{{One source, date=February 2020
The Irish Graphical Society was a
trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
representing workers in the
printing
Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...
trades in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
.
The union was founded in 1809 as the Dublin Typographical Provident Society. It gradually increased in membership, reaching 900 in the 1890s, and 1,200 in the 1950s, by which time it included both skilled and semi-skilled workers.Arthur Marsh and John B. Smethurst, ''Historical Directory of Trade Unions'', vol.5, p.85
In 1963, the union renamed itself as the "Irish Graphical Society", but still only represented workers in Dublin, workers in the industry elsewhere in Ireland joining the
Typographical Association
The Typographical Association (TA) was a trade union representing typographers in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
History
The National Typographical Association collapsed in 1848, and delegates from across Yorkshire and Lancashire met at Angel ...
and its successor, the
National Graphical Association
The National Graphical Association (NGA) was a trade union representing typographers and related workers in the United Kingdom.
History
The union was formed in 1964 by the merger of two long-term rival unions, the Typographical Association and ...
(NGA). However, the NGA merged with some small unions in Dublin during the 1960s, and attempted to recruit further members in the city, resulting in demarcation disputes between the two unions. In 1983, the society merged with the Electrotypers' and Stereotypers' Society of Dublin and District and the Irish Bookbinders' and Allied Trades Union, forming the Irish Print Union; this ultimately joined the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union in 1998.
General Secretaries
:c.1900: Joseph Nannetti
:1915: Michael O'Flanagan
:1921: W. J. Whelan
:1960: Nicholas McGrath
:1975: Owen A. Curran