Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union

[1] The Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union was formed in Dublin in May 1885 by a small number of southern businessmen, landowners and academics.

In doing so, it undermined the Conservative Loyal Irish Union, which shut down as a result of the ILPU's founding.

[3][4] The organisation had some success in preventing rivalry between Liberals and Conservatives, and in a number of cases candidates came forward in the 1885 general election simply as ‘loyalists’.

The success of the organisation led its leaders to found the Irish Unionist Alliance in 1891, at which point the ILPU ceased to exist as a separate body.

Table shows results for candidates running under a purely "Loyalist" banner.

Coloured purple are seats contested by the ILPU in the 1885 election. All were lost to the IPP. Constituencies coloured green were won by the IPP, and blue by the Conservatives.