1918 East Tyrone by-election

The 1918 East Tyrone by-election was held on 3 April 1918. The by-election was held due to the resignation of the incumbent Irish Parliamentary Party MP, William Redmond. It was won by the Irish Parliamentary candidate Thomas Harbison.[1] The by-election was the last in a short string of by-elections where it seemed that the more moderate nationalists were regaining ground from Sinn Féin before being virtually wiped out in the 1918 United Kingdom general election in Ireland.[2]

Campaign

Redmond had resigned in order to contest the Waterford City by-election which had become vacant when his father, John Redmond, had died.[3][4] Thomas Harbison was selected as the IPP candidate.[1] The Sinn Féin candidate was Seán Milroy.[5]

The campaign was fought with tensions between the two parties with both party leaders, Joseph Devlin (IPP) and Éamon de Valera (SF), visiting to support their candidate. Sinn Fein supporters would regularly walk around the streets armed with Gaelic games hurleys while Irish Parliamentary Party members would throw stones at the Sinn Fein delegations.[6] A consideration in the campaign was how the Irish Unionists in the constituency would vote as there was no Unionist candidate in the by-election. Sinn Fein expected them to mostly abstain but they largely voted tactically in favour of the IPP.[6]

The day before the election, Sinn Fein attempted to hold an open air meeting in the Market Square in Dungannon but were delayed due to Unionists blocking the road. After they were moved on, Sinn Fein instead elected to hold speeches on the steps of the Technical Institute. This was near where the IPP were holding a rally and despite the Royal Irish Constabulary keeping them apart, IPP members interrupted the Sinn Fein speeches.[6]

Result

By-election 3 April 1918: East Tyrone[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish Parliamentary Thomas Harbison 1,802 59.6 +8.4
Sinn Féin Seán Milroy 1,222 40.4 New
Majority 580 19.2 +16.8
Turnout 3,024 43.9 −49.2
Irish Parliamentary hold Swing

References

  1. ^ a b c "Tyrone Election". The Advertiser. 6 April 1918. Retrieved 30 April 2025 – via Trove.
  2. ^ Bruton, John (2019). "The 1918 Election and its Relevance to Modern Irish Politics". Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review. 108 (429): 93–103. doi:10.1353/stu.2019.0007. JSTOR 10.35939/studiesirishrev.108.429.0093. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  3. ^ "John Redmond dies of heart failure". RTE. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  4. ^ "How Redmond founded a dynasty". Irish Echo Newspaper. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  5. ^ "Milroy, John Ignatius "Sean"". Dictionary of Irish Biographies. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  6. ^ a b c "Irish Party make it three-in-a-row with victory in East Tyrone". RTE. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
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