The 1879 County Cork by-election was fought on 17 February 1879.
The by-election was fought due to the death of the incumbent Home Rule MP, McCarthy Downing.
It was won by the Home Rule candidate David la Touche Colthurst.
[1] The main issues were Home Rule and fixed tenure for tenant farmers, with the Home Rule candidate (a Catholic convert) being backed by the Catholic church.
This article about a by-election to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Ireland is a stub.