1899 Limerick Municipal Council election

An election for Limerick Municipal Council was held in 1899 as part of the wider 1899 Irish local elections. Following the reforms of the 1898 Act Limerick's franchise had increased from 709 to 5,521.[1]

A total of 79 candidates contested the 40 seats; with 27 of the outgoing councillors putting themselves forward for re-election, 34 Laborites putting themselves forward, 18 Merchants and large rate-payers.

The election saw Labour winning control of the council, with 24 of the councils 40 seats. Hand in hand with Labor's victory, went the victory of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Of the 40 councillors, 21 were members of the IRB. Of these 21 IRB members, 18 were Laborites.

Aggregate results

Limerick Municipal Council election, 1899[1]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour Electoral Association	24					53.22	9070
	Re-elect	11					27.21	4637
	Merchant	5					19.58	3337

The result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the council after the elections:

Party		Previous council		New council
		Cllr	Ald	Cllr	Ald
	Independent	32	8	12	4
	Labour	0	0	20	4
Total		32	8	32	8
		40		40
Working majority		32	8	8	0
		40		8

Ward results

Abbey Ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Re-elect	M. McDonnell	403
	Labour Electoral Association	W. Fitzgerald	356
	Labour Electoral Association	J. O'Brien	342
	Labour Electoral Association	M. Murphy	332
	Labour Electoral Association	P. Moloney	324
	Re-elect	J.J. Cleary J.P	205
	Re-elect	J. Kivlehan	179
	Merchant	W. Holliday	86
	Merchant	J. Power	54
Turnout

Castle Ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Electoral Association	D. Gilligan	345
	Labour Electoral Association	J. Hassett	325
	Labour Electoral Association	J. Connery	318
	Labour Electoral Association	J. Vaughan	311
	Re-elect	T. Donnellan	290
	Re-elect	A. Hall J.P.	231
	Re-elect	R. Nash	156
	Re-elect	W. O'Connell	131
	Merchant	W. McDonnell	82
Turnout

Custom House Ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Electoral Association	M. Joyce	276
	Labour Electoral Association	J. Kett	264
	Independent	T. Cleeve J.P	225
	Independent	S. Quin J.P	224
	Independent	L. Carr	197
	Labour Electoral Association	J. Maloney	194
	Labour Electoral Association	J. O'Neill	172
	Independent	R. Gleeson	102
	Independent	W. Frost	72
	Independent	D. Nelson	68
	Independent	J. McMahon	30
Turnout

References

1. http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/Media,4126,en.pdf