Reeling in the years of The Irish Weekly

SOME older readers will recall The Irish Weekly—sister paper of The Irish News—being sold in churches throughout Scotland. It was a Nationalist and Catholic publication, which, in 1892 incorporated The Ulster Examiner. The content was of Irish interest whether in news, prose, history or verse.

The Scottish edition of The Irish Weekly established deep-rooted affiliations with succeeding generations of Irish Catholics. Emigrants poured over to seek work in the years of the industrial revolution and found jobs in mining, road and railway construction, harbours and agriculture, adding muscle power and eventually a rich flowering of brain power to the development of the resources of the nation, and to the revival of a Reformation-crushed Catholic Church.

The Irish Weekly was represented in Scotland by Donegal-born J O’Donnell Derrick for 35 years until his death in 1933. He wielded a formidable pen in the campaign, which eventually led to the passing of the Education (Scotland) Act of 1918 which gave Catholics—mostly of Irish birth or descent—educational equality and opened for them the doors to higher spheres of learning.

In many a home in Scotland, as in Ireland, the lengthy reports in the paper would be read to groups of Irish exiles, who followed intently the points made in parliamentary debate, adding their own vocal commendation or disapproval to the points of view expressed. The records show that The Irish Weekly had its heyday when the struggle for national independence was the big issue.

The Scottish edition of The Irish Weekly helped to promote and conserve interest in Irish culture, language, games and history and promoted an awareness and appreciation of Irish songs and poetry. The Irish Weekly and Ulster Examiner consistently provided time and space for Irish organisations, reflecting the vibrancy of community life across Scotland. It regularly featured the activities of the Gaelic League, which has flourished in Glasgow since 1895 and continues to promote interest in the Irish language and culture. The paper also reported on the work of the Gaelic Athletic Association, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Irish National Foresters, Sinn Féin, the Anti-Partition League, and—before its demise—the ill-fated Irish Centre in Glasgow.

Through this coverage, the publication offered a valuable record of the social and cultural life of the Irish community in Scotland. In terms of circulation, the Scottish edition coverage stretched from Aberdeen to Dumfries; from Glasgow to Edinburgh and Fife; from Ayrshire to Angus; and into the Highlands and islands of the Hebrides such as Barra.

Factual and faithful

Not only did The Irish Weekly maintain a high standard of journalism, but it strove to be true to its subsidiary title of Ulster Examiner doing so with great objectivity and fairness. Prior to, and following the setting up of the puppet ‘state’ of Northern Ireland, with its ‘Protestant Parliament for its Protestant people,’ The Irish Weekly faithfully recorded the outrages suffered by the Nationalist community, supplying at times the gruesome details of such things as the Belfast pogroms of the 19th century or the 1920s or the horrific events of more recent times. When the British press was silent about such outrages or gave rather guarded or slanted coverage, and when some sections of the Catholic press were mute or timid or even apologetic, The Irish Weekly gave the bold facts.

When the British media and Unionist press of the Six Counties conveniently ignored the efforts of such priests as Fr Denis Faul and Fr Raymond Murray—who exposed and conclusively established the harassment and torture of Nationalists at the hands of the much-discredited RUC—The Irish Weekly duly published the evidence for the world to judge.

The Irish Weekly was faithful in recording the day-to-day life of the Catholic Church in Scotland. Historians interested in the development and progress of the Church have, at their disposal, a well-documented and complete account of the Church, especially in such things as the establishment of parishes and the building of churches. It is a rich resource for anyone interested in the social and cultural history of the Irish community in Scotland. As the late Canon Bernard J Canning said: “Posterity will have reason to be grateful to The Irish Weekly.”

Dedication and decline

The amount of time and dedication that went into making the publication of The Irish Weekly was possibly only known to the few associated with the paper. Its dedicated Scottish editor, Michael Fallon, gave unstintingly of his time. It was indeed his life, having given over 40 years of his career in journalism to maintaining a high standard, assisted quietly in the background by his wife, Doreen.

For years, the paper operated out of the AOH premises at 31 North Frederick Street in Glasgow. In 1971, Edinburgh-born Fallon and two other Catholic journalists—William Murphy of the Scottish Catholic Observer and Hugh Duffy of The Universe—were honoured by Pope Paul VI with the award of the Bene Merenti medal for distinguished service to the apostolate of the Catholic Press in Scotland.

Changing reading habits and prohibitive production costs in a harsh economic climate took their toll and were the reasons given for the decision to end production of The Irish Weekly. When the final edition was printed in March 1982, after 114 years, a chapter in the history of the Irish Catholic community in Scotland ended. It is said that when a local paper dies, part of a community’s history dies with it.

The Irish Weekly and Ulster Examiner (1892–1967) has been digitised and is now available on the British Newspaper Archive. In addition, issues of the Scottish edition of the newspaper from the years 1950–1982 can be accessed by subscription via the following website: www.irishnewsarchive.com