The Committee on Evil Literature was a committee set up by the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...

's Department of Justice in 1926 to look into censorship of printed matter. After independence in 1922, the authorities of the Irish Free State came under increasing pressure to ban materials considered obscene or liable to corrupt public morals. In October 1925, the Minister for Justice,

Kevin O'Higgins Kevin Christopher O'Higgins ( ga, Caoimhghín Críostóir Ó hUigín; 7 June 1892 – 10 July 1927) was an Irish politician who served as Vice-President of the Executive Council and Minister for Justice from 1922 to 1927, Minister for External ...

, told '' Dáil Éireann'' that existing obscenity laws were sufficient and the government had no right to further interfere with people's personal freedom. He received heavy criticism for these remarks and mounting public pressure persuaded him, on 12 February 1926, to appoint a departmental committee, the Committee on Evil Literature, to consider and report "whether it is necessary or advisable in the interest of the public morality to extend the existing powers of the State to prohibit or restrict the sale and circulation of printed matter".

1926 committee

The committee of three laymen and two clergymen, one

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

and one

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...

, met at 24 Kildare Street,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, between February and December 1926 to hear and consider submissions from a variety of sources, including the Garda, secular and religious organisations and members of the public, and reported to O'Higgins on 28 December. Its findings were that existing laws were inadequate to deal with obscene material and that the state had a duty to enforce controls on the production and distribution of obscene and "morally corrupting" literature. It also recommended the establishment of a censorship board. The opinions of the committee, and those who submitted evidence to it on what should be banned, ranged very widely. Publications that the Roman Catholic Church considered to be obscene included the newspapers '' News of the World'', ''

The People The ''Sunday People'' is a British tabloid Sunday newspaper. It was founded as ''The People'' on 16 October 1881. At one point owned by Odhams Press, The ''People'' was acquired along with Odhams by the Mirror Group in 1961, along with the ...

'', ''

Sunday Chronicle The ''Sunday Chronicle'' was a newspaper in the United Kingdom, published from 1885 to 1955. The newspaper was founded in Manchester by Edward Hulton in August 1885. He was known for his sporting coverage, already publishing the ''Sporting Chro ...

'' and '' Daily Mail'', and the magazines ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'', '' Woman's Weekly'', ''

Woman's World ''Woman's World'' is an American supermarket weekly magazine with a circulation of 1.6 million readers. Printed on paper generally associated with tabloid publications and priced accordingly, it concentrates on short articles about subjects such a ...

'', '' Illustrated Police News'' and most girls' picture papers. The objection to the more populist newspapers appears to have been that their detailed reporting of murders and other violent crimes depraved the readers. All birth control literature was also considered to be obscene. Other examples of obscene literature submitted to the committee ranged from photographs of dancers to advertisements for

depilatory cream A chemical depilatory is a cosmetic preparation used to remove hair from the skin. Common active ingredients are salts of thioglycolic acid and thiolactic acids. These compounds break the disulfide bonds in keratin and also hydrolyze the hair so ...

. The Committee on Evil Literature ceased to exist once its report was completed and presented to the Minister for Justice on 28 December 1926.

1929 Censorship of Publications Board

The

Censorship of Publications Board In Ireland, the state retains laws that allow for censorship, including specific laws covering films, advertisements, newspapers and magazines, as well as terrorism and pornography. In the early years of the state, censorship was widely enfor ...

was established under the Censorship of Publications Act 1929, and the scope of its work was expanded by two further acts in 1946 and 1967.

References

* {{cite book , url=http://opac.oireachtas.ie/AWData/Library3/Library2/DL068551.pdf , format=PDF , title=Report , author=Committee on Evil Literature , date=8 February 1927 , publisher=Stationery Office , location=Dublin , accessdate=5 December 2013

External links

National Archives of Ireland: "Ferreting out Evil. The Records of the Committee on Evil Literature"

Committee on Evil Literature database
(archived 2000) Conservatism in Ireland History of the Republic of Ireland Book censorship in the Republic of Ireland 1926 in Ireland

1926 committee

1929 Censorship of Publications Board

See also

References

External links