# Cork Mid (Dáil constituency)

Cork Mid was a Dáil constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature) from 1961 to 1981. The constituency was represented by 4 deputies (Teachtaí Dála, commonly known as TDs) from 1961 to 1977, and then 5 from 1977 until its abolition in 1981. The method of election was proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).

## Boundaries

From 1961 to 1969, its boundaries were defined as: "The administrative county of Cork except the portions thereof which are comprised in the borough constituency of Cork and the county constituencies of North-East Cork and South-West Cork."
From 1961 to 1977, its boundaries were defined as: "The administrative county of Cork except the portions thereof which are comprised in the borough constituency of Cork and the county constituencies of North-East Cork, South-West Cork and South Kerry."
From 1977 to 1981, its boundaries were defined as: "The administrative county of Cork, except the parts thereof which are comprised in the constituencies of Cork North-East, Cork South-West and Kerry South; and the following wards in the county borough of Cork: Bishopstown E, Gillabbey B, Gillabbey C, Glasheen A, Glasheen B, Glasheen C, Pouladuff A, Pouladuff B, The Lough, Togher A, Togher B."

## TDs

Teachtaí Dála (TDs) for Cork Mid 1961–1981 :
| Key to parties  FF = Fianna Fáil  FG = Fine Gael  Lab = Labour ||||||||||||
| Dáil | Election | Deputy (Party) | Deputy (Party) | Deputy (Party) | Deputy (Party) | Deputy (Party) | Deputy (Party) | Deputy (Party) | Deputy (Party) | Deputy (Party) | Deputy (Party) |
| 17th | 1961 | | Dan Desmond (Lab) | | Seán McCarthy (FF) | | Con Meaney (FF) | | Denis J. O'Sullivan (FG) | 4 seats 1961–1977 | 4 seats 1961–1977 |
| 17th | 1965 by-election | | Eileen Desmond (Lab) | | Seán McCarthy (FF) | | Con Meaney (FF) | | Denis J. O'Sullivan (FG) | 4 seats 1961–1977 | 4 seats 1961–1977 |
| 18th | 1965 | | Eileen Desmond (Lab) | | Flor Crowley (FF) | | Thomas Meaney (FF) | | Donal Creed (FG) | 4 seats 1961–1977 | 4 seats 1961–1977 |
| 19th | 1969 | | Philip Burton (FG) | | Paddy Forde (FF) | | Thomas Meaney (FF) | | Donal Creed (FG) | 4 seats 1961–1977 | 4 seats 1961–1977 |
| 19th | 1972 by-election | | Philip Burton (FG) | | Gene Fitzgerald (FF) | | Thomas Meaney (FF) | | Donal Creed (FG) | 4 seats 1961–1977 | 4 seats 1961–1977 |
| 20th | 1973 | | Eileen Desmond (Lab) | | Gene Fitzgerald (FF) | | Thomas Meaney (FF) | | Donal Creed (FG) | 4 seats 1961–1977 | 4 seats 1961–1977 |
| 21st | 1977 | | Eileen Desmond (Lab) | | Gene Fitzgerald (FF) | | Thomas Meaney (FF) | | Donal Creed (FG) | | Barry Cogan (FF) |
| 22nd | 1981 | Constituency abolished. See Cork North-Central and Cork South-Central | Constituency abolished. See Cork North-Central and Cork South-Central | Constituency abolished. See Cork North-Central and Cork South-Central | Constituency abolished. See Cork North-Central and Cork South-Central | Constituency abolished. See Cork North-Central and Cork South-Central | Constituency abolished. See Cork North-Central and Cork South-Central | Constituency abolished. See Cork North-Central and Cork South-Central | Constituency abolished. See Cork North-Central and Cork South-Central | Constituency abolished. See Cork North-Central and Cork South-Central | Constituency abolished. See Cork North-Central and Cork South-Central |
Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to the order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election.

## Elections

^ *: Outgoing TD

### 1977 general election

1977 general election: Cork Mid :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Gene Fitzgerald | 19.9 | 12,179 | | | | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Thomas Meaney | 19.4 | 11,877 | | | | |
| | Labour | Eileen Desmond | 14.5 | 8,902 | 9,001 | 9,112 | 10,276 | |
| | Fine Gael | Donal Creed | 13.2 | 8,088 | 8,163 | 8,241 | 10,413 | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Barry Cogan | 10.7 | 6,563 | 7,545 | 8,151 | 8,259 | 8,595 |
| | Fine Gael | Frank Crowley | 7.6 | 4,681 | 4,695 | 4,777 | 5,614 | |
| | Fianna Fáil | John Dennehy | 7.4 | 4,522 | 5,292 | 6,069 | 6,188 | 6,470 |
| | Fine Gael | Seán O'Leary | 7.2 | 4,436 | 4,468 | 4,480 | | |
| Electorate: 75,031 Valid: 61,248 Spoilt: 446 (0.7%) Quota: 10,209 Turnout: 61,694 (82.2%) |||||||||

### 1973 general election

1973 general election: Cork Mid :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Thomas Meaney | 25.6 | 10,400 | | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Gene Fitzgerald | 23.6 | 9,584 | | |
| | Fine Gael | Donal Creed | 19.1 | 7,728 | 8,273 | |
| | Labour | Eileen Desmond | 15.2 | 6,170 | 7,152 | 8,188 |
| | Fine Gael | Philip Burton | 13.9 | 5,629 | 6,245 | 6,406 |
| | Fine Gael | Daniel O'Leary | 2.6 | 1,055 | 1,198 | 1,471 |
| Electorate: 49,402 Valid: 40,566 Quota: 8,114 Turnout: 82.1% |||||||

### 1972 by-election

Following the death of Fianna Fáil TD Paddy Forde on 13 May 1972, a by-election was held on 2 August 1972. The seat was won by the Fianna Fáil candidate Gene Fitzgerald.
1972 by-election: Cork Mid :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Gene Fitzgerald | 49.5 | 19,959 | 20,214 |
| | Fine Gael | Denis J. O'Sullivan | 31.6 | 12,530 | 12,788 |
| | Labour | Eileen Desmond | 15.9 | 6,301 | 6,711 |
| | Aontacht Éireann | Paddy O'Callaghan | 3.0 | 1,172 | |
| Electorate: 49,402 Valid: 39,962 Quota: 19,982 Turnout: 80.9% ||||||

### 1969 general election

1969 general election: Cork Mid :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Thomas Meaney | 23.0 | 8,978 | | | | | |
| | Fine Gael | Donal Creed | 18.9 | 7,400 | 7,491 | 8,583 | | | |
| | Fine Gael | Philip Burton | 13.6 | 5,310 | 5,351 | 5,686 | 6,297 | 6,626 | 7,358 |
| | Labour | Eileen Desmond | 12.6 | 4,936 | 4,997 | 5,129 | 6,762 | 7,000 | 7,088 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Paddy Forde | 11.0 | 4,284 | 4,774 | 4,917 | 5,004 | 8,000 | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Batt Donegan | 8.9 | 3,468 | 3,859 | 3,878 | 4,102 | | |
| | Labour | Neil Lehane | 7.3 | 2,866 | 2,962 | 2,986 | | | |
| | Fine Gael | Patrick Lombard | 4.7 | 1,821 | 1,836 | | | | |
| Electorate: 47,880 Valid: 39,063 Quota: 7,813 Turnout: 81.6% ||||||||||

### 1965 general election

1965 general election: Cork Mid :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | Labour | Eileen Desmond | 25.0 | 10,041 | | | | | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Flor Crowley | 19.7 | 7,884 | 8,185 | | | | |
| | Fine Gael | Donal Creed | 15.2 | 6,103 | 6,792 | 6,949 | 7,461 | 7,890 | 8,011 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Thomas Meaney | 14.2 | 5,683 | 5,870 | 5,939 | 5,969 | 6,130 | 8,948 |
| | Fine Gael | Denis J. O'Sullivan | 12.3 | 4,935 | 5,278 | 5,328 | 5,602 | 5,939 | 6,044 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Paddy Forde | 7.7 | 3,099 | 3,304 | 3,425 | 3,464 | 3,578 | |
| | Independent | Thomas O'Sullivan | 2.7 | 1,089 | 1,143 | 1,189 | 1,199 | | |
| | Fine Gael | Edward McCarthy | 2.0 | 789 | 897 | 937 | | | |
| | Independent | Sylvester Cotter | 1.2 | 498 | 627 | | | | |
| Electorate: 50,220 Valid: 40,121 Quota: 8,025 Turnout: 79.9% ||||||||||

### 1965 by-election

Following the death of Labour Party TD Dan Desmond on 9 December 1964, a by-election was held on 10 March 1965. The seat was won by the Labour Party candidate Eileen Desmond, widow of the deceased TD.
1965 by-election: Cork Mid :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Flor Crowley | 36.2 | 13,779 | 13,932 | 15,093 |
| | Labour | Eileen Desmond | 33.5 | 12,752 | 12,937 | 20,756 |
| | Fine Gael | Donal Creed | 28.8 | 10,957 | 11,105 | |
| | Independent | Sylvester P. Cotter | 1.6 | 590 | | |
| Electorate: 50,220 Valid: 38,078 Quota: 19,040 Turnout: 75.8% |||||||

### 1961 general election

1961 general election: Cork Mid :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| | Labour | Dan Desmond | 27.3 | 10,035 | | | |
| | Fine Gael | Denis J. O'Sullivan | 21.2 | 7,787 | | | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Con Meaney | 17.9 | 6,586 | 7,039 | 7,101 | 7,736 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Seán MacCarthy | 17.7 | 6,499 | 7,315 | 7,335 | 8,523 |
| | Fine Gael | Timothy Desmond | 10.8 | 3,976 | 5,115 | 5,457 | 5,575 |
| | Fianna Fáil | David McGrath | 5.1 | 1,890 | 2,162 | 2,170 | |
| Electorate: 49,390 Valid: 36,773 Quota: 7,355 Turnout: 74.5% ||||||||