Then & Now: Turning the page on the next century

IN THIS week's column, I will take a look at one of Ireland’s favourite magazines which is 121 years old and still selling well. When John Mellifont Walsh founded Ireland’s Own magazine in 1902, he could have scarcely imagined the enormous changes that lay ahead.

He would, no doubt, have been flabbergasted to learn of a world of jet travel, of mobile phones, of instant communication across the globe and of computer technology.

He would have been amazed and excited by radio, television and the numerous appliances which we mostly take for granted nowadays which makes life easier.

His was a very different world, and we can now see that Ireland's Own was born at a time of great scarcity when opportunities for advancement for the vast majority of the Irish people were few and far between.

It was a time when there was no such thing as the old age pension and when Social Welfare meant the workhouse. Sadly, it was a time when nearly one in every four children born in Dublin died before they reached their first birthday.

It was a time when average life expectancy was little more than 50 years. It was a time when thousands of Irish people took the emigrant ship. It was a time when the school going population was in decline. In truth, the Irish in Ireland were being kept alive by the Irish who had been driven to other lands and were sending money back home.

However, in many ways, the turn of the century was the beginning of a new era for Ireland. There was a growing expectation that good times were on the way.

There was an upsurge in Irish nationalism and people around the country were becoming involved in a cultural revival.

The Gaelic League was leading the movement to revive the Irish language, and suffragists were battling to get the vote for women. The Irish literary revival was making an impact. Literacy rates were on the rise and the new century carried many hopes and many promises.

Some Irish produced weekly periodicals were available at the time, but their contents were so confined and devoid of miscellaneous reading that they were short lived.

One was The Shamrock which enjoyed its popularity with the humorous serial Mick McQuaid. This entertaining story delighted the readers at the time but when the last chapter was reached the journal waned and eventually went out of existence.
A demand was growing too for more general information in addition to stories which led to John M Walsh conceiving his idea of founding a weekly journal.

Limerick's own Greg O'Shea to leave the Six O'Clock Show

One man's dream was about to be realised and two years after the turn of the century the first issue of Ireland's Own was published on November 26, 1902. It had 24 pages and cost one old penny. John M Walsh hoped that his new Irish journal of fiction, literature, and general information would help to counteract the many cheap publications from England which were circulating in the country at the time.

His hopes were fully realised and Ireland's Own became an immediate success and its popularity grew year on year.

In introducing the first issue of Ireland's Own to the reading public on November 26, 1902, the then Editor wrote: “Today we present our readers with the first number of Ireland's Own, and we are glad to know that for some weeks past they have been eagerly looking forward to its publication. From the hundreds of thousands of Irish readers in Ireland, and in the many centres of Irish population in other lands, we anticipate for our new penny weekly journal of fiction, literature and general information a kind reception. Indeed, we have little doubt, but our first number will be very cordially welcomed, from the numerous letters we have received from all parts of Ireland.

“Ireland’s Own is intended to counteract the influence and displace a great portion of the vicious and undesirable literature that reaches this country weekly. It will not be by any means run on narrow lines but will be broad and instructive -a journal that may be taken and perused with advantage by all persons in Ireland no matter to what station of life they belong, its aim being to instruct, elevate, and afford recreation to the people.

“The want for such a periodical has long been felt in Ireland. During the past ten years particularly, there have been many complaints of Irish litterateurs and publishers not supplying this great need, and by their neglect or want of enterprise giving the fullest play to objectionable publications from abroad. True, there are a few magazines already existing, but, unfortunately, they are unable to compete successfully with the outside journals that command such a large sale in Ireland and exert such a telling influence on the youth of the country.”

Having stated that existing magazines were confined entirely to Irish fiction, the editor goes on to state: “We intend to run Ireland’s Own on more liberal lines, for we believe it would be a mistake to confine ourselves to Irish writings to the exclusion of all others, no matter how profitable, elevating and worthy of perusal.

“Though it will be mainly composed of the best Irish Literature we can procure, Ireland’s Own being much the largest penny journal of its kind printed in Ireland, will have sufficient space also to devote to the best miscellaneous writings from every source, native and foreign, that will profit and entertain its readers. But anything that is not absolutely healthy will not find a place in its columns. Our fiction, whether Irish or otherwise, will be pure and ennobling in the lessons it conveys”.

In 1902 the two most important persons in Ireland were Earl Cadogan and George Wyndham. One was Lord Lieutenant, and the other was his Chief Secretary.

Between them they effectively ran the country and the ordinary people had very little say. We had other important people too. The Irish peerage consisted of two dukes, 10 Marquises', 61 Earls, 36 Viscounts, and 64 Barons.

Despite all these important people, the British Government found it hard to maintain law and order. The opposition was strong. At one stage 20,000 people demonstrated in the Phoenix Park. The United Irish League, headed by John Redmond MP, pushed for Independence, while in the House of Commons, one Irish MP rushed across the floor of the House and repeatedly shook a fist within inches of Prime Minister Arthur Balfour's face.

On May 31, 1902, after two years and seven months, the Boer War in South Africa came to an end when the Boer leaders signed the terms of surrender.

It was in this war that, for the first time anywhere, people were detained in concentration camps. The British army (under Kerry born Lord Kitchener) held Boers-mostly women, children and older persons - without trial and with few amenities. The longest railway line in the world, the trans-Siberian Railway opened this year for traffic.

A magnificent feat of engineering it stretched 5,777 miles from Moscow through the vast frozen Siberian wastes to Vladivostok on the Pacific coast. The entire trip would take ten days.