NPHFI 2012 Annual Conference

I presented a paper at the 2012 NPHFI (Newspaper and Periodical History Forum of Ireland) conference, which took place in Kingston University, London on 16 & 17 November 2012. The conference theme was "Writing Against the Grain: Dissent, Minorities and the Press in History". A good number of speakers from Ireland, Europe and North America traveled to the conference. They covered a wide range of topics from regional and national Irish press history, to Romanian press history and to the Black press in the USA during the civil rights era. 

My paper dealt with how one French newspaper, L'Oeuvre, treated Ireland during the early 1920s, which was a very important period in Ireland's history. L'Oeuvre was a left-leaning daily newspaper run by Gustave Téry. He sent several reporters to Ireland at this time, including his daughter, Simone Téry. On her arrival in in Ireland in July 1921, Simone wasted no time in getting to the heart of the action, touring the country and interviewing many of the key people on the republican side as well as leaders of the British forces and unionist leaders in the north. Her interviews and her impressions of what was happening on the island featured on the front page of the newspaper for some time.

Along with the articles by Téry, L'Oeuvre also depicted what was happening in Ireland in cartoon form. Highlighting attacks on Irish civilians by Crown forces, such as the burning of Cork in December 1920, these witty little cartoons were able to cut through all the talk and tell the story as it was.

While in London, I was also able to carry out valuable research in the British Library in St. Pancras and the British Library Newspaper Collection in Colindale. My transport fare to London was covered by a UCC School of History postgraduate travel grant, for which I am very grateful.