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1933 Dublin University by-election

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1933 Dublin University by-election

← 1933
13 October 1933
1937 →
 
Rowlette
Nominee Robert Rowlette
Party Independent
First preferences Unopposed

TD before election

Sir James Craig
Independent

TD after election

Robert Rowlette
Independent

A Dáil by-election was held in the constituency of Dublin University in the Irish Free State on Friday, 13 October 1933, to fill a vacancy in the 8th Dáil. It followed the death of independent TD Sir James Craig on 12 July 1933.[1][2]

In 1933, Dublin University was a three-seat university constituency to which those who had received a degree other than an honorary degree from the University of Dublin or who were scholars of Trinity College Dublin, and were eligible to vote if they were not registered to vote in another constituency.[3] The writ of election to fill the vacancy was agreed by the Dáil on 4 October 1933.[4]

The by-election was uncontested and the independent candidate Robert Rowlette was elected.[5] It remains the only by-election in Ireland since 1923 that was not contested. Like Craig, Rowlette was from a medical background.[6] Rowlette was the first TD to sit in the Dáil after the removal of the Oath of Allegiance on 3 May 1933.

This was the last Dáil election for a university constituency. The Dáil constituencies of Dublin University and the National University of Ireland were abolished at the 1937 general election.[7] Article 18.4 of the Constitution of Ireland adopted in 1937, provided that both constituencies would have three seats in the new Seanad Éireann.

Rowlette was elected to the Dublin University Seanad constituency in 1938, and served until 1944.

Result

[edit]
1933 Dublin University by-election[8][9]
(uncontested)
Party Candidate
Independent Robert Rowlette
Electorate: 3,260

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Death of Deputy Sir James Craig". Dáil Debates. 48 (18). Houses of the Oireachtas. 13 July 1933. Retrieved 18 May 2026.
  2. ^ Dempsey, Pauric J. (October 2009). "Craig, Sir James". Dictionary of Irish Biography (online ed.). Royal Irish Academy. doi:10.3318/dib.002143.v1.
  3. ^ Electoral Act 1923, s. 1: Dáil franchise (No. 12 of 1923, s. 1). Enacted on 17 April 1923. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 31 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Issue of Writ". Dáil Debates. 49 (17). Houses of the Oireachtas. 4 October 1933. Archived from the original on 18 November 2025. Retrieved 18 May 2026.
  5. ^ "New Deputy Takes His Seat". Dáil Debates. 50 (1). Houses of the Oireachtas. 15 November 1933. Retrieved 18 May 2026.
  6. ^ Long, Patrick (October 2009). "Rowlette, Robert James". Dictionary of Irish Biography (online ed.). Royal Irish Academy. doi:10.3318/dib.007825.v1.
  7. ^ Electoral (University Constituencies) Act 1936 (No. 22 of 1936). Enacted on 29 June 1936. Act of the Oireachtas. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 18 May 2026.
  8. ^ "General election 1933: Dublin University". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  9. ^ Gallagher, Michael (1993). Irish Elections 1922-44: Results and Analysis. PSAI Press. ISBN 0951974815.