elected House of Commons and an indirectly elected Senate, with both lower chambers being elected by the single transferable vote system of proportional representation.O'Day 1998 299Jackson 2004 368–370 John Dillon and T. P. O'Connor of the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) both agreed that their party should not fight Sinn Féin for seats for the Southern parliament as things stood.Catholic Belfast and Nationalist Ireland in the Era of Joe Devlin, 1871-1934 p.226 Former IPP MP Stephen Gwynn, now a member of the Irish Dominion League, advocated putting up League candidates against Sinn Féin. In early March he met with southern Unionists Viscount Midleton and Lord Oranmore, requesting them to pool their resources to contest the election and contest the election on a platform opposing the IRA's violence, under Midleton's leadership. Midleton declined the invitation, just as he had declined a previous request for his Unionist Anti-Partition League to join the Dominion League.Stephen Gwynn and the failure of constitutional nationalism in Ireland, pp. 741–742 On 24 March 1921 an Order in Council was made appointing 3 May as the day on which most provisions of the Government of Ireland Act 1920 would come into force.SR&O 533 of 1921 The election proclamation was made on 4 May at Dublin Castle by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland under the Great Seal of Ireland, whereupon the Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper issued election writs to the returning officer in each constituency.The Irish Parliaments; Approaching Elections https://epaper.irishtimes.com/titles/irishtimes/5088/publications/25961/pages/4 19 July 2026 The Irish Times 4 May 1921 4 col 5 subscription Irish Parliaments Summoned https://epaper.irishtimes.com/titles/irishtimes/5088/publications/25962/pages/3 19 July 2026 The Irish Times 5 May 1921 3 col 4 subscription Under the Representation of the People Act 1918, nomination papers were to be presented to the returning officer in person at a specified location within the constituency on the 8th following day (the morning of 13 May) and the poll taken on the 9th following day (24 May).The Irish Elections; Constitution of the Commons; Places of Nomination https://epaper.irishtimes.com/titles/irishtimes/5088/publications/25970/pages/5 19 July 2026 subscription The Irish Times 12 May 1921 5 col 2 Different dates were set for the first meetings of the Parliament of Northern Ireland and Parliament of Southern Ireland—7 June and 28 June respectively. On 1 April, Éamon de Valera, as leader of Sinn Féin and President of the Irish Republic, released an "address to the Electorate" announcing that Sinn Féin would not boycott the Southern election but instead contest every constituency "in order that you may have an opportunity of proving once more your loyalty to the principle of Irish Independence".Macardle Dorothy The Irish Republic: a documented chronicle of the Anglo-Irish conflict and the partitioning of Ireland, with a detailed account of the period 1916-1923 1937 Victor Gollancz London CELT 932–933 https://celt.ucc.ie/published/E900016/text001.html President de Valéra's address to the ElectorateThe Irish Elections https://epaper.irishtimes.com/titles/irishtimes/5088/publications/25925/pages/4 20 July 2026 The Irish Times 2 April 1921 4 col 5 en The same day, the Irish part of the 1921 United Kingdom census due on 19 June was "postponed indefinitely" because of the disturbed state of the country and the fact that the Dáil had in March decreed a policy of non-cooperation.The Irish Census; Postponed Indefinitely https://epaper.irishtimes.com/titles/irishtimes/5088/publications/25925/pages/4 20 July 2026 The Irish Times 2 April 1921 4 col 7 en Ministerial Motions—Decree Prohibiting Census https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1921-03-11/25/ Dáil Éireann debate Oireachtas en-ie 11 March 1921 Media commented on the incongruity of attempting to hold elections in circumstances where holding a census had proved impossible.Sinn Fein and the Elections https://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002947/19210402/084/0007 20 July 2026 Westminster Gazette britishnewspaperarchive subscription 2 April 1921 7 When the date of the elections was announced in the Westminster Commons, the Conservative MP Sir William Davison, who had been born in Broughshane, County Antrim, had asked "What is the object of holding elections in Southern Ireland when any candidates who do not support Sinn Fein would be shot?" Other members replied "How do you know?"https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1921/apr/05/new-parliaments New Parliaments HC 91 92 5 April 1921 140 On 10 May 1921, Dáil Éireann passed a resolution that the elections would be used as the Dáil's own general election; once the newly elected members reassembled, the outgoing First Dáil would stand dissolved and superseded by the incoming Second Dáil.President's Statement—Elections https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1921-05-10/26/ Dáil Éireann debate Oireachtas 19 July 2026 en-ie 10 May 1921 The resolution was made in a secret session and not publicised until after the election.Farrell Brian The Legislation of a "Revolutionary" Assembly: Dáil Decrees, 1919–1922 Irish Jurist 44026218 1975 10 1 114–115 0021-1273 The leadership of the Irish Labour Party, which had previously agreed not to stand candidates against Sinn Féin, said at its August conference:Official Report of Proceedings of the Twenty-seventh Annual Meeting 1921 Irish Labour Party and Trade Union Congress Dublin 19 https://www.irishlabourhistorysociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/27th-annual-report-1921.pdf#page=20 Elections under Partition Act It appears to us somewhat anomalous that such an announcement was deferred until after the elections. It is conceivable that had the electors been informed by a proclamation that the election was to be something more than a demonstration of political allegiance, that the persons elected were to function as the new Legislative authority, a different choice may, in some cases, have been made. Results Southern Ireland In the area designated as Southern Ireland, no actual polling took place as all 128 candidates were returned unopposed. Of these, 124 were won by Sinn Féin and four by independent Unionists representing Dublin University (Trinity College).http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/gdala.htm Dáil elections since 1918 ARK Northern Ireland 26 April 2009 A single Unionist candidate had been selected to contest the constituency of Donegal: Major Robert L Moore, who had contested East Donegal in 1918.The Evening Leader, Corning, NY, 22 April 1921, P2 Moore however later withdrew his candidacy just before the election.The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) May 15, 1921, Section One, Image 3New-York tribune., May 14, 1921, Page 2, Image 2, citing Associated Press 1921 Southern Ireland general election center|360pxParty Leader No. of seats % of seats Sinn Féin Éamon de Valera 124 96.9 Independent Unionist 4 3.1Totals 128 100 Parliamentary seats #ddd 600px 350px Sinn Féin Sinn Féin 96.88 Independent Unionist Independent Unionist 3.13 Northern Ireland 1921 Northern Ireland general election The general election to the Northern Ireland House of Commons occurred on Tuesday, 24 May. Of 52 seats, including Queen's University of Belfast, 40 were won by Unionists, 6 by the Nationalist Party and 6 by Sinn Féin. Several well known republicans were elected: Éamon de Valera for South Down, Michael Collins for Armagh, Eoin MacNeill for Derry and Arthur Griffith for Fermanagh and Tyrone. Voters in Fermanagh and Tyrone returned an anti-partition majority of 7,831.Macardle Dorothy 1965 The Irish Republic New York Farrar, Straus and Giroux 454 Allegations were made claiming intimidation of Nationalist voters, arrests of candidates/organisers and the seizure of electoral literature.Gallagher Frank 1957 The Indivisible Island London Victor Gollancz Ltd. 148 1921 Northern Ireland general election center|360pxParty Leader Seats % of seats Votes % of votesUlster Unionist PartyJames Craig 40 76.9 343,347 66.9Sinn FéinÉamon de Valera 6 11.5 104,917 20.5Nationalist Party (NI)Joe Devlin 6 11.5 60,577 11.8Belfast Labour Party 0 0 3,075 0.6 Independent 0 0 926 0.2Totals 52 100 512,842 100 First preference vote #ddd 600px 350px Ulster Unionist Ulster Unionist Party 66.95 Sinn Féin Sinn Féin 20.46 Nationalist Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland) 11.81 Belfast Labour Belfast Labour Party 0.60 Independent Independent politician 0.18 Parliamentary seats #ddd 600px 350px Ulster Unionist Ulster Unionist Party 76.92 Sinn Féin Sinn Féin 11.54 Nationalist Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland) 11.54 Second Dáil Although the elections were formally for two separate legislatures, Irish republicans considered all those elected to be members of the Second Dáil. The composition of the Dáil following these elections was therefore as follows: Composition of the Second DáilParty Leader Seats won % of seats Sinn Féin Éamon de Valera 130 72.2 Ulster Unionist Party James Craig 40 22.2 Nationalist Joe Devlin 6 3.3 Independent Unionist 4 2.2Totals 180 100 Parliamentary seats #ddd 600px 350px Sinn Féin Sinn Féin 72.2 Ulster Unionist Ulster Unionist Party 22.2 Nationalist Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland) 3.3 Independent Unionist Independent Unionist 2.2 In practice, however, the Dáil was composed of 125 Sinn Féin members.Sinn Fein won 130 seats across the two legislatures, but 5 of the 6 candidates elected in Northern Ireland were also elected to the Southern Ireland House of Commons. This meant that when the Second Dáil met, it had 125 members. The Unionist and Nationalist Party members ignored the invitation to attend the Dáil, while the four independent unionists assembled as the Southern Ireland Commons for a single brief meeting. Aftermath The Northern Ireland Commons continued to function, as part of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, until that Home Rule legislature was prorogued in 1972 and abolished in 1973. The Southern Ireland Commons was largely ignored, and its members only had two brief meetings: a formal session of the House summoned by the Lord Lieutenant in June 1921 that only the four unionists attended, and a brief "meeting of members of Parliament elected for constituencies in Southern Ireland" specified by the Anglo-Irish Treaty, held in January 1922 to approve the treaty and establish the Provisional Government, and attended by the four unionists and most of the TDs who had voted for the treaty in the 2nd Dáil the previous week. See also Members of the 2nd Dáil Government of the 2nd Dáil 1918 United Kingdom general election in Ireland References Notes nb Sources Alvin Jackson Alvin Jackson (historian) Home Rule – An Irish History Oxford University Press 2004 O'Day Alan Irish Home Rule, 1867–1921 Manchester University Press 1998 Elections 1921 Ireland 1921 Category:2nd Dáil Irish elections General Category:1921 in British politics Category:May 1921 in the United Kingdom