1899 Limerick Corporation election

An election for Limerick Municipal Council was held in 1899 as part of the wider 1899 Irish local elections. Following the reforms of the 1898 Act Limerick's franchise had increased from 709 to 5,521.

A total of 79 candidates contested the 40 seats; with 27 of the outgoing councillors putting themselves forward for re-election, 34 Laborites putting themselves forward, 18 Merchants and large rate-payers.

The election saw Labour winning control of the council, with 24 of the councils 40 seats. Hand in hand with Labour's victory, went the victory of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Of the 40 councillors, 21 were members of the IRB. Of these 21 IRB members, 18 were Labourites.

Aggregate results

Limerick Corporation election, 1899

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	LEA	24					53.22	9,070
	Re-elect	11					27.21	4,637
	Merchant	5					19.58	3,337

The result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the council after the elections:

Party		Previous council		New council
		Cllr	Ald	Cllr	Ald
	Independent	32	8	12	4
	Labour	0	0	20	4
Total		32	8	32	8
		40		40
Working majority		32	8	8	0
		40		8

Ward results

Abbey Ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Re-elect	M. McDonnell	403
	LEA	W. Fitzgerald	356
	LEA	J. O'Brien	342
	LEA	M. Murphy	332
	LEA	P. Moloney	324
	Re-elect	J.J. Cleary J.P	205
	Re-elect	J. Kivlehan	179
	Merchant	W. Holliday	86
	Merchant	J. Power	54
Turnout			2,281

Castle Ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	LEA	D. Gilligan	345
	LEA	J. Hassett	325
	LEA	J. Connery	318
	LEA	J. Vaughan	311
	Re-elect	T. Donnellan	290
	Re-elect	A. Hall J.P.	231
	Re-elect	R. Nash	156
	Re-elect	W. O'Connell	131
	Merchant	W. McDonnell	82
Turnout			2,189

Custom House Ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	LEA	M. Joyce	276
	LEA	J. Kett	264
	Independent	T. Cleeve J.P	225
	Independent	S. Quin J.P	224
	Independent	L. Carr	197
	LEA	J. Maloney	194
	LEA	J. O'Neill	172
	Independent	R. Gleeson	102
	Independent	W. Frost	72
	Independent	D. Nelson	68
	Independent	J. McMahon	30
Turnout			1,824