The
1893 Irish general election took place between 14 August and 7 September 1893, the second election to the
Second Order of the
Irish Assembly. The
Irish Parliamentary Party ("IPP") successfully saw off challenges from the offshoot
Irish National League ("INL") and conservative
Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union ("ILPU") to retain its majority in the Order and Parnell's position as
Premier personally. Overall turnout fell by nearly 10%.
Parnell and the IPP had governed Ireland since the
previous election in 1887 but his position was damaged by the revelations, in 1892 of his long-term affair with
Katherine O'Shea, the wife of IPP MO
William O'Shea. When Parnell, for reasons which remain a matter of speculation, blocked O'Shea's political advancement, he sued his wife for divorce and named Parnell as a co-respondent. The revelations caused a
split in the IPP, with a number of MOs following
John Dillon and
Justin McCarthy out of the IPP in disgust at Parnell's private life. They formed the INL in response. However, Parnell's tight control over the IPP's inner machinery and the political capital he had accrued as the man who had peacefully delivered
Home Rule allowed him to retain his position as Premier and the loyalty of the majority of his MOs. Parnell sought to capitalise on the disorganisation of his opponents by dissolving the Second Order and calling a second election for the summer of 1893. The INL and ILPU, not expecting an election until the following year, were caught unprepared and failed to make the breakthrough they had hoped for, although both gained seats. Parnell was reaffirmed as Premier on 11 September.
The INL was led into the election by Justin McCarthy, who was a gifted intellectual but lacked the necessary practical skills to build a new party from the ground up. The party found it hard to find prospective candidates, especially in nationalist areas where personal loyalty to Parnell remained strong. Nevertheless, their gain of 18 seats did establish the party as a viable third force in the Order, a voice of
social conservatism opposed to the more liberal instincts of the remaining IPP. The IPLU had been led since 1887 by the young
St. John Broderick, who had attempted to modify the party's image as a mouthpiece of the
Orange Order, instead emphasising
imperial patriotism and sound public finances. The party attempted to stay out of religious disputes, with the
Catholic Lord Kenmare being prominent in the party's campaign as part of an attempt to broaden its appeal in Catholic areas. However, the party failed to make a breakthrough and only gained 4 seats in
Belfast and
Dublin as a result of the IPP and INL vote splitting, despite the fact that the party's vote held up well (even as if declined as a total percentage due to the emergence of the INL).