Establishment, Emergent Forces and Municipal Politics: Dublin Corporation, 1899-1920

After a series of measures throughout the nineteenth century, municipal government at the turn of the twentieth century played a vital role in the lives of ordinary citizens. For example, services such as sanitation, public health, electric lighting, and transport were all under the remit of municipal Corporations. Local government also allowed political parties to gain control over Corporations and provided the training ground for many politicians before they got elected to national government. The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 transformed local elections after significantly extending the municipal franchise. This, in turn, created a whole new electorate in which the established political parties could compete. The 1898 Act also provided the opportunity for new emerging parties to develop with a broader set of voters to appeal to. In the absence of Irish self-government, Dublin Corporation was regarded by many as the premier representative body in Ireland. The central research question for this thesis is: how did the established and emergent groups develop, grow, and interact with each other in Dublin’s municipal politics, 1899-1920? The starting point for this thesis is the municipal elections that were held in January 1899 after the passing of the 1898 Act, and the thesis will conclude after the municipal elections in January 1920. This timeframe, though extensive, allows for a thorough examination of the key parties, individuals, and administration of Dublin Corporation from its formative years after the 1898 Act right up to the emergence of a new Corporation in 1920 and after the events of the 1916 Rising. The starting point of January 1899 was chosen after the transformative 1898 Act, which created a new electorate that was captured by the Irish Party. The 1920 municipal elections are chosen as the endpoint of the study as these were the first municipal contests held after municipal elections were suspended in Britain and Ireland in the summer of 1915 due to the First World War. The 1920 elections are important for a number of reasons and need to be examined in detail due to the changes in the political system as a result of the 1916 Rising, the destruction of the Irish Party in the 1918 general election, and they were the first elections held under the proportional representation voting system. By extending this analysis to 1920, this thesis can then examine Dublin Corporation and its political sphere from the creation of a new administration in 1899 up to another new administration in 1920. Throughout the thesis, the themes that developed throughout these years will be teased out, and they will significantly contribute to our understanding of local government and political parties in Ireland in the early twentieth century.