1847 – “Broadsheet Bickering”

Tipperary Constitution, 10 April 1847

The Tipperary Free Press and the Tipperary Constitution were contemporaries, both printed in Clonmel in the middle of the 19th Century. The attitudes they expressed in their columns, however, could not have been more divergent. The Free Press was the champion of Daniel O’Connell and the Repeal movement, dedicated to advancing the cause of Catholic empowerment. The Constitution, however, was O’Connell’s sworn enemy, and has been described by William J. Hayes as “easily the most anti national and anti-Catholic paper published in the county” (Guide to Tipperary Newspapers, 1770-1989). Their columns often played host to vitriolic ink-slinging between the two, often over the most trivial and petty of issues. Below is a typical example, The Constitution having taken umbrage at the Free Press’ latest editorial slip;