Tipperary Free Press, 30 March & 6 April 1836

“Alternative facts” are not simply a 21^st Century phenomenon. When an attack on the home of the Hunt family was reported in the Tipperary Free Press of 30 March 1836, ‘Verax’ took it upon themselves to set the record straight the following week. The letter outlines a number of supposedly false reports of crimes against Protestants and loyalists in the Thurles area, so-called “weak inventions of the enemy”. The letter gives an insight into the deep divisions that existed at this time, as the Tithe War was still raging and much unrest and resentment was circulating amongst the Catholic tenantry.