Lichfield House Alliance
The year opened with a general election, called after Sir Robert Peel’s short-lived Conservative ministry dissolved parliament in late December 1834. Polling took place through January and early February 1835. Ireland’s franchise remained narrow and property-based, yet elections were energetic public affairs: candidates required committees, agents, printers, public meetings, transport and substantial funds. Surviving National Library material, including poll reports and election accounts, preserves some trace of this political machinery. Daniel O’Connell, already the most formidable popular Irish politician of his age, stood at its centre.