Journalism
(1880-1921) Tadhg Barry
As the eldest son of a tradesman, Tadhg could have easily followed his father into cooperage. But he knew from an early age that his talents lay elsewhere. In 1910, he became a full-time journalist as the GAA correspondent with William O’Brien’s daily newspaper, the Cork Free Press , an AFIL- supporting competitor to the solidly Redmondite Cork Examiner . Every Saturday under the penname ‘An Ciotóg’, meaning the ‘left-hander’ or the ‘clumsy one’, Tadhg reported on every aspect of local GAA, from the results of matches to developments in the Cork County Board. Combining his love of the GAA with his talent for writing, the column seemed perfect for the clumsy left-hander – but Tadhg had broader horizons. In early 1915, under the pseudonym ‘City Man’, he launched a weekly column in the Skibbereen Eagle called ‘’Neath Shandon Steeple’ which covered Cork politics, trade unionism, GAA and culture. The column ended in December 1916 when Tadhg was first arrested.
The Cork Free Press , William O’Brien’s All- for-Ireland League supporting alternative to the Cork Examiner , reporting on the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin. Tadhg Barry worked as a fulltime GAA reporter for the paper at the time this article was published but was subsequently sacked for his intervention in the West Cork by- election later that year. The Cork Free Press folded shortly afterwards. (UCC Archives)
From March to September of that year, Tadhg also wrote for New Ireland, the influential and widely read nationalist weekly, contributing the ‘Cork Notes’ column under the name ‘Corcaig’. Furthermore, he penned a series of articles on Irish and international politics and labour for Irish Opinion , the weekly of the ITGWU. He fervently believed that Irish workers needed to break the link with Britain and establish independent Irish unions as a prerequisite to seizing state power. His final article in the series was a detailed analysis of the labour theory of value in which he attacked archaic notions of ‘skilled’ and ‘unskilled’ workers to determine pay rates. Even stints in prison did not stop Tadhg from passionately expressing his views to Irish Opinion on socialism, revolution and the need for a more just and equal society in the post-war era. Just when it seemed that Tadhg’s journalistic career was taking off, his public intervention in the controversial West Cork by-election of November 1916 brought it to a sudden (albeit
temporary) close. The by-election was caused by the death of the AFIL MP James Gilhooly, and the party chose Frank Healy of Cobh as its candidate. Tadhg wanted Healy to stand for Sinn Féin. He wrote an open letter to Healy, pointing out that he had the opportunity to become Ireland’s first abstentionist MP. His disavowal of Healy and the introduction of an unofficial AFIL candidate sealed the fate of William O’Brien’s party: they narrowly lost the seat to the Redmondites. Tadgh was dismissed from the AFIL- supporting Cork Free Press for his intervention. The by-election marked the beginning of the end for the AFIL, and the Cork Free Press folded in December 1916. By early 1918, Tadgh was finding it tough to make ends meet. His fortunes took a brief upturn when Sinn Féin purchased the ailing Southern Star in late 1917 and turned its editorial policy into one of staunch republicanism. With only one correspondent in mind, the paper informed its readers that ‘we have arranged for city news from one who knows Cork and Cork people well.’ Tadhg revived his ‘’Neath Shandon Steeple’ column and introduced it to Southern Star in January 1918 (with ‘Shandon’ becoming ‘Shandon’s’ in the title) but did not revive ‘City Man’ or use any other by-line. The British suppressed the paper for
An article from Tadhg Barry, written under the pseudonym ‘Corcaig’, about working-class education and learning opportunities published in New Ireland , a popular nationalist paper. (Irish Newspaper Archives)
In this article in Irish Opinion , the weekly of the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union, Tadhg Barry praises militant republicanism and condemns Home Rule and the ‘obnoxious’ constitutional nationalism of William O’Brien and John Redmond as unionist. (Irish Newspaper Archive)
most of the period between August 1918 and March 1920 because of its pro-Sinn Féin stance. Because of this, and Tadhg’s rearrest in 1918, ‘’Neath Shandon’s Steeple’ appeared only sporadically until late 1920. It now had a dark tone, reflecting the violent atmosphere of the War of Independence.
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