Irish Newspapers II, 1900-2009
Discover over 160 newspaper titles from the world-famous British Newspaper Archive, offering insights into Ireland, its history and how its people responded to the transformations of the long twentieth century. From the foundation of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) alongside the Province of Northern Ireland in 1922 to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 and beyond, this collection charts the major events in modern Irish history. This series has been digitised in partnership with the British Library and leading publishers.
Key facts
1900-2009
Date range
More than
160
Newspaper titles
More than
6,300,000
Newspaper pages
Source(s)
and more
Irish Citizen, 8 February 1913
About this series
This landmark collection spans the entirety of Ireland, with over one-third of newspapers from Northern Ireland, ensuring a rich diversity of viewpoints and comprehensive coverage of the island's complex history. This is the second instalment of a two-part series digitised in partnership with the British Library and leading publishers.
These newspapers capture an extraordinary journey through transformative decades:
- 1900-1921 Independence and Partition: Explore the extraordinary changes following the struggle for independence and the establishment of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) alongside the Province of Northern Ireland, capturing a nation in transition.
- 1930s-1940s Sectarian divisions and global conflict: Uncover the entrenchment of religious sectarianism as each state defined itself by its majority Christian denomination, while the global trauma of the Second World War unfolds, with soldiers enlisting across the island for the Allied forces, despite the South's diplomatic euphemism of ‘the Emergency’.
- 1945-1960 Educational revolution and rising tensions: Follow the transformative educational opportunities in Northern Ireland from 1945 onwards and witness the indirect rise of political agitation and radicalism that emerged from these social changes.
- 1960s-1998 The Troubles and path to peace: Track the political radicalism that accompanied The Troubles through to their formal resolution with the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
- 1980s-2000s Economic transformation: Document the remarkable social transformation of the island, particularly the Republic's evolution from rural backwater to the thriving 'Celtic Tiger', becoming central to global software and pharmaceutical industries.
Among the titles in this collection are notable publications such as:
- Belfast News-Letter, the world’s oldest English-language general daily newspaper still in publication.
- Evening Herald (Dublin), one of Ireland’s best-known newspapers, fought for Home Rule in Ireland.
- Irish Independent, traditionally nationalist daily Dublin newspaper. Its printing works were destroyed in 1919 during the Irish War of Independence.
- Irish Citizen, printed on ‘Irish paper,’ a suffrage title devoted to securing equal rights for men and women.
This collection offers invaluable primary sources for scholars and students across multiple disciplines, including Irish Studies, social and political history, economic history and industrialisation, colonial and postcolonial studies, and religious studies, providing unprecedented access to Ireland’s complex and fascinating history.
The British Newspaper Archive
DC Thomson, the owners of The Social History Archive, are the British Library’s digital publishing partners and have been developing the world-famous British Newspaper Archive for over a decade. Through this partnership with the British Library, the British Newspaper Archive (home to the world’s largest collection of digitised British and Irish newspapers), and other key newspaper publishers, The Social History Archive is delighted to make this rich archive available to the higher education community.
This landmark collection spans the entirety of Ireland, with over one-third of newspapers from Northern Ireland, ensuring a rich diversity of viewpoints and comprehensive coverage of the island's complex history. This is the second instalment of a two-part series digitised in partnership with the British Library and leading publishers.
These newspapers capture an extraordinary journey through transformative decades:
- 1900-1921 Independence and Partition: Explore the extraordinary changes following the struggle for independence and the establishment of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) alongside the Province of Northern Ireland, capturing a nation in transition.
- 1930s-1940s Sectarian divisions and global conflict: Uncover the entrenchment of religious sectarianism as each state defined itself by its majority Christian denomination, while the global trauma of the Second World War unfolds, with soldiers enlisting across the island for the Allied forces, despite the South's diplomatic euphemism of ‘the Emergency’.
- 1945-1960 Educational revolution and rising tensions: Follow the transformative educational opportunities in Northern Ireland from 1945 onwards and witness the indirect rise of political agitation and radicalism that emerged from these social changes.
- 1960s-1998 The Troubles and path to peace: Track the political radicalism that accompanied The Troubles through to their formal resolution with the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
- 1980s-2000s Economic transformation: Document the remarkable social transformation of the island, particularly the Republic's evolution from rural backwater to the thriving 'Celtic Tiger', becoming central to global software and pharmaceutical industries.
Among the titles in this collection are notable publications such as:
- Belfast News-Letter, the world’s oldest English-language general daily newspaper still in publication.
- Evening Herald (Dublin), one of Ireland’s best-known newspapers, fought for Home Rule in Ireland.
- Irish Independent, traditionally nationalist daily Dublin newspaper. Its printing works were destroyed in 1919 during the Irish War of Independence.
- Irish Citizen, printed on ‘Irish paper,’ a suffrage title devoted to securing equal rights for men and women.
This collection offers invaluable primary sources for scholars and students across multiple disciplines, including Irish Studies, social and political history, economic history and industrialisation, colonial and postcolonial studies, and religious studies, providing unprecedented access to Ireland’s complex and fascinating history.
The British Newspaper Archive
DC Thomson, the owners of The Social History Archive, are the British Library’s digital publishing partners and have been developing the world-famous British Newspaper Archive for over a decade. Through this partnership with the British Library, the British Newspaper Archive (home to the world’s largest collection of digitised British and Irish newspapers), and other key newspaper publishers, The Social History Archive is delighted to make this rich archive available to the higher education community.
Belfast News-Letter, 24 December 2004
Irish Independent, 13 February 1943
Evening Herald (Dublin), 22 February 1921
Newspaper series
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