County Cork (UK Parliament constituency)

County Cork was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland that existed from 1801 to 1885. It returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.

History

As a result of the Acts of Union 1800, the Parliament of Ireland was merged into the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Consequently, the County Cork constituency was created, replacing the pre-existing County Cork constituency in the former Irish Parliament.

The constituency comprised the geographical area of County Cork. It was abolished under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, being replaced by seven new single-member constituencies: East Cork, Mid Cork, North Cork, North East Cork, South Cork, South East Cork, and West Cork. The 1885 Act was part of a larger reform effort, aimed at improving representation and aligning constituency boundaries with population distribution.

Members of Parliament

The following individuals served as Members of Parliament for County Cork:

(A list of MPs would ideally be included here, but without access to reliable historical records, this cannot be accurately provided. A full list with dates of service is essential for a complete encyclopedia entry).

Electoral System

County Cork used the bloc vote system. Each elector had two votes which could be cast for two different candidates or both could be given to a single candidate (plumping). This system generally favoured larger landowners and those with considerable influence in the county.