# 1920 Dublin Corporation election

An election to Dublin Corporation took place on Thursday, 15 January 1920 as part of the 1920 Irish local elections. Dublin was divided into ten borough electoral areas to elect 80 councillors for a five-year term of office on the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).
Sinn Féin won a slight majority in the council, with 42 seats. Whilst the Sinn Féin majority was small, they emerged from the election as by far the largest party on the Dublin Corporation council.
Following the election Thomas Kelly, the Sinn Féin MP for Dublin St Stephen's Green, was unanimously elected by the council as the new Lord Mayor of Dublin. Kelly was elected despite being held at the time as a political prisoner in Wormwood Scrubs prison in England. Kelly was nominated for the position by the outgoing Lord Mayor Laurence O'Neill. Due to Kelly's imprisonment O'Neill continued as effective Lord Mayor.

## Boundaries

These were the first elections under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1919, which introduced a form of proportional representation. Under the old ward system, each of 20 wards had elected one alderman and three additional councillors. In 1919, the Local Government Board of Ireland created 10 borough electoral areas (BEAs), taking a greater account of population in the city, which took effect at these elections. Two councillors from each BEA were designated as aldermen.
Revised boundaries :
| BEA | Seats | Wards | Former representation |
| No. 1 | 9 | Arran Quay | 4 |
| No. 2 | 8 | Clontarf East, Clontarf West, Drumcondra and Glasnevin | 16 |
| No. 3 | 9 | Fitzwilliam, Mansion House, Royal Exchange, South City | 16 |
| No. 4 | 10 | Inns Quay and Rotunda | 8 |
| No. 5 | 7 | Merchant's Quay | 4 |
| No. 6 | 7 | Mountjoy | 4 |
| No. 7 | 9 | New Kilmainham and Usher's Quay | 8 |
| No. 8 | 8 | North City and North Dock | 8 |
| No. 9 | 6 | Wood Quay | 4 |
| No. 10 | 7 | Trinity and South Dock | 8 |

## Results by party

| Party | Party | Seats | ± | 1st pref | FPv% | ±% |
| | Sinn Féin | 42 | 38 | 28,069 | 45.92 | |
| | Labour | 14 | 5 | 7,693 | 12.58 | |
| | Municipal Reform | 9 | 9 | 7,011 | 11.47 | New |
| | Ind. Nationalist | 7 | | 9,607 | 15.72 | |
| | Irish Nationalist | 4 | 52 | 3,302 | 5.40 | |
| | Independent | 2 | | 4,087 | 6.69 | |
| | Irish Unionist | 1 | 4 | 702 | 1.49 | |
| | Painters Society | 1 | 1 | 265 | 0.43 | New |
| | Ind. Republican | 0 | | 275 | 0.45 | |
| | Independent Socialist | 0 | | 182 | 0.30 | |
| | Independent Labour | 0 | | 8 | 0.01 | |
| Totals | Totals | 80 | | 61,131 | 100.00 | — |

## Results by borough electoral area

^ *: Incumbent councillor.

### No. 1 Electoral Area

Arran Quay Ward.
No. 1 Electoral Area: 9 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 |
| | Sinn Féin | Michael Staines | 30.83 | 1,675 | |
| | Labour | Thomas P. O'Reilly (ITGWU) | 13.62 | 740 | |
| | Labour | John Farren | 10.84 | 519 | 589 |
| | Sinn Féin | William Paul | 6.87 | 373 | 741 |
| | Irish Nationalist | J. Keogh | 5.71 | 310 | |
| | Irish Nationalist | T. Rooney | 5.14 | 279 | |
| | Municipal Reform | E. McGeogh | 5.04 | 274 | |
| | Sinn Féin | Patrick McIntyre | 4.90 | 266 | |
| | Labour | D. Logue | 4.66 | 253 | |
| | Sinn Féin | Annie Eliza Ashton | 4.38 | 238 | |
| | Sinn Féin | Ml. McHugh | 2.87 | 156 | |
| | Sinn Féin | Francis Nolan | 2.37 | 129 | |
| | Irish Nationalist | Thomas Kavanagh | 2.12 | 115 | |
| Electorate: 9,741 Valid: 5,433 Spoilt: 145 Quota: 544 Turnout: 5,578 ||||||

### No. 2 Electoral Area

Clontarf East Ward, Clontarf West Ward, Drumcondra Ward and Glasnevin Ward
The count was particularly long, with no candidates meeting the quota from counts 2 to 14.
No. 2 Electoral Area: 8 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 |
| | Sinn Féin | Seán McGarry | 16.64 | 1,058 |
| | Municipal Reform | James Hubbard Clark | 12.08 | 768 |
| | Irish Unionist | W. McCarthy | 9.15 | 582 |
| | Municipal Reform | James Moran | 7.04 | 448 |
| | Independent | David A. Quaid | 6.97 | 443 |
| | Municipal Reform | Michael Moran | 6.93 | 441 |
| | Sinn Féin | Thomas Loughlin | 6.07 | 386 |
| | Sinn Féin | Robert Rooney | 5.82 | 370 |
| | Independent | J. P. MacAvin | 4.06 | 258 |
| | Municipal Reform | John Foley | 3.93 | 250 |
| | Sinn Féin | S. Macaoilte | 3.35 | 213 |
| | Sinn Féin | Gifford Wilson | 2.70 | 172 |
| | Sinn Féin | Mary J. McKean | 2.28 | 145 |
| | Independent | Michael Maher | 2.09 | 133 |
| | Irish Unionist | W. P. Dinnage | 1.89 | 120 |
| | Sinn Féin | Sean O'Shea | 1.64 | 104 |
| | Independent | James Brady | 1.64 | 104 |
| | Independent | Daniel Daly | 1.12 | 71 |
| | Independent | C. Monks | 1.07 | 68 |
| | Independent | Patrick Ring | 1.04 | 66 |
| | Independent Labour | J. Manning | 0.13 | 8 |
| Electorate: 9,680 Valid: 6,360 Spoilt: 86 Quota: 717 Turnout: 6,446 |||||

### No. 3 Electoral Area

Fitzwilliam Ward, Mansion House Ward, Royal Exchange Ward and South City Ward.
No. 3 Electoral Area: 9 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| | Sinn Féin | Thomas Kelly | 41.70 | 3,438 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Municipal Reform | Andrew Beattie | 12.83 | 1,058 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Municipal Reform | Sir James Gallagher | 8.65 | 713 | - | 907 | | | | | | | | |
| | Municipal Reform | J. R. Stritch | 7.95 | 655 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 846 | | |
| | Labour | O. Hynes (Bricklayers' Union) | 5.46 | 450 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 892 | |
| | Sinn Féin | Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington | 4.12 | 340 | 1,551 | | | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | T. Adkins | 3.64 | 300 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 830 |
| | Independent | William Corrigan | 3.46 | 285 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Joe Clarke | 3.40 | 280 | - | - | 876 | | | | | | | |
| | Independent | J. J. Higgins | 2.55 | 210 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Socialist | Walter Carpenter | 2.21 | 182 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | M. J. White | 1.64 | 135 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Robinsou Raul | 1.15 | 95 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 713 |
| | Independent | C. Perkins | 0.93 | 77 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Independent | P. J. Giles | 0.32 | 26 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 12,638 Valid: 8,244 Spoilt: - Quota: ~825 Turnout: - |||||||||||||||

### No. 4 Electoral Area

Inns Quay Ward and Rotunda Ward.
No. 4 Electoral Area: 10 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| | Ind. Nationalist | Laurence O'Neill | 48.95 | 3,672 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Seán T. O'Kelly | 17.48 | 1,311 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | J. Brennan | | 498 | 801 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | M. Flanagan | | 298 | - | - | 683 | | | | | | | | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | William P. Delaney | | 280 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 821 | | | | |
| | Painters' Society | Jos Farrell | | 265 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 690 | |
| | Labour | John Lawlor | | 229 | 795 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Municipal Reform | James Grierson | | 185 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | M. Dowling | | 143 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 620 |
| | Sinn Féin | Seán O'Mahony | | 136 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 737 | |
| | Irish Nationalist | P. J. Duffy | | 121 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 599 |
| | Sinn Féin | Jennie Wyse Power | | 110 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 761 | |
| | Sinn Féin | Kathleen O'Doherty | | 106 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | M. J. O'Hara | | 73 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Municipal Reform | Anne Egan | | 43 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Joseph C. Larkin | | 41 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 12,856 Valid: 7,501 Spoilt: 185 Quota: 682 Turnout: 7,686 |||||||||||||||||

### No. 5 Electoral Area

Merchant's Quay Ward.
No. 5 Electoral Area: 7 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 |
| | Sinn Féin | Joseph MacDonagh | | 1,067 |
| | Labour | J. Bohan (ITGWU) | | 616 |
| | Irish Nationalist | William O'Connor | | 596 |
| | Sinn Féin | J. P. Mooney | | 552 |
| | Sinn Féin | Patrick Gordon | | 375 |
| | Municipal Reform | R. H. White | | 374 |
| | Labour | T.D. Herbert | | 307 |
| | Ind. Republican | Arnold Lowe | | 275 |
| | Independent | H. C. Neill Watson | | 275 |
| | Independent | Sarah Harrison | | 223 |
| | Independent | J. Vaughan | | 194 |
| | Sinn Féin | Mrs. McGarry | | 190 |
| | Sinn Féin | Patrick Walsh | | 178 |
| | Irish Nationalist | E. Brooks | | 55 |
| | Independent | J. Reed | | 30 |
| Electorate: 8,032 Valid: 5,307 Spoilt: 94 Quota: 664 Turnout: 5,401 (67.24%) |||||

### No. 6 Electoral Area

Mountjoy Ward.
No. 6 Electoral Area: 7 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| | Ind. Nationalist | L. G. Sherlock | | 1,507 | | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Kathleen Clarke | | 937 | | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | P. Mahon | | 568 | 751 | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | James Malinn | | 486 | - | 769 | | | | | | |
| | Ind. Nationalist | J. M. C. Briscoe | | 290 | 799 | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | John Byrne | | 222 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 493 |
| | Ind. Nationalist | William Chase | | 173 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 591 |
| | Sinn Féin | Joseph Toomey | | 143 | | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Ml. Slater | | 116 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 456 |
| | Municipal Reform | Miss Weldrick | | 93 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| | Sinn Féin | Mrs O'Shea Leamy | | 78 | | | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 8,784 Valid: 4,613 Spoilt: 113 Quota: 577 Turnout: 4,726 |||||||||||||

### No. 7 Electoral Area

New Kilmainham Ward and Usher's Quay Ward.
No. 7 Electoral Area: 9 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| | Sinn Féin | W. T. Cosgrave | | 2,033 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Municipal Reform | B.F. Shields | | 679 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | P. S. Doyle | | 625 | 765 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Labour | D. Magee | | 578 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 814 | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | James McGrath | | 531 | 1,059 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Labour | J. O'Connor (ITGWU) | | 409 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 686 |
| | Irish Nationalist | P. Medlar | | 314 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 624 |
| | Irish Nationalist | J. S. Kelly | | 284 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Labour | L. Keegan | | 249 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | A. Fitzpatrick | | 231 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 759 | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | J. Groome | | 221 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | John Doran | | 163 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 666 | | | | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | C. Donaghy | | 117 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Michael Lynch | | 111 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Labour | Mary C. Kelly | | 14 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 9,985 Valid: 6,428 Spoilt: 131 Quota: 650 Turnout: 6,559 (%) |||||||||||||||||

### No. 8 Electoral Area

North City Ward and North Dock Ward.
No. 8 Electoral Area: 8 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 |
| | Ind. Nationalist | Alfie Byrne | | 3,180 | |
| | Sinn Féin | Francis Cahill | | 826 | |
| | Labour | P. T. Daly | | 499 | 1,344 |
| | Ind. Nationalist | James Gately | | 438 | 879 |
| | Sinn Féin | Patrick McDonnell | | 413 | 704 |
| | Sinn Féin | James V. Lawless | | 393 | 780 |
| | Sinn Féin | Joseph M. Stanley | | 299 | |
| | Labour | Michael Brohoon (ITGWU) | | 231 | 606 |
| | Municipal Reform | Dr. MacWalter | | 192 | 1,078 |
| | Municipal Reform | T.D. Lambert | | 146 | |
| | Sinn Féin | James Mallon | | 126 | |
| | Sinn Féin | Mary Walker | | 122 | |
| | Sinn Féin | Thomas Leahy | | 96 | |
| | Irish Nationalist | J. O'Doherty | | 45 | |
| | Labour | R. Graham | | 34 | |
| | Sinn Féin | Thomas O'Reilly | | 27 | |
| | Irish Nationalist | J. J. Fox | | 18 | |
| | Irish Nationalist | James Higgins | | 7 | |
| | Labour | Michael Mullen | | 7 | |
| | Independent | T. Healy | | 1 | |
| Electorate: 11,488 Valid: 6,898 Spoilt: 196 Quota: 789 Turnout: 7,094 (%) ||||||

### No. 9 Electoral Area

Wood Quay Ward.
No. 9 Electoral Area: 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| | Sinn Féin | Kathleen Clarke | | 1,374 | | | | | | | | | |
| | Labour | Thomas Lawlor | | 1,187 | | | | | | | | | |
| | Labour | Thomas Kennedy (ITGWU) | | 422 | 468 | 582 | - | - | 614 | | | | |
| | Ind. Nationalist | T. Byrne | | 347 | - | 409 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 501 |
| | Irish Nationalist | William McCabe | | 321 | | | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | John J. Murphy | | 256 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 636 | |
| | Sinn Féin | John Grace | | 150 | 635 | | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Patrick McGuirk | | 105 | | | | | | | | | |
| | Labour | M. C. Scully | | 51 | - | 315 | | | | | | | |
| | Labour | M. Keavey | | 15 | | | | | | | | | |
| | Irish Nationalist | M. J. Creagh | | 12 | | | | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 6,959 Valid: 4,250 Spoilt: 106 Quota: 606 Turnout: 4,356 (%) ||||||||||||||

### No. 10 Electoral Area

Trinity Ward and South Dock Ward.
No. 10 Electoral Area: 7 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 |
| | Sinn Féin | Cathal Ó Murchadha | | 1,173 |
| | Labour | William O'Brien (ITGWU) | | 883 |
| | Sinn Féin | Thomas Cassidy | | 665 |
| | Independent | L. O'Toole | | 639 |
| | Independent | Myles Keogh | | 634 |
| | Sinn Féin | G. A. Lyons | | 433 |
| | Independent | T. M. O'Beirne | | 350 |
| | Municipal Reform | W. J. Maxwell-Lemon | | 317 |
| | Municipal Reform | Sir John Irwin | | 274 |
| | Sinn Féin | John Farrell | | 259 |
| | Sinn Féin | Patrick Power | | 169 |
| | Irish Nationalist | Jeremiah Looney | | 134 |
| | Municipal Reform | Frederick T. Rainford | | 101 |
| | Sinn Féin | William Murray | | 61 |
| Electorate: 9,075 Valid: 6,097 Spoilt: 146 Quota: 763 Turnout: 6,243 (68.79%) |||||