The ''Offaly Independent'' is a newspaper that covers

Tullamore Tullamore (; ) is the county town of County Offaly in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is on the Grand Canal (Ireland), Grand Canal, in the middle of the county, and is the fourth most populous town in the Midland Region, Ireland, midlands reg ...

County Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

and the surrounding area. It is published by Celtic Media Group.

History

The ''Offaly Independent'' was first printed in 1894 as the ''Tullamore & King's Co. Independent'' intended to serve King's County (later renamed County Offaly). The ''Tullamore & King's Co. Independent'' continued to be published until 1920 when it went on hiatus for a year due to

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...

activity before being published again as the ''Offaly Independent'' following the name change of King's County to County Offaly. In 1968 it merged with the ''

Westmeath Independent The ''Westmeath Independent'' is a local newspaper serving County Westmeath, Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north ...

'' and started to be published as the ''Offaly-Westmeath Independent'' until 1985 when it dropped the use of "Westmeath". The ''Offaly Independent'' came into ownership of Celtic Media Group, which in turn was owned by the British

Dunfermline Press The ''Dunfermline Press and West of Fife Advertiser'' (commonly known as the Dunfermline Press in Scotland and simply The Press in the Dunfermline area) is a weekly Scottish tabloid newspaper, based in Dunfermline, Fife. It has an average circu ...

, after being purchased for €20 million in 2004. In 2012, the Group was sold off for €5.5 million for Dunfermline Press to cover debts owed to

Lloyds TSB Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the " Big Four" clearing banks. Lloyds Bank is the largest retail bank in Britain, and has an exte ...

. In 2017, there were plans to sell the newspaper to

Independent News & Media Mediahuis Ireland (formally Independent News and Media (INM) )) is a media organisation that is based in Dublin and publishes national daily newspapers, Sunday newspapers, regional newspapers and operates multiple websites including Independent. ...

. The deal was approved by the

Competition and Consumer Protection Commission The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is the Competition regulator in Ireland. It is an Irish state agency established in 2014, combining the previous functions of the Competition Authority and the National Consumer Agency. ...

and was due to go for review by the

Broadcasting Authority of Ireland The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) ( ga, Údarás Craolacháin na hÉireann) was established on 1 October 2009 effectively replacing the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) ( ga, Coimisiún Craolacháin na hÉireann). The BAI is ...

but the deal fell through after Celtic Media Group cancelled the transaction. Until 2019, it was printed in

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

. The newspaper temporarily changed its name to the ''Obama Independent'' for its 20 June 2011, edition to commemorate U.S. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

's visit to the local village of

Moneygall Moneygall () is a small village on the border of counties Offaly and Tipperary, in Ireland. It is situated on the R445 road between Dublin and Limerick. There were 313 people living in the village as of the 2016 census. Moneygall has a Catholic ...

. The issue was intended to be a special souvenir edition of the president's visit to County Offaly. It was the first time the newspaper had changed the name on its masthead in 119 years.

References

{{Ireland newspapers Cultural depictions of Barack Obama Mass media in County Offaly Newspapers published in the Republic of Ireland Tullamore, County Offaly