Freeman's Journal

For the newspaper published in Sydney from 1850–1932 and now published as The Catholic Weekly, seeThe Freeman's Journal (Sydney).For The New York City Catholic newspaper, seeJames McMaster.

Freeman's Journal

Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Broadsheet
Founder(s)	Charles Lucas
Editor	John Turner Fearon
Founded	1763
Political alignment	Moderate Irish nationalist
Ceased publication	1924
Headquarters	4-6 Princes Street North, Dublin 1 (Destroyed during the Easter Rising) 7-8 Townsend Street, Dublin 2 27 Westmoreland Street, Dublin 2

TheFreeman's Journal,which was published continuously inDublinfrom 1763 to 1924, was in the nineteenth century Ireland's leadingnationalistnewspaper.

History

Patriot journal

It was founded in 1763 byCharles Lucasand was identified with radical 18th-centuryProtestantpatriotpoliticiansHenry GrattanandHenry Flood.This changed from 1784 when it passed toFrancis Higgins(better known as the "Sham Squire" )and took a more pro-British and pro-administration view. In fact Francis Higgins is mentioned in the Secret Service Money Book as having betrayedLord Edward FitzGerald.Higgins was paid £1,000 for information on FitzGerald's capture.

Voice of constitutional nationalism

In the 19th century it became more nationalist in tone, particularly under the control and inspiration ofSir John Gray(1815–75).

The Journal,as it was widely known as, was the leading newspaper in Ireland throughout the 19th century. Contemporary sources record it being read to the largely illiterate population by priests and local teachers gathering in homes. It was mentioned in contemporary literature and was seen as symbolisingIrish newspapersfor most of its time. By the 1880s it had become the primary media supporter ofCharles Stewart Parnelland theIrish Parliamentary Party(IPP). The weekend edition of the paper was known asThe Weekly Freeman,which began featuring large format political cartoons in the 1870s.

It was challenged on all sides by rivals. On the nationalist side some preferredThe Nationfounded byThomas Daviswhile others, including radical supporters of Parnell, read theUnited Irishman.TheAnglo-Irish establishmentin contrast read the historicallyIrish unionistThe Irish Times.With the split in the IPP over Parnell's relationship withKatherine O'Shea,its readership split too. WhileThe Journalin September 1891eventually went with the majority inopposing Parnell,a minority moved to read theDaily Irish Independent.It was also challenged from the turn of the century byWilliam O'Brien'sIrish Peopleand theCork Free Press.WithThomas Sextonbecoming Chairman of the Board of Directors (1893–1911), the Journal languished under his spartanic management.

Superseded by theIrish Independent

The collapse of the IPP in 1918, and the electoral success ofSinn Féin,saw a more radical nationalism appear that increasingly was out of step with the moderation of the Journal. TheIrish Independent,the successor to theDaily Irish Independent,was more aggressively marketed. Just prior to the outbreak of theIrish Civil Warin March 1922, the Freeman's Journal printing machinery was destroyed byAnti-Treaty IRAmen underRory O'Connorfor its support of theAnglo-Irish Treaty.It did not resume publication until after the outbreak of civil war, when the Irish Free State re-asserted its authority over the country.

The Freeman's Journalceased publication in 1924, when it was merged with theIrish Independent.Until the 1990s, the Irish Independent included the words 'Incorporating the Freeman's Journal' in its mast-head over its editorials.

Offices

The newspaper's head office was located at 4-6 Prince Street North until its destruction during the Easter Rising of 1916.

After its destruction, the newspaper refurbished buildings at 6-8 Townsend Street incorporating the former Dublin Coffee Palace however these were ultimately ransacked by anti-treaty forces in March 1922.

It also developed other alternative offices at 27Westmoreland Streetin 1917 while carrying out extensive renovations there in 1921-22.

In fiction

James Joycedrew on his recollection of his visits to the Freeman’s office in 1909 in his novelUlysses.As the place ofLeopold Bloom's employment, the depiction of the paper's offices in the Aeolus chapter has been deemed "an authentic portrait" at a time when the newspaper was "moribund – theIrish Independenthaving supplanted it as the most popular daily newspaper in Dublin. "Its decline is reflected in" the anxious question posed in Aeolus about the Freeman’s editor, WH Brayden: 'But can he save the circulation?' "

Leading proprietors, editors and contributors

• Matthias McDonnell Bodkin
• Henry Brooke
• Edward 'Doc' Byrne
• Wilson Gray
• Sir John Gray
• Charles Lucas
• James Winder Good
• William O'Brien
• Thomas Sexton

See also

• Pádraig Ó Domhnaill

External links

• Media related toFreeman's Journalat Wikimedia Commons