# 1920 Cork Corporation election

Elections to the Cork Corporation took place on Thursday 15 January 1920 as part of that year's Irish local elections.

## Campaign

The Labour vote was split between the Cork and District Labour Council and the more militant Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU); the latter formed an electoral alliance with Sinn Féin, whose MPs elected in December 1918 had proclaimed an Irish Republic in January 1919. Polling day was marred by scenes of violence between supporters of Sinn Féin and ex-servicemen.

## Results by party

| Party | Party | Candidates | Seats | FPv% | ±% |
| | Sinn Féin–ITGWU | 54 | 30 | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | 33 | 14 | | |
| | Cork Ratepayers' Association | 22 | 4 | | |
| | Cork and District Labour Council | 12 | 3 | | |
| | Ex-Soldiers & Sailors | | 2 | | |
| | Independent | 37 | 3 | | |
| Totals | Totals | 160 | 56 | 100.0 | — |

## Results by local electoral area

The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1919 introduced the single transferable vote, so the seven wards used in previous council elections were revised into seven borough electoral areas (BEAs). Four inner wards were merged into one BEA, two outer wards were split into two and three BEAs, and one was retained as a BEA. The first two candidates elected in each area would be styled "alderman", the rest "councillor".

### Central

37 candidates. Wards: Centre, North Centre, South Centre, and West.
Central: 10 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 |
| | Sinn Féin | J. J. Walsh MP | | |
| | Ratepayers | Richard Beamish | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | Daniel Gamble | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Terence MacSwiney MP | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Prof Alfred O'Rahilly | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | Thomas Stack | | |
| | Ratepayers | William Desmond | | |
| | Labour Council | Jeremiah Kelleher | | |
| | Sinn Féin | John Fitzpatrick | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | William F. O'Connor | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | R. H. Tilson | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | Cornelius Desmond | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | John Dunlea | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | Denis Cullinane | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | Denis Buckley | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | John Murphy | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Richard Hawkins | | |
| | Sinn Féin | John Jennings | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Francis Keogh | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Cornelius O'Donovan | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Timothy Francis O'Leary | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Denis O'Neill | | |
| | Ratepayers | Daniel Williams | | |
| | Ratepayers | T. H. G. Wallis | | |
| | Ratepayers | Daniel Humphreys | | |
| | Labour Council | John Hurley | | |
| | Independent | William Hart | | |
| | Independent | Jeremiah Lane | | |
| | Independent | Patrick J. Bradley | | |
| | Independent | Eugene Buckley | | |
| | Independent | John Callanan | | |
| | Independent | Cornelius Curtin | | |
| | Independent | John Hurley | | |
| | Independent | John Hoare | | |
| | Independent | Mortimer Kelleher | | |
| | Independent | Cornelius O'Donovan | | |
| | Independent | Robert Joseph Warren | | |
| Quota: ||||

### North-East

26 candidates
North-East: 10 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 |
| | Sinn Féin | William Stockley | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | James Daly | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Anne Sutton | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | Daniel Horgan | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | Michael Joseph O'Riordan | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Robert Day | | |
| | Ratepayers | Sir John Scott | | |
| | Ratepayers | James Thomas Mulligan | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Seán O'Leary | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Seán French | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | Matthew Kenneally | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | Cornelius Mullanny | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Ed. Goggin | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Stephen Heffernan | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Paul O'Flynn | | |
| | Ratepayers | A. M. Cole, JP | | |
| | Ratepayers | Simon Spiro, JP | | |
| | Ratepayers | John Ronan | | |
| | Ratepayers | Clarence de Foubert | | |
| | Ratepayers | Daniel Williams | | |
| | Independent | Patrick Clarke | | |
| | Independent | William Dalton | | |
| | Independent | Denis Mack | | |
| | Independent | Maurice O'Carroll | | |
| | Independent | Robert Edwin Roberts | | |
| | Independent | Edward E. Whitaker | | |
| Quota: ||||

### North-West No.1

23 candidates; covering Sunday's Well area
North-West No.1: 7 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 |
| | Sinn Féin | Frederick J. Murray | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Tadhg Barry | | |
| | Labour Council | Patrick J. Murphy | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | William F. O'Connor | | |
| | Sinn Féin | James Allen | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Thomas Daly | | |
| | Independent | Michael Joseph O'Callaghan | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | John Joseph Doherty | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | Patrick Keane | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | Patrick F. O'Sullivan | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Patrick O'Sullivan | | |
| | Sinn Féin | James Purcell | | |
| | Sinn Féin | James Walsh | | |
| | Ratepayers | Thomas Andrews | | |
| | Ratepayers | R. A. Atkins | | |
| | Ratepayers | Henry Dawson | | |
| | Labour Council | John O'Connor | | |
| | Independent | Cornelius Curtin | | |
| | Independent | Mortimer Kelleher | | |
| | Independent | Daniel Lynch | | |
| | Independent | Laurence Prior | | |
| | Independent | John Roche | | |
| | Independent | James Walsh | | |
| Quota: 306 ||||

### North-West No.2

13 candidates; covering Shandon area.
North-West No.2: 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 |
| | Sinn Féin | Edmond Coughlan | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Patrick Higgins | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | John Francis O'Sullivan | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | Patrick F. O'Sullivan | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Simon Daly | | |
| | Ex-Soldiers & Sailors | Timothy O'Neill | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | Daniel Horgan | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | Patrick Stack | | |
| | Sinn Féin | John Kelleher | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Henry Lorton | | |
| | Sinn Féin | John O'Keeffe | | |
| | Ratepayers | Michael D. Spillane | | |
| | Independent | John Flynn | | |
| | Independent | Joseph Leonard | | |
| Quota: 306 ||||

### North-West No.3

18 candidates; covering Blackpool area
North-West No. 3: 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 |
| | Sinn Féin | Tomás Mac Curtain | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Denis Lucey | | |
| | Ex-Soldiers & Sailors | Gerald Byrne | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Mícheál Ó Cuill (Michael O'Quill) | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Thomas Patrick Forde | | |
| | Labour Council | Michael Egan | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | Edward A. Lyons | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | Charles Whelan | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Timothy Gearan | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Bartholomew Quinlan | | |
| | Ratepayers | Michael D. Spillane | | |
| | Labour Council | Cornelius Hobart | | |
| | Labour Council | Thomas Walsh | | |
| | Independent | Mortimer Kelleher | | |
| | Independent | Denis Mack | | |
| | Independent | John McAuley | | |
| | Independent | Daniel O'Leary | | |
| | Independent | Michael O'Connell | | |
| Quota: 306 ||||

### South No.1

30 candidates
South No. 1: 11 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 |
| | Sinn Féin | Charles Coughlan | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Seán O'Sullivan | | |
| | Ind. Nationalist | John (Seán) Cronin | | |
| | Sinn Féin | John (Seán) Good | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | John Horgan | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Jeremiah Kelleher | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | Simon Mahony | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | William F. O'Connor | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Liam (William) Russell | | |
| | Sinn Féin | John F. Sheehan | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Maurice Walsh | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | Jeremiah Ahern | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | David Murphy | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | Simon Mahony | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | James O'Connell | | |
| | Sinn Féin | William Kenneally | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Michael Landy | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Michael Murphy | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Frank O'Neill | | |
| | Ratepayers | Robert Pulvertaft | | |
| | Labour Council | James Harty | | |
| | Labour Council | William Waldrock | | |
| | Labour Council | John Donovan | | |
| | Independent | Thomas Donovan | | |
| | Independent | Fred Howe | | |
| | Independent | E. Magner | | |
| | Independent | John O'Sullivan | | |
| | Independent | William James Russell | | |
| | Independent | John Sheehan | | |
| | Independent | Daniel Sheehan | | |
| Quota: 306 ||||

### South No.2

18 candidates
South No.2: 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 |
| | Sinn Féin | Liam de Róiste MP | | 697 |
| | Ind. Nationalist | Sir Edward Fitzgerald, 1st baronet | | 474 |
| | Sinn Féin | Daniel Barry | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Stephen John O'Riordan | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | John Desmond | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | William Ellis | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | John McCarthy | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Stephen Harrington | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Denis Hegarty | | |
| | Sinn Féin | P. Austin O'Riordan | | |
| | Ratepayers | Thomas Farrington | | |
| | Ratepayers | Thomas A. Callanan | | |
| | Labour Council | William Byrne | | |
| | Labour Council | Martin Hawkins | | |
| | Ex-Soldiers & Sailors | Gerald Byrne | | |
| | Ind. Nationalist | John (Seán) Cronin | | |
| | Independent | Joseph O'Brien | | |
| | Independent | Joseph Parfrey | | |
| Quota: 306 ||||

## Subsequent changes

William F. O'Connor, having been returned in three BEAs, chose to represent North-West No.1, triggering by-elections in the other two BEAs on 10 March, both won by Sinn Féin candidates: Barry Egan defeated Jeremiah Lane in the Central ward, while Donal O'Callaghan was returned unopposed in South No.1. Ten subsequent by-elections returned: Joseph Hennessy, Madeline Hegarty, William Kenneally, Michael Moroney, Cornelius Neenan, Seán Nolan, Michael O'Donovan, Paul O'Flynn, James O'Riordan, and Jeremiah Walsh. Among the vacancies filled were several deaths related to the Irish War of Independence: Tomás Mac Curtain (assassinated by Royal Irish Constabulary members on 20 March 1920), his successor as Lord Mayor Terence MacSwiney (died on hunger strike on 25 October 1920), and Tadhg Barry (shot in Ballykinlar Camp, 15 November 1921).
In 1924 the Cumann na nGaedheal government dissolved the city council for misgovernment, after which the corporation was administered by an unelected commissioner. The next Free State local elections, originally scheduled for 1923, were repeatedly postponed until 1925. The city council was excluded from the 1925 and 1928 local elections and not restored until 1929, reduced to 21 councillors, with the entire county borough forming a single 21-seat electoral area.