CAUSA FINAL

The Irish newspaper industry in the opening decades of the twentieth century differed little to that of Britain and many other countries. Reporters filed their copy anonymously and the author’s name almost never appeared with their articles. The conditions under which journalists plied their trade during the period under consideration in this study are starkly outlined by Walsh who comments that they ‘filled the columns of their newspapers anonymously in a literary endeavour barely removed from the industrial discipline of the factory’.2 The industrial revolution era working conditions notwithstanding, Irish journalism, according to a contemporary historian of the Fourth Estate, had attained a position of some considerable stature by the early 1900s. In his 1911 book, Masters of English journalism, T.H.S. Escott noted the extent to which the ‘Irish genius’ had ‘so widely permeated the English press’. Not alone did Escott recognise the impact of Irish journalists working in England but he also acknowledged the achievement of ‘authority and success’ that ‘made him a power in his native land from [the] Giant’s Causeway to Cape Clear’.3 Escott’s geographical emphasis would certainly suggest that provincial newspapers shared equally in what he clearly believed to be the burgeoning success of the broader print media in Ireland.

Those who controlled such provincial newspapers cannot easily be classified into a small number of homogenous groups. Nonetheless, a division into two general categories can provide a reasonably broad overview of the proprietorship-editorship of the Irish provincial press during this period. The first category was comprised of slightly longer-established titles whose ownership (and frequently editorship) had transferred through one or more generations of the same family. The second category consisted of many of those (principally nationalist) titles that had only been established relatively recently and were essentially still only finding their feet as the turbulent 1914-21 period approached. The former category incorporates unionist and nationalist publications such as the Tuam Herald, Roscommon Herald, Anglo-Celt, Impartial Reporter, and Londonderry Sentinel (as will be seen in later chapters) plus titles such as the Leinster Express, Sligo Champion, and Banbridge Chronicle.4 The latter

2

Walsh, op. cit., p.22 3

T.H.S. Escott, Master of English journalism: a study of personal forces (London, 1911), pp 305-306 4 _{Leinster Express, 7 Aug. 1943; Sligo Champion, 14 Jan. 1966; Banbridge Chronicle, 2 June 1951;}

Michael Charles Carey succeeded his father as editor-proprietor of the Leinster Express in 1903; Alfred McHugh took over ownership of the Sligo Champion after the death of his father, P.A. McHugh MP, in 1909; Arthur Waldo Emerson became owner of the Banbridge Chronicle following the death of his father in May 1912.

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category covers papers such as the Leitrim Observer, Kerryman, and Enniscorthy Echo (as will also be detailed in later chapters) and, amongst others, the Connacht Tribune and Tipperary Star.5

The dearth of journalistic memoirs and autobiographies referred to in the introduction renders it difficult to describe the challenges faced by these editors and proprietors (and indeed the reporters who were employed by them) while working in the newspaper business during these years. There is one source, however, which does shed some light in this regard. The Irish Journalists Association was an organisation formed in 1909 that sought to address the concerns of working journalists and bring about improved working conditions where it was deemed necessary. Although labelling this body a trade union might be an overstatement it did strive to address issues such as reporters’ salaries though obviously with very limited success as the Irish Journalists Association went out of existence within two years of the foundation of the Free State. Nevertheless, its short-lived monthly newsletter, the Irish Journalist, featured several contributions from newspapermen that document, albeit to a limited extent, the experience of working as a journalist in Ireland at that time.

In a representative organisation comprised principally of ordinary employees, the employer could be conceived as one of the main barriers to its objectives. Accordingly contributions from editors or proprietors were extremely scarce. Nonetheless, the November 1915 issue of the Irish Journalist featured an article entitled ‘Sidelights – On editing a provincial paper’. The author was T.J.W. Kenny, editor of the Connacht Tribune. Kenny’s writing tended to be overly-colourful at times but he did provide some insight into the challenges of running a provincial newspaper. He argued that it was ‘not a mere local paper’; neither was it ‘a one-horse show’ whose contents ‘never embrace anything outside the rural district of the demesne walls’. Kenny recognised that it was the editor’s duty to ‘see to it that the paper is made of general as well as local interest’ and also to understand ‘that its readers know something of the existence of the telegraph, the railway train, the Atlantic liner – or the war’. The Connacht Tribune editor further asserted that it was the specific function of a provincial newspaper to ‘take a political character’ but should not sink to the status of being a mere mouthpiece of a particular political party.6 Unfortunately Kenny did not broach the subject of censorship though this may well have

5

Connacht Tribune, 11 May 1940; Tipperary Star, 7 Nov. 1925; Thomas J.W. Kenny founded the Connacht

Tribune in 1909; Edward Long established the Tipperary Star also in 1909.

6

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been purely due to space limitations.7 Regardless of the non-discussion of censorship, Kenny’s article does at least provide some indication of the mind-set of the provincial editor.

It is regrettable that the views of other provincial editors were not similarly documented but fortunately the Irish Journalist did bequeath the opinions of a number of reporters that shed some light on the concerns of the ordinary journalist working in the provinces. It is probably of little surprise that foremost of those concerns was the matter of salary. In December 1914 a provincial reporter (only identifying himself as ‘Ogánach’) claimed that the maximum wage a journalist in his position could expect to earn was in the region of thirty-five shillings per week. In almost time-honoured fashion this state of affairs was attributed to the perennial city versus country conflict. The needs of the journalist working outside the capital (the Irish Journalists Association was a Dublin-based organisation) was ‘little understood by his metropolitan confrére’. The anonymous contributor further berated ‘the indifference of the Dublin journalist for his country cousin’, an indifference that was ‘begotten of ignorance’.8

The antipathy and sense of injustice felt by this particular member of the provincial press corps is quite intriguing in light of an article that appeared in the previous month’s issue of the same newsletter. This contribution bemoaned the failure of journalists in the provinces to form local committees ‘to discuss their own local grievances and to deal promptly with any matters that might arise affecting their interests’. The same contribution referred to a weekend meeting organised in a large provincial centre at which ‘not a single pressman in that centre put in an appearance’. It added that some of these pressmen stated afterwards that ‘it would be more than their positions were worth to join the Association’. In a scathing conclusion the same pressmen were lambasted for their ‘hopeless apathy’ and for being ‘past masters in the art of criticising the efforts of those who are honestly trying to do something to improve their conditions, but when it comes to a question of doing anything for themselves they are as helpless as the infant in arms’.9

The stinging criticism was not wholly unjustified if the views of another anonymous provincial reporter from a few months later is to be believed. This writer contended that some pressmen in the provinces could earn up to £3 per week though not from salary alone. He detailed how profit from travel expenses (earned primarily in his case from cycling to wherever his job took him but being allowed to claim a train

7 _{Kenny may not have mentioned censorship due to the fact that it only became a far more pressing issue for} provincial papers in the aftermath of the Easter Rising even though restrictions on the reporting of military operations had been in effect since the start of World War I.

8 _{Irish Journalist, Vol. I No. 3, Dec. 1914} 9

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fare) plus other incidental expenses could raise the weekly income to this amount. Nonetheless, this particular journalist stated categorically that it was up to provincial pressmen ‘to make themselves worth more money’. Such amelioration in pay and conditions could best be achieved by joining the Irish Journalists Association ‘in large numbers’. Failure to do so meant that provincial pressmen would ‘have only themselves to blame for getting badly paid for their work’.10 It seems, however, that such urgings fell on deaf ears as almost eighteen months later the Irish Journalist (in one of its final issues) was still lamenting ‘the failure of our provincial members to form County Committees’.11

The mind-set of individual journalists (albeit a small number of them) is at least discernible to some extent from the pages of the Irish Journalist. The political leanings of the individual provincial titles that employed these journalists can be discerned from the Newspaper Press directory and advertiser’s guide. In its own words this annual publication contained ‘particulars of every newspaper, magazine, review, and periodical published in the United Kingdom and the British Isles’.12 The directory was in essence the trade journal for the print media in Britain and Ireland and effectively the “bible” for advertisers. In addition to providing brief but descriptive listings for almost all newspapers, both national and local, it also carried advertisements placed by selected newspapers that were directed at potential advertisers. Such listings and advertisements reveal much about the nature of the Irish newspaper business at the time.

In most cases the Newspaper Press Directory stated the broad political sympathy of individual titles. The collation of such political sympathies from the 1917 edition of the directory, plus numerous aspects of the research carried out for this study, reveals the following breakdown of political allegiance during the 1914-1921 period:

Nationalist 69

Unionist/Conservative 43

Independent 12

Neutral 5

Political sympathy not stated 6 10

Ibid, Vol. I No. 7, Apr. 1915 11 _{Ibid, Vol. II No. 6, Sept. – Oct. 1916} 12

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These figures do not include every Irish publication listed in the Newspaper Press Directory; rather the data has been extracted so as to include only provincial titles.13

While the majority of unionist titles were understandably concentrated in Ulster it is important to note that there were also unionist papers published in many other parts of the country. These were spread over numerous different counties and included titles such as the Carlow Sentinel, Kilkenny Moderator, Wicklow Newsletter, Waterford Conservative Gazette, Midland Counties Advertiser, King’s County Chronicle (Offaly), Limerick Chronicle, Longford Journal, Meath Herald, Sligo Independent, and

Westmeath Guardian.14 Unfortunately accurate circulation figures are not available for any provincial

newspapers so it can only be speculated that these titles may only have been catering for a small readership by comparison with their nationalist counterparts.15 Indeed, many titles were quite happy to promote themselves as the only paper of a specific political persuasion in a certain region.

The Ulster Herald, for example claimed to be ‘the only nationalist weekly paper for mid and west Ulster’ while the Waterford Standard asserted that it was ‘the only unionist paper in the city and county’.16 On the other hand some provincial papers laid claim to a readership well beyond their natural catchment area, sometimes even outside the country. The Northern Standard, a unionist organ from Monaghan, stated that its circulation encompassed not only its county of publication but extended ‘throughout the north of Ireland’. The Tyrone Constitution made the significantly more grandiose assertion that it had ‘a considerable circulation in America, India, and the colonies’. Not to be outdone, the Connaught

13 _{The figures exclude the main national newspapers plus other newspapers whose main circulation was in the} three major cities of Dublin, Cork, or Belfast. Also excluded are magazines and periodicals plus titles which were effectively localised editions of other newspapers e.g. the Fermanagh News (Enniskillen) and Donegal

Independent (Letterkenny) were local editions of the Donegal Vindicator (Ballyshannon) while the

Monaghan Democrat was the local edition of the Dundalk Democrat. Also, these figures take into account some obvious errors and omissions relating to the Newspaper Press Directory e.g. titles such as the Longford

Leader, Enniscorthy Echo, and Western News (Ballinasloe) were listed as independent organs even though

their sympathies were clearly nationalist. The directory also did not include a listing for the Kerryman or the Southern Star (Skibbereen), both papers being unambiguously nationalist organs.

14 _{Appendix B shows the geographical location of each provincial title while Appendix C provides an overview of} the political sympathies/orientation, publication dates, and key figures at each individual provincial newspaper during the 1914-21 period.

15 _{The Newspaper Press Directory did not supply circulation figures for individual titles and they were not} published during this period. Nonetheless, newspapers were the only existing mass medium so it can reasonably be concluded that they circulated widely considering the attention afforded to them by the British authorities in terms of regulation and censorship.

16

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Telegraph believed that its readership was spread not only ‘throughout the province of Connaught’ but also extended to the United Kingdom and America.17

It was also not unusual for newspapers to declare some form of religious affiliation. To twenty-first century readers this might appear strange and possibly even slightly sectarian. Nonetheless, in the early twentieth century the trend was far from uncommon. The Fermanagh Times was a ‘thorough Protestant and conservative paper’ while the Longford Journal advocated ‘the interests of all sects of Protestants’. The Ulster Gazette (Armagh) simply advocated ‘sound Protestant principles’ and supported the Church of Ireland, and in a somewhat similar manner, the King’s County Chronicle (Offaly) merely stated that it was ‘attached to the reformed churches of Ireland, England, and Scotland’.18 Nationalist titles, whose religious sympathies obviously lay predominantly with the Catholic Church, were notably less forthright in declaring the religious creed to which they subscribed. One of the very few nationalist papers to make any assertion in this respect was the Kilkenny Journal; it described itself inoffensively as a ‘defender of Roman Catholic principles’ rather than ‘the impugner of other men’s creeds’.19

Perhaps even more revelatory were the advertisements placed by some publications in the Newspaper Press Directory. Numerous titles wished to convey a specialised appeal to potential advertisers. The Cork Weekly Free Press being was one such example as it portrayed its readership as being comprised extensively of ‘the farming and commercial classes’. Others, such as the Nenagh News, ‘read by all classes – the peer and the peasant’, wished to depict themselves as having a more universal and egalitarian appeal. However, many other papers promoted themselves in a manner that may seem extremely supercilious over a century later. Dublin’s Daily Express (not to be confused with British publication of the same name) declared to potential advertisers that it was ‘the financial and society paper’ that was ‘read by all the best people’. The Cork Constitution boasted that it was read ‘by people representing a greater purchasing power than the readers of all the other papers published in Munster’. The Irish Times followed a similar line when contending that it was ‘the organ of the moneyed community’ while its weekly edition, the Weekly Irish Times was read ‘throughout the land in all well-to- do families’.20 17 _{Ibid, pp 209-215} 18 Ibid, pp 207-209 19 _{Ibid, p.213} 20 Ibid, p.206, 547, 583-4

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Expressions of political sympathies tended not to appear in advertisements though there were some exceptions. The Ulster Gazette declared itself the ‘official organ of the mid-Armagh Conservative Association and the County Grand Orange Lodge of Armagh’. The Londonderry Sentinel clearly wanted potential advertisers to know that it was ‘opposed to Home Rule or any legislation tending to sever the Union between England and Ireland’.21 Such outright statements of political affiliations were not typical of most provincial papers however. In general such detail appeared under the newspaper’s listing rather than in an advertisement (not all papers ran advertisements). As with religious outlook, unionist titles tended to articulate their political allegiances in a somewhat more overt manner than their nationalist counterparts. While most nationalist papers merely described themselves as ‘nationalist’ their unionist counterparts tended to be rather more effusive in this regard. The Ballymena Observer, for example, unambiguously advocated ‘loyalty to the throne and the maintenance of the Union’ while the Strabane Weekly News was ‘a staunch supporter of the Unionist party’. The Belfast Newsletter adopted a slightly more moderate tone, simply supporting ‘unionist principles’ while the aforementioned Daily Express sought to ‘maintain intact the imperial union’.22

Nationalist titles were slightly more tentative in revealing their politics. The Western People (Ballina) merely stated its support for ‘sound national principles’. The Enniscorthy Guardian was only slightly more assertive in claiming to act ‘in the interests of “Peasant Proprietors” and was also ‘for home rule’. The King’s County Independent was slightly more effusive, declaring itself ‘a strong advocate of the national cause’ that also devoted ‘much space to political and general affairs affecting the welfare of Ireland’. Other nationalist papers were not only more forceful in asserting their nationalist credentials but were equally happy to publicise their allegiance to the principal force of Irish nationalism at the time, the Irish Parliamentary Party. The Fermanagh Herald was ‘a thorough nationalist paper’ that supported ‘all the movements of the party’, while the Galway Observer identified itself as ‘the recognised organ of the national party’ but equally advocated ‘freedom for all classes’.23

The links between provincial newspapers and the Irish Parliamentary Party, and indeed the Unionist Party, was not something that happened by accident. Nor was it a situation that came about because several MPs just happened to be newspaper proprietors or editors. It was a scenario that evolved as politicians (not only in Ireland) came to realise the increasingly influential position occupied by the print 21 Ibid, pp 84-5 22 _{Ibid, pp 207-8, 215} 23 Ibid, pp 207-215

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media. Accordingly they recognised the necessity to cultivate this relationship so as to ensure that as many newspapers as possible were sympathetic to their aims and aspirations. This may have involved financial support for newspapers where feasible or indeed playing a role in their initial establishment. The relationship could occasionally be mutually beneficial as many newspapermen moved into the political arena on the strength of their journalistic experience. This was a noticeable feature of the Irish Parliamentary Party during its time as the dominant force in Irish nationalism. Its successor in this position, the Sinn Féin party, held radically different ideas as to how Irish self-government should be achieved. However, Sinn Féin differed little from its predecessor in its desire to exert as much influence as possible on the press, both national and local, and the party spared little effort to fulfil that desire. 2.2 Political parties and Irish newspapers