The Young Irelanders and the rise of The Nation

MANY of the great Irish songs and poems of the 18th and 19th centuries first saw the light of day in the newspaper The Nation.

Who fears to Speak of ’98 by John Kells Ingram was published in 1843, as were many poems by the main contributor to that paper, Thomas Davis. He worked on the paper for three years and in that time, it is estimated that he contributed over 80 ballads as well as numerous essays. He gave us Fontenoy, The Battle Eve of the Brigade, Clare’s Dragoons, The West’s Awake, A Nation Once Again and many others.

Davis was born in Mallow and after graduating from Trinity College, he joined O’Connell’s Repeal Association. Davis had worked as sub-editor on the Catholic Association’s Dublin Morning Register but he left that position and joined with Charles Gavan Buffy and John Blake Dillon to start their own newspaper to which they gave the very patriotic title The Nation. They wanted to unite all creeds and classes in the struggle to better the country. Initially, O’Connell welcomed the support of The Nation but he knew that, unlike the Catholic Association, he could in no way control them. Their writings sought to arouse a militant nationalistic spirit, which was at total odds with O’Connell’s pacifism.

Following the banning of the Clontarf Repeal meeting in 1843, many of the younger members of the association became disillusioned with O’Connell. They felt O’Connell should have gone ahead with the meeting and that Repeal should be achieved by whatever means possible, even bloodshed if necessary. This new group were known as The Young Irelanders and very soon, Davis was acknowledged as their leader. The tone of the writing in The Nation summed up their feelings.

Their contributors included most of the great names of 19th century Ireland, James Clarence Mangan, James Fintan Lawlor, Charles Kickham, John Mitchell, Meagher of the Sword and Thomas D’Arcy McGee. Little wonder, then, that for a while, it was the best-selling weekly newspaper in the country – this in spite of the fact that it cost six pence, which for the ordinary people at the time was a substantial sum of money. Many households joined together to buy the paper while others paid newsagents one penny per hour to read it. At its height, it sold 10,000 copies per week and had upwards of 200,000 readers.

Its great popularity lasted barely three years. Gavan Duffy was the editor but Davis was vital for its success. In September 1845, Davis died of a fever just short of his 31st birthday and Gavan Duffy’s wife passed away that same month. With those two tragic events, the drive was gone from The Nation. The paper lingered on in a number of guises until it folded finally in 1900.

The two surviving founders went their separate ways. Both became MPs. Gavan Duffy emigrated to Australia where he became a state premier and was knighted. Blake Dillon’s son, John Dillon became leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party in Westminster and his grandson, James Dillon became leader of Fine Gael – over 100 years of family parliamentary representation.

The Nation, which did so much to awaken nationalistic feeling in the country was first published on October 14, 1842, 170 years ago this week.