General Election: 27 August 1923 Clare This was the first General Election in Ireland. Michael Comyn ran for election
The 1923 Irish general election, held on August 27, was indeed the first general election in the newly established Irish Free State, following its formation on December 6, 1922, after the Irish Civil War. It aimed to elect the 4th Dáil, with 153 seats contested across 28 constituencies using proportional representation by single transferable vote. The election occurred shortly after the Civil War ended in May 1923, with many anti-Treaty Republican TDs, imprisoned or abstaining, refusing to take seats, allowing Cumann na nGaedheal to form a government despite lacking an outright majority.
In the Clare constituency, which elected four TDs, Michael Comyn, running as a Republican (anti-Treaty Sinn Féin), did not win a seat. The elected candidates were:
Éamon de Valera (Republican, 8,701 votes, elected on first count)
Patrick Hogan (Cumann na nGaedheal, 7,104 votes)
Eoin MacNeill (Cumann na nGaedheal, 5,010 votes)
Brian O’Higgins (Republican, 4,360 votes)
Comyn, a solicitor and former Sinn Féin TD for North Cork in 1921–22, stood as an anti-Treaty candidate but was not successful. Notably, Éamon de Valera, a prominent Republican leader, was arrested in Ennis on August 15, 1923, during the campaign, highlighting the tense post-Civil War atmosphere. Despite his arrest, de Valera topped the poll in Clare but did not take his seat due to his imprisonment and Republican abstentionism.
For detailed results, see ElectionsIreland.org’s Clare constituency page for first-preference votes and transfers.
Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
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