Ballyshannon man elected M.P. on this day 100 years ago

Edward Kelly from the Mall Ballyshannon was elected an M.P. on this day in 1918

The 1918 Election was held on Saturday 14^th of December and, locally, there were no polling booths in Bundoran and the Sinn Fein Party had difficulty getting their supporters to the polling booths in Ballyshannon. There were eight polling stations in Ballyshannon. The counting of votes for South Donegal took place in the Market House in Donegal Town on Saturday 28^th December. There were four single seat constituencies in County Donegal- North, South, East and West. Sinn Fein won three of the seats with Joseph O’ Doherty topping the poll in North Donegal and  Joseph Sweeney topped the poll in West Donegal. 
In this area of South Donegal Peter J. Ward, a solicitor with offices in Donegal Town and Killybegs,  topped the poll for Sinn Fein. A local branch of Cumann na mBan had been formed in Ballyshannon,  and women  canvassed during the 1918 Election, where women over 30 who were householders had the vote for the first time. There was still much ground to cover before all women over 21 would have the vote. 

In a pact agreed between Sinn Féin and the Irish Parliamentary Party in East Donegal, Edward J. Kelly, a native of Ballyshannon, and a member of the Irish Parliamentary Party was elected in the 1918 Election. 

A LOCAL BOOK FOR CHRISTMAS

This book is available in a limited hardback edition with dust jacket as above, in A Novel Idea Ballyshannon and for postal delivery from Anthony Begley anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com

The book is also available in softback in A Novel Idea, Local Hands  in Ballyshannon and the Four Master's bookshop Donegal Town.

 Next blog this Saturday 15th December is "A Christmas Memory of two Ballyshannon Orphan sisters separated by the Famine".