The introduction to this study refers to the limited amount of texts that constitute Ireland's newspaper historiography. It is also noted how the gap is even more pronounced in the case of Irish regional newspapers and is particularly conspicuous in relation to the 1914–21 period. Such a gap is highlighted by Maurice Walsh who notes the willingness of historians to draw upon newspapers as a source though it is not accompanied by any inclination towards investigation or detailed scrutiny of such popular source material. As Walsh further notes, ‘newspaper evidence is often cited but rarely analysed’. The example, that is referred to in the introduction, of J.J. Lee's liberal citation of the response of Irish provincial papers to the Easter Rising is a case in point.

This book does not consist entirely of the analysis alluded to by Walsh. Nonetheless, it constitutes one of the steps that is required to start addressing this imbalance. In order to tackle the challenge of such a considerable task this study posed four primary research questions. The first of these questions sought to determine the nature of the relationship between provincial press and society. In this respect, probably the most dominant feature was the remarkably strong religious dimension to this relationship that manifested itself in the deep religious faith of most editors and proprietors.

Amongst unionist titles in Ulster it was the Presbyterian faith that was most prevalent. Devout Catholicism predominated amongst the editors and proprietors of nationalist publications. When P.J. Doris of the Mayo News died in 1937 his obituary extolled his ‘virtuous piety’ and proudly referred to the fact that during his months of incarceration in England after the Easter Rising ‘he never missed morning mass and communion’. With very few exceptions the obituaries of such newspapermen are similarly notable for their references to the steadfast Catholic faith of the deceased. As local newspapers played a key role in the lives of their readers this considerable Catholic influence within the regional print media may well have contributed to the powerful position occupied by the Catholic Church in Ireland over such a long period of time. Such a position was swiftly becoming evident in the emergent Irish Free State where, as M.P. McCabe observes, the fledgling Fianna Fáil party sought ‘to demonstrate their greater commitment to Catholic principles than Cumann na nGaedheal’.