Another radical newspaper in circulation in 1920 was Old Ireland a paper which provided commentary and debate on all of the leading issues of the day.

  In an edition published in June 1920 in the wake of the county council elections, the editor of Old Ireland declared that the result was ‘a defeat for Carson’ and victory for republicanism. Amongst the contributors to Old Ireland was Maud Gonne McBride who in 1920 wrote about Irish socialism in an international context. The newspaper also avidly supported the cause of labour in June 1920 espoused the rights of railway workers. Socialism, according to Aodh de Blacam was fast becoming the most important issue in Ireland. In a somewhat humorous take on ‘Ireland and America’, Kevin Stroma Dorbene believed that events in Ireland were somewhat amusing to readers across the Atlantic. ‘John Bull’ had been put in his place, according to Dorbene and if the British tried to portray that another Easter Rising was imminent in Ireland they would have face the wrath of the American Congress. The victory in the local elections the paper believed gave de Valera credibility in America, which would be of major significance as the War of Independence played out.  

Download Source: Old Ireland 1919-1921, Saturday, June 19, 1920, various

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