| Type | weekly religion-orientated newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | compact |
| Owner | The Agricultural Trust |
| Editor | Garry O'Sullivan |
| Founded | 1888 by T.D. Sullivan, MP. |
| Political alignment | Catholic |
| Headquarters | The Irish Farm Centre, Bluebell, Dublin 12 |
| Official website | www.irishcatholic.ie |
The Irish Catholic is an Irish weekly Roman Catholic newspaper, providing news and commentary about the Roman Catholic Church. The 32-page tabloid paper is delivered worldwide.
The newspaper is managed by a private limited company and is independent of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in Ireland.
The Irish Catholic was founded in 1888 by Timothy Daniel Sullivan, a former Lord Mayor of Dublin and an Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) MP at Westminster. A number of the paper's early staff, including Patrick Fogarty, had worked at The Nation newspaper.
William Francis Dennehy ran the paper from 1888 until his death in 1917. Following a split in the IPP, Dennehy was an outspoken anti-Parnellite and supporter of TM Healy; an editorial which he published on the death of Charles Stewart Parnell, implying that the dead man had probably gone to Hell, was widely criticised. Dennehy was a close associate of William Martin Murphy.
Leo Fogarty, Patrick’s son, was managing director of The Irish Catholic from 1936 until 1977.
John Ryan was editor from 1936 until 1981, the longest-serving editor in the history of the publication.
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When David Quinn resigned in 2003 to work for the Irish Independent, Simon Rowe, a member of Opus Dei, was appointed as editor. Simon Rowe resigned after only nine months with the newspaper, over the publication of an article that criticised the Irish bishops' conference.[1] Following Rowe's departure, Hermann Kelly edited the paper from June 2004 to January 1, 2005, and during this time weekly circulation increased from an average of 26,128 to 27,177 copies.[2] As someone who had previously written for "The Sunday Business Post" and "Magill" Magazine, before he came to The Irish Catholic, Kelly entered into public debate with prominent national figures, and took a different stance from the Irish bishops on the matter of the EU and the Citizenship referendum. He is the author of new book, 'Kathy's Real Story' - about what he claims is a culture of false allegations against lay people and Catholic religious encouraged by a government compensation scheme.[3] The Board of Directors then appointed Garry O'Sullivan as editor, and he took up his post in January 2005. He is a former reporter with the paper and communications manager with the Jesuits in Ireland[4]
In July 2006 the newspaper added a section in Polish to cater for the massive influx of Polish migrants into Ireland.[5]
On 2 March 2007, The Irish Independent reported that the Irish Farmers Journal intended to buy The Irish Catholic.[6] The takeover of The Irish Catholic by the Irish Farmers Journal was reported to be complete on 29 March 2007.[7]
The Irish Catholic has only failed to appear on one occasion, during the 1916 Easter Rising against British rule in Ireland during which Dublin was in chaos.
John Dunne, Headlines and Haloes, (Dublin 1988)
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