Representation of the People (Ireland) Act 1868

Representation of the People (Ireland) Act 1868

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to amend the Representation of the People in Ireland.
Citation	31 & 32 Vict. c. 49
Dates
Royal assent	13 July 1868

Results of the 1868 election, with the new boundaries. Constituencies are coloured yellow for Liberal, blue for Conservative.

The Representation of the People (Ireland) Act 1868 (31 & 32 Vict. c. 49) was an act of Parliament in the United Kingdom.

The act did not alter the overall distribution of parliamentary seats in Ireland. It was originally proposed to merge twelve smaller boroughs into six pairs on the model of Scottish district of burghs and Welsh contributory boroughs, with the freed-up seats being transferred to the six most populous county constituencies. This was rejected by Parliament, although the act as passed did alter the boundaries of those parliamentary boroughs which were also municipal boroughs, extending the parliamentary boundary to include all the municipal boundary.

Of Ireland's 33 parliamentary boroughs, 11 were also municipal boroughs under the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840:

• Belfast (constituency)
• Clonmel (constituency)
• Cork (constituency)
• Drogheda (constituency)
• Dublin (constituency)
• Kilkenny (constituency)
• Limerick (constituency)
• Londonderry (constituency)
• Sligo (constituency)
• Waterford (constituency)
• Wexford (constituency)

References

Sources

• "C.49: An Act to amend the Representation of the People in Ireland". The Public general statutes. Vol. 31 & 32 Vict. printed by Eyre and Spottiswoode at the Queen's Printing Office. 1867–68. Retrieved 6 August 2019.

Further reading

• Representation of the People (Ireland) Bill index of Hansard debate references