Episode 24 - Panel 6b - Conservatism with a small ‘c’; Loyalism with a small ‘l’? The ‘Skibbereen Eagle’ and its turbulent hinterland 1900-1922 - John O'Donovan

Southern Irish Loyalism in Context

Framing the overlapping networks of unionism, conservatism and loyalism in pre-revolutionary Ireland is a challenge. This becomes more acute the closer one gets to the twentieth century and the disappearance of political power from the unionist class. ‘Hard’ power became replaced with ‘soft’ power (much to the chagrin of diverse characters such as Lord Barrymore and DP Moran). The nostalgia of prudent management and benevolent dispersal of money and services became more acute as the acien regime was swept from their bastions of power following the passage of the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. In the sphere of the press, conservatism, loyalism and unionism were quite obviously a minority taste, and only served by a few daily newspapers. The majority of these, however, only spoke to the commercial unionists and loyalists. Few newspapers took a stance in favour of nostalgic prudence, and loyalty to the government of the day. One such (as I will argue in this paper) was the eccentric Skibbereen Eagle. The Eagle was first and foremost an outlet for the foibles and viewpoints of its founder, Fred Potter. Conservative viewpoints and loyalist outlooks were common, even more so after 1898 and during the first turbulent years of the twentieth century. Yet even after Potter’s death in 1907 the Eagle (under Catholic nationalist ownership) continued to transmit a modified version its founders’ outlook. This paper will examine the Eagle’s worldview through its commentary on issues central to the shrinking loyalist population of its hinterland. It will argue that the paper deserves to be studied as the agent of a different kind of loyalism than that preached by its heavyweight counterpart, the Cork Constitution. John O’Donovan works part-time at University College Cork, and holds a BA and MA in History from the university. He has published a number of articles and book chapters, including “The All-for-Ireland League and the Home Rule Debate, 1910-1914 (G. Doherty (ed.): The Home Rule Crisis 1910-1914 (Cork Studies in the Irish Revolution (Cork, 2014)) and “The United Irish League in Cork 1898-1918: Resistance and Counter-Resistance”, Studi Irelandesi: a Journal of Irish Studies 4 (2017). His PhD Thesis, which he hopes to commence in autumn 2017, will focus on the All-for-Ireland League in a number of Irish and international contexts.