''The Sunday Press'' was a

weekly newspaper A weekly newspaper is a general-news or Current affairs (news format), current affairs publication that is issued once or twice a week in a wide variety broadsheet, magazine, and electronic publishing, digital formats. Similarly, a biweekly new ...

published in Ireland from 1949 until 1995. It was launched by

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of governm ...

Irish Press ''The Irish Press'' (Irish: ''Scéala Éireann'') was an Irish national daily newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 5 September 1931 and 25 May 1995. Foundation The paper's first issue was published on the eve of the 1931 All-Ireland ...

group following the defeat of his

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian- ...

party in the

1948 Irish general election The 1948 Irish general election to the 13th Dáil was held on Wednesday, 4 February following the dissolution of the 12th Dáil on 12 January 1948 by the President Seán T. O'Kelly on the request of Taoiseach Éamon de Valera. The general electi ...

. Like its sister newspaper, the daily ''

The Irish Press ''The Irish Press'' (Irish: ''Scéala Éireann'') was an Irish national daily newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 5 September 1931 and 25 May 1995. Foundation The paper's first issue was published on the eve of the 1931 All-Ireland ...

'', politically the paper loyally supported Fianna Fáil. The future Taoiseach

Seán Lemass Seán Francis Lemass (born John Francis Lemass; 15 July 1899 – 11 May 1971) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1959 to 1966. He also served as Tánaiste from 1957 to 1959, 1951 to 1954 ...

was the managing editor of the ''Irish Press'' who spearheaded the launch of the Sunday paper, with the first editor Colonel Matt Feehan. Many of the ''Irish Press'' journalists contributed to the paper. 'When I open the pages, I duck' was

Brendan Behan Brendan Francis Aidan Behan (christened Francis Behan) ( ; ga, Breandán Ó Beacháin; 9 February 1923 – 20 March 1964) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and Irish Republican activist who wrote in both English an ...

's description of reading ''The Sunday Press'', for the habit of published memoirs of veterans (usually those aligned to Fianna Fáil) of the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

. It soon built up a large readership, and overtook its main competitor the '' Sunday Independent'', which tended to support

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

. At its peak ''The Sunday Press'' sold up to 475,000 copies every week, and had a readership of over one million, around one third of the Irish population. Like the ''

Evening Press The ''Evening Press'' was an Irish newspaper which was printed from 1954 until 1995. It was set up by Éamon de Valera's Irish Press group, and was originally edited by Douglas Gageby. Its principal competitor was the ''Evening Herald'', which ...

'', the paper's readership held up better over the years than that of the flagship title in the group, ''The Irish Press'', and it might have survived as a stand-alone title had it been sold. However, with the collapse of the Irish Press Newspapers group in May 1995, all three titles ceased publication immediately. The launch of ''

Ireland on Sunday ''Ireland on Sunday'' was a national Sunday newspaper published in Ireland from September 1997 until September 2006, when it was renamed the '' Irish Mail on Sunday''. The newspaper was founded in 1996 as a sports-only newspaper called ''The Titl ...

'' in 1997 was initially interpreted by many observers as an attempt to appeal to the former readership of ''The Sunday Press'', seen as generally rural, fairly conservative Catholic, and with a traditional Irish nationalist political outlook. When Christmas Day fell on Sunday in 1949, 1955, 1960, 1966, 1977, 1983, 1988 and 1994 the paper came out on the Saturday.

Vincent Jennings Vincent Jennings (1937–2010), was an Irish Journalist, and who served as editor of ''The Sunday Press'' from 1968 until 1986, before becoming part of the management of The Irish Press. Born in Dublin in 1937, he grew up in Clontarf. Vincent wa ...

at the age of 31 became editor of ''The Sunday Press'' in 1968, serving until December 1986, when he became manager of the Irish Press Group. Journalists who worked at the press include

Stephen Collins Stephen Weaver Collins (born October 1, 1947) is an American former actor and writer. He is known for playing Eric Camden on the television series '' 7th Heaven'' from 1996 to 2007. Afterwards, Collins played the roles of Dayton King on the ABC t ...

served as political editor his father Willie Collins was deputy editor and

Michael Carwood Michael Carwood, was an Irish sports journalist, musician and songwriter. Born in Dublin in 1948, he was educated at Dundrum National School and Oatlands College in Dublin. In 1968, he started working for ''The Irish Press'', becoming a journa ...

became sports editor of ''The Sunday Press'' in 1988Combined love of music with sporting passion
Obituary Michael Carwood, ''The Irish Times''. Saturday, 12 October 2002. until its closure in 1995.

Digital archive

The paper went online at

Irish Newspaper Archives The Irish Newspaper Archives is a commercial online database of digitised Irish newspapers, and claims to be the world's oldest and largest archive of Irish newspapers. Subscription-free access to the archive is available to users in Irish publi ...

in September 2020 (1978-1989) editions but (1949-1977) & (1990-1995) will be online in future.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunday Press, The 1949 establishments in Ireland 1995 disestablishments in Ireland Defunct newspapers published in Ireland Newspapers published in the Republic of Ireland Newspapers established in 1949 Publications disestablished in 1995

Press Press may refer to: Media * Print media or news media, commonly called "the press" * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press (newspaper), a list of newspapers * Press TV, an Iranian television network People * Press (surname), a fam ...