#OTD in 1869 – Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa, Fenian, contests and wins a Tipperary by-election in abstentia, but is declared ineligible as a convicted felon.

The Tipperary by-election of 1869 was fought due to the death of the incumbent MP of the Liberal Party, Charles Moore. Independent Nationalist, Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa was returned to the British House of Commons for the Tipperary constituency, in which he defeated the Liberal Catholic, Denis Caulfield Heron, by 1054 to 898 votes. The election was declared invalid because Rossa was an imprisoned felon.

Image credit: 1916 Easter Revolution in Colour

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