View source for Carrickfergus and Belfast (constituency)

{{Short description|Constituency in Ireland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
'''Carrickfergus and Belfast''' was a constituency in Ireland, that returned a single [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] to sit in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] of the [[Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland]].

It was represented in the three Protectorate Parliaments, between 1654 and 1659.

==Representation and Electorate==
Ireland was united with England and Scotland under a republican government, after the defeat of the Royalists in the [[English Civil War]] and related conflicts, which had affected all three kingdoms.

Under the [[Instrument of Government (1653)|Instrument of Government]], of 15 December 1653, the [[Lord Protector]] and the [[English Council of State]] were given power to provide for Irish representatives in the [[Westminster Parliament]].

Provision for thirty Members of Parliament was made by ''An Ordinance by the Protector for Elections in Ireland'' of 27 June 1654. ''Carrickfergus and Belfast'' was one of the constituencies established by the Ordinance. The place of election was at Belfast.

''[[Belfast]]'' was a [[borough]], which had been enfranchised in 1613. According to Samuel Lewis in ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland'' in Parliament of Ireland elections the  voters were the free burgess members of the corporation (the local Council). This group numbered twelve in the 18th century, although many Irish boroughs had larger corporations in earlier times than in the 18th century.

''[[Carrickfergus]]'', one of the oldest [[Parliamentary borough]]s in Ireland, was a county of itself. This was a status similar to the later [[County Borough]]s. The town had been enfranchised in 1326, before County Antrim existed as a sub-division of [[Ireland]] and ''Carrickfergus'' was included in that geographical county (but not for the purposes of administration). In Irish Parliament elections it was one of the few boroughs with a fairly large electorate. According to Samuel Lewis in ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland'' it consisted of the [[mayor]], [[aldermen]], [[burgess (title)|burgess]]es, and [[Freedom of the City|freemen]] of the town as well as the freeholders of land valued at 40 shillings per annum or more.

==Boundaries and boundary changes==
The constituency comprised the [[County Antrim]] [[borough]]s of [[Belfast]] and [[Carrickfergus]].

Both before and after the Commonwealth, [[Belfast (Parliament of Ireland constituency)]] and [[Carrickfergus (Parliament of Ireland constituency)]] each sent two members to the [[Parliament of Ireland]].

==Parliaments in which the constituency was represented==
===First Protectorate Parliament===
The [[First Protectorate Parliament]] was summoned by the [[Lord Protector]] [[Oliver Cromwell]] under the terms of the [[Instrument of Government (1653)|Instrument of Government]]. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with  [[William Lenthall]] as the [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the House]].

===Second Protectorate Parliament===
The [[Second Protectorate Parliament]] sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658 with [[Thomas Widdrington]] as the [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the House]].

===Third Protectorate Parliament===
The [[Third Protectorate Parliament]] sat for one session from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659 with [[Chaloner Chute]] and [[Thomas Bampfield]] as the [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speakers of the House]].

==See also==
* [[List of Irish constituencies]]
* [[Irish House of Commons]]

==External links==
* [http://www.constitution.org/eng/conpur097.htm Text of the ''Instrument of Government'']
* [http://www.constitution.org/eng/conpur100.htm Text of ''An Ordinance by the Protector for Elections in Ireland'']

[[Category:Historic constituencies in Belfast]]
[[Category:Historic constituencies in County Antrim]]
[[Category:Carrickfergus]]
[[Category:Constituencies in the Parliament of England]]
[[Category:Constituencies established in 1654]]
[[Category:Constituencies disestablished in 1659]]