Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 10 Mar. 1796-27 Oct. 1796 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
2 items; Newspaper
Context area
Name of creator
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The file contains two copies of the ‘Morning Post: or, Dublin Courant’ newspaper. The two editions are Vol. IX, No. 128 (27 October 1796) and Vol. IX, No. 30 (10 March 1796).
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
The paper is extremely fragile, and care should be taken in handling these items.
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Founded in 1788 by Peter Cooney (c.1755-c.1798), the ‘Morning Post’ was, unusually for the period, an opposition newspaper. By the end of the eighteenth-century Dublin had emerged as an important print and news hub and the government was keen to exercise control over the supply of information in the Irish capital. Increasingly radical political views were aired in some Irish newspapers in the 1790s which led to a suppression of the opposition press.
The printing of official Dublin Castle proclamations and notices was a valuable source of revenue for newspapers and the withdrawal of government advertising from papers whose loyalty was in question, was frequently enough to ruin any print enterprise. Moreover, Cooney was sentenced to fifteen months imprisonment for the libelling of a pro-government journalist and official in December 1794. On his release he found it increasingly difficult to finance his newspaper and it ceased publication in March 1798.