# South Tyrone (UK Parliament constituency)

South Tyrone was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland which returned one Member of Parliament from 1885 to 1922, using the first past the post electoral system.

## Boundaries and Boundary Changes

This county constituency comprised the southern part of County Tyrone.
Prior to the 1885 redistribution the area was part of the Tyrone constituency. From 1922 it formed part of the Fermanagh and Tyrone constituency.
1885–1918: The baronies of Clogher and Dungannon Lower, and that part of the barony of Dungannon Middle consisting of the parishes of Clonfeacle and Donaghmore.
1918–1922: The rural district of Clogher, that part of the rural district of Cookstown consisting of the district electoral divisions of The Sandholes and Stewartstown, that part of the rural district of Dungannon not contained in the North East Tyrone constituency, that part of the rural district of Omagh consisting of the district electoral divisions of Carryglass, Derrybard, Dervaghroy, Draughton, Fallaghearn, Fintona, Seskinore and Tattymoyle, and the urban district of Dungannon.

## Politics

The constituency was a majority unionist area. Sinn Féin and the Independent Nationalist candidate together polled about 2,500 votes less than the Unionist received in 1918.

## The First Dáil

The constituencies in the 1918 Westminster election, including South Tyrone, also served as the constituencies of the First Dáil, established by Sinn Féin as the parliament of its self-proclaimed Irish Republic. While in theory all Irish Westminster MPs were entitled to sit in the Dáil, in practice only Sinn Féin members attended, and South Tyrone's William Coote was listed on the roll as "as láthair" [absent]. The Second Dáil used the single transferable vote constituencies of the 1921 home rule elections, in which the territory previously in South Tyrone was part of the eight-member House of Commons of Northern Ireland constituency of Fermanagh and Tyrone.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Election | Member | Party |
| | 1885 | William O'Brien | Nationalist |
| | 1886 | Thomas Russell | Liberal Unionist |
| | 1902 | Thomas Russell | Russellite Unionist |
| | 1907 | Thomas Russell | Liberal |
| | Jan 1910 | Andrew Horner | Irish Unionist |
| | 1916 (b) | William Coote | Irish Unionist |
| | May 1921 | William Coote | Ulster Unionist |
| 1922 | 1922 | constituency abolished | constituency abolished |

## Elections
### Elections in the 1880s

General election 5 December 1885: Tyrone South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Irish Parliamentary | William O'Brien | 3,435 | 50.4 | |
| | Irish Conservative | Somerset Henry Maxwell | 3,382 | 49.6 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 53 | 0.8 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,817 | 88.2 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 7,725 | | |
| | Irish Parliamentary win (new seat) | Irish Parliamentary win (new seat) | Irish Parliamentary win (new seat) | Irish Parliamentary win (new seat) | Irish Parliamentary win (new seat) |
General election 17 July 1886: Tyrone South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Unionist | Thomas Russell | 3,481 | 50.7 | +1.1 |
| | Irish Parliamentary | William O'Brien | 3,382 | 49.3 | −1.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 99 | 1.4 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,863 | 88.8 | +0.6 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 7,725 | | |
| | Liberal Unionist gain from Irish Parliamentary | Liberal Unionist gain from Irish Parliamentary | Swing | +1.1 | |

### Elections in the 1890s

General election 13 July 1892: Tyrone South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Unionist | Thomas Russell | 3,468 | 52.8 | +2.1 |
| | Liberal | Thomas Alexander Dickson | 3,096 | 47.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 372 | 5.6 | +4.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,564 | 92.8 | +4.0 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 7,070 | | |
| | Liberal Unionist hold | Liberal Unionist hold | Swing | | |
General election 24 July 1895: Tyrone South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Unionist | Thomas Russell | 3,239 | 51.5 | −1.3 |
| | Ind. Nationalist | Thomas Shillington | 3,046 | 48.5 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 193 | 3.0 | −2.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,285 | 93.4 | +0.6 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 6,730 | | |
| | Liberal Unionist hold | Liberal Unionist hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1900s

General election 4 October 1900: Tyrone South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Unionist | Thomas Russell | 2,499 | 48.0 | −3.5 |
| | Ind. Nationalist | Edward Charles Thompson | 2,409 | 46.0 | −2.5 |
| | Ind. Unionist | Robert James Howard | 303 | 5.8 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 90 | 2.0 | −1.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5,211 | 83.8 | −9.6 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 6,220 | | |
| | Liberal Unionist hold | Liberal Unionist hold | Swing | | |
General election 25 January 1906: Tyrone South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Russellite Unionist | Thomas Russell | 2,954 | 52.5 | +4.5 |
| | Irish Unionist | Andrew Horner | 2,671 | 47.5 | −0.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 283 | 5.0 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5,625 | 94.0 | +10.2 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 5,982 | | |
| | Russellite Unionist gain from Liberal Unionist | Russellite Unionist gain from Liberal Unionist | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1910s

General election 20 January 1910: Tyrone South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Irish Unionist | Andrew Horner | 3,054 | 52.4 | +4.9 |
| | Liberal | Thomas Russell | 2,770 | 47.6 | −4.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 284 | 4.8 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5,824 | 96.1 | +2.1 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 6,059 | | |
| | Irish Unionist gain from Russellite Unionist | Irish Unionist gain from Russellite Unionist | Swing | | |
General election 8 December 1910: Tyrone South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Irish Unionist | Andrew Horner | 2,962 | 52.7 | +0.3 |
| | Liberal | Robert Nathaniel Boyd | 2,662 | 47.3 | −0.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 300 | 5.4 | +0.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5,624 | 92.8 | −3.3 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 6,059 | | |
| | Irish Unionist hold | Irish Unionist hold | Swing | +0.3 | |
By-election 28 February 1916: Tyrone South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Irish Unionist | William Coote | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 6,434 | | |
General Election 14 December 1918: South Tyrone :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Irish Unionist | William Coote | 10,616 | 56.9 | +4.2 |
| | Sinn Féin | Denis McCullough | 5,437 | 29.1 | New |
| | Ind. Nationalist | John Skeffington | 2,602 | 13.9 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,179 | 27.8 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 18,655 | 83.0 | −9.8 |
| | Irish Unionist hold | Irish Unionist hold | Swing | | |