- Dublin City Electoral Lists is a Dublin City Council project. To date, the Electoral Lists for 1908-1915 have been digitised and a fully-searchable database produced, which now contains over 400,000 records. This is part of an ongoing Dublin City Council project to digitise all of the Dublin City Electoral Lists 1898-1916 – a contribution to the Decade of Commemorations .
The project is directed by Dublin City Archivist Dr. Mary Clark. Scanning of Dublin City Electoral Lists is by Informa Ireland; OCR and production of database by John Grenham.
Data from the Electoral Rolls for 1913 and 1914 has been provided for inclusion in this project by the National Archives of Ireland, by kind permission of the Director. Original Dublin City Electoral Lists:
The original Dublin City Electoral Lists are in printed format and are held at Dublin City Library & Archive, 138-144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2. The Electoral Lists record the names of people resident in Dublin City or who owned property there and who were registered to vote in local elections and parliamentary elections. The Electoral Lists were maintained by Dublin City Council (then Dublin Corporation) on an annual basis in the Town Clerk’s Department at City Hall. The two officials who carried out this work during this period were Stephen J. Hand, a general office assistant who was responsible for all matters relating to the franchise list, and James J. Henry, assistant to the Town Clerk, to whom Hand reported. Each Electoral List was printed and bound by Cahill & Co., Great Charles Street, Dublin; the Electoral List was then issued on 31st December and was valid for the following calendar year.Organization of original Dublin City Electoral Lists:
Names are entered according to electoral ward, which in turn are entered in alphabetical order i.e. Arran Quay Ward; Fitzwilliam Ward; Inns Quay Ward, etc. Voters are grouped within each ward according to category i.e. Parliamentary and Local Government Voters; Freeholders and Leaseholders; Lodgers; and Freemen. Within each category, voters are listed street-by-street with streets being entered in alphabetical order. In order to validate the registration of each voter in each category, additional information is given in the original Electoral Lists, which can include type and description of accommodation; occupation; name of landlord; amount of rates or rent paid.Carrying out the digitisation project:
Each page in the Dublin City Electoral Lists 1908-1915 has been scanned and digitized; the data created has been validated against the original printed lists; the data has then been moved into a purpose-designed and fully-searchable SQL database; and the data is linked to digital images of the original printed lists.Historic background:
Prior to 1898, Irish local government was largely undemocratic. Under the Municipal Corporations Reform (Ireland) Act 1840, the municipal vote was confined to ratepayers with a valuation of £10 or more (later reduced to £8); and was also issued to freemen, who were descended from members of the defunct Dublin trade guilds. Under the Representation of the People (Ireland) Act 1868, which specifically referred to towns (or ‘boroughs’) the rated occupier franchise was further reduced to £4 and a lodger franchise was introduced for the first time.Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898:
This Act provided a first major step towards reform of the right to vote in Ireland. This Act enabled men over the age of 21 and women over the age of 30 to vote in local elections, if they were either householders or else lodgers occupying portion of a house. Ratepayers and freemen continued to have the vote as before in both local and parliamentary elections. In 1898, Dublin City Council began the process of registering local and parliamentary voters under the terms of the Local Government Act 1898 and the first Dublin City Electoral List was issued on 31 December, to take effect in 1899. The first local election under the Act was held in March 1899.Dublin City boundaries, early 20th century:
Dublin City consisted of an area bounded by the Royal Canal on the north and the Grand Canal on the south, with the addition of the former Townships of Clontarf, Drumcondra, Clonliffe & Glasnevin, and New Kilmainham, which were added to Dublin City in 1900.Population of Dublin:
The population of Dublin City, as returned in the Census of 1901 was 290,638. The population of Dublin City, as returned at the next Census of 1911 was 304,802. A total of 46,055 persons were registered to vote in 1908; 46,947 were registered to vote in 1909; 48,163 were registered to vote in 1910; 48,118 were registered to vote in 1911; 46,651 were registered in 1912; and 44,783 were registered in 1915.Voters on the Electoral Lists:
In addition to the basic qualification for voting rights (a minimum age of 21 for men and 30 for women) persons registering to vote were also obliged to hold one of the following additional qualifications:- Rated Occupiers and Inhabitant Householders:
A rated occupier was the owner or occupier of a business property with a minimum rateable valuation of £4 yearly. An inhabitant householder was a person who owned and lived in a residential house with a rateable valuation of £4 yearly. Rateable valuation was a calculation of the amount of rental which could be obtained annually on any premises. Rated Occupiers and Inhabitant Householders were entitled to vote in local elections and in parliamentary elections. A person who had a separate business premises and a separate residential house in different electoral areas was entitled to two votes in local elections.
Information recorded in the Dublin City Electoral Rolls 1908:
- - First name and surname of registered voter
- - Address, description and valuation of rated premises
- - Nature of voter qualification
- - Voter's registration number
- Freeholders and Leaseholders:
A freeholder was a person who owned land or premises outright; a leaseholder was a person who occupied land or premises for a fixed term lease but did not own it. Freeholders and leaseholders who owned or leased land or premises in Dublin City were entitled to vote in local elections and parliamentary elections.
Information recorded:
- - First name and surname of registered voter
- - Place of abode
- - Nature and value of voter qualification
- - Address of property from which voter qualification is derived
- - Voter's registration number
- Lodgers
Both male and female lodgers were entitled to vote in local elections, once they had reached the minimum age of 21 (men) and 30 (women). The Dublin City Electoral Lists give detailed and important information about lodgers, which is not contained in other sources, including the Census returns for 1901 and 1911.
Information recorded:
- - First name and surname of registered voter
- - Address of house in which lodgings are situated
- - Name and address of landlord
- - Description of rooms and whether furnished or not
- - Amount of rent paid and services provided by the landlord (i.e. board and lodgings)
- - Voter's registration number
- Freemen
The freemen of Dublin were descended from members of Dublin City's historic trade guilds. They continued to have the right to vote in local elections for Dublin City Council and in parliamentary elections for the Dublin City constituencies - even if they were not resident in Dublin City. This was an historic anomaly which was finally abolished under the Representation of the People Act 1918.
Information recorded:
- - First name and surname of registered voter
- - Address
- - Voter's registration number
- Rated Occupiers and Inhabitant Householders:
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