Westport author writes book on founders of The Mayo News

IT was a turbulent time when a newspaper was started in Westport. William and Patrick J Doris founded The Mayo News in 1892. Ireland was just about to enter into a period that historians now call 'The Revolutionary Years'.

Retired teacher and writer Padraig McLoughlin, a Westport native, has now written a book about this time, based on editorials written by the Doris brothers. It's not a novel on the life of the Doris brothers, it's a history book particularly covering the years 1912-1923, a crucial period in Irish history.

“It was an extremely turbulent time,” McLoughlin explains, speaking to The Mayo News. “This period covers World War I, 1916, the Sinn Féin victory in 1918, the War of Independence, the Civil War, and the Anglo-Irish Treaty.”

The book is based on editorials published in The Mayo News by the Doris brothers. McLoughlin read them all, every month, every year. Some he wouldn’t use, local or not on big issues, “but many are fantastic on the issues of their time. It was a strong nationalist paper, very opinionated,” he states.

To put this into perspective, McLoughlin recounts an anecdote, when Jean Kennedy Smith was leaving as US ambassador to Ireland: “She was asked what she noticed about the Irish; she said 'their lack of outrage' – well, William and PJ Doris didn’t lack outrage, and neither did The Mayo News."

The new book, named 'The Newspaper Men – The Doris brothers and ireland 1893-1923', follows an intriguing concept. A so called 'man in the street' discusses the Doris brothers' opinions on current affairs issues.

This 'man on the street' is based on the local person interested in what's going on, goes to the local pub for two hours in the evening, and feels that they know what's going on.

“It’s Irish history played out through The Mayo News, which many praised for its coverage and for raising issues. Initially small scale, but the two brothers had a huge vision.”

William Doris actually went into politics and was elected for the Irish Parliamentary Party in 1912, which led to him falling out with his brother due to political differences. An all too familiar story in Ireland during that period.

“William was born in 1860; at 16 he was a solicitor’s clerk in Westport. At 18 he became a journalist in the Connaught Telegraph. He came under the influence of James Daly and the Land League, became Secretary of the Mayo Branch of the Land League, and helped organise a great Land League meeting on the Newport Road, where Parnell and Davitt were on the platform together for the first time.”

He then went to Dublin, worked for the Underground Land League, when Parnell was in jail, was arrested, and spent six months in Dundalk jail. He served as a journalist with the Leinster Leader and the Carlow Nationalist, then came back to Westport and founded the paper.

“PJ Doris also ended up in jail,” McLoughlin adds: “In 1916 the British had invented a word 'dissension'. That covered a multitude of reasons, so the authorities could arrest people. If you sang an Irish song, played Gaelic games, or wrote editorials in The Mayo News, you could be arrested. PJ was arrested and spent eight months in Frongoch Camp, in Wales, which became a kind of school for revolutionaries. Michael Collins and others were there. Later, in 1918, PJ Doris had to go on the run when he heard the Black and Tans wanted to kill him.”

A terrible tragedy illustrated by two local incidents is discussed in the book: The first involves a relation of Michael Ring, the former Fine Gael TD from Westport. His grand-uncle, Joe Ring, was shot dead in the Ox Mountains during the Civil War. His funeral was to be in Westport at half twelve; Free State officers and the band were to come from Athlone to honour him, but there was no sign of them.

“A car went out the road and found the anti-treaty people had taken up the railway line at Islandeady. So they brought the officers into town; the funeral didn’t start until two.

"They carried the coffin all the way to the graveyard out through the Quay, and wouldn’t allow it to be put in a hearse. The sad thing was that Joe Ring and the men who took up the tracks had been comrades against the Black and Tans before, in the War of Independence. The treaty created terrible bitterness.”

The second incident happened when Michael Collins was shot and died in August 1922. They had a high mass in Westport for him. National troops were there to honour him.

“When they came out, anti-treaty snipers around the town opened fire. Troops had to go around telling people to stay indoors. These two incidents show the terrible tragedy over what Sean O’Casey called 'a few words on a bit of paper' — the treaty.”

And now, all these events have been put to paper, turned into history. The new book by Padraig McLoughlin fills a void with regards to local history, of that he is sure: “It's my contribution to Westport's society and my contribution to two great men. I'm proud of it, as a local.”

The book will soon be officially published.

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