Belfast_(Parliament_of_Ireland_constituency)
Belfast (Parliament of Ireland constituency)
Pre-1801 Irish constituency
Belfast was a constituency in the Irish House of Commons, the house of representatives of the Kingdom of Ireland, until 1800.
| Belfast | |
|---|---|
| Former borough constituency for the Irish House of Commons | |
| County | County Antrim |
| Borough | Belfast |
| 1613 (1613) (1613 (1613))–1801 (1801) | |
| Seats | 2 |
| Replaced by | Belfast |
Belfast in County Antrim was enfranchised as a borough constituency in 1613. It continued to be entitled to send two Members of Parliament to the Irish House of Commons until the Parliament of Ireland was merged into the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 1 January 1801.
During the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland Belfast was represented from 1654 in the Westminster Parliament as part of the Carrickfergus and Belfast constituency. Belfast was the place of election in this single-member constituency. See First Protectorate Parliament for further details.
In 1661, following the restoration of the king, the Parliament of Ireland was re-established as it had existed before the Protectorate. In the Patriot Parliament of 1690 summoned by King James II, Belfast was represented by one member.[1]
Under the Acts of Union 1800 the Parliament of Ireland was merged with the Parliament of Great Britain to form the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The 300 members of the Irish House of Commons were reduced to 100 Irish members of the United Kingdom House of Commons. As part of that process Belfast lost one of its seats.
| Election | First member | First party | Second member | Second party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1613 | Sir John Blennerhassett | George Trevelyan | ||||
| 1634 | Charles Price | Thomas Bramston | ||||
| 1634 | John Ingersall | |||||
| 1639 | Sir William Wrey | George Rawdon | ||||
| 1654–1660 | Commonwealth – See Carrickfergus and Belfast (constituency) | |||||
| 1660 | Sir Jerome Alexander[2] | |||||
| 1661 | William Knight | Henry Davys[3] | ||||
| 1689 Patriot Parliament | Mark Talbot | Belfast had only one seat | ||||
| 1692 | Sir Richard Levinge[lower-alpha 1] | James Macartney | ||||
| 1692 | George Macartney | |||||
| 1695 | Charles Chichester | |||||
| 1703 | William Crafford | William Cairnes | ||||
| 1707 | Samuel Ogle | |||||
| 1713 | Robert Moore | Anthony Atkinson | ||||
| 1715 | George Macartney | John Ichingham Chichester | ||||
| 1721 | George Macartney | |||||
| 1725 | John Chichester | |||||
| 1727 | David John Barry | |||||
| 1745 | John Chichester | |||||
| 1747 | William Macartney | |||||
| 1757 | Arthur Barry | |||||
| 1761 | John Chichester | John Ludford | ||||
| 1768 | Hon. Henry Skeffington | George Hamilton | ||||
| 1776 | Barry Yelverton[lower-alpha 2] | Patriot | ||||
| 1777 | Alexander Crookshank | |||||
| 1784 | Joseph Hewitt | |||||
| 1792 | Sir William Godfrey, 1st Bt | |||||
| 1797 | Lord Spencer Stanley Chichester | George Crookshank | ||||
| 1798 | Alexander Hamilton | |||||
| January 1800 | James Edward May | |||||
| February 1800 | John Congreve | |||||
| 1801 | Succeeded by the Westminster constituency Belfast | |||||
- Notes
- Also elected for Blessington, for which he chose to sit.
- Also elected for Carrickfergus, for which he chose to sit.
- O'Hart 2007, p. 504.
- Clarke, Aidan. Prelude to Restoration in Ireland: The End of the Commonwealth, 1659–1660.
- O'Hart, John (2007). The Irish and Anglo-Irish Landed Gentry: When Cromwell came to Ireland. Vol. II. Heritage Books. ISBN 978-0-7884-1927-0.
- Leigh Rayment's historical List of Members of the Irish House of Commons. Cites: Johnston-Liik, Edith Mary (2002). The History of the Irish Parliament 1692-1800 (6 volumes). Ulster Historical Foundation.