The ''Leinster Leader'' is a newspaper published in

Naas Naas ( ; ga, Nás na Ríogh or ) is the county town of County Kildare in Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 21,393, making it the second largest town in County Kildare after Newbridge. History The name of Naas has been recorded in t ...

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

Johnston Press Johnston Press plc was a multimedia company founded in Falkirk, Scotland, in 1767. Its flagship titles included UK-national newspaper the '' i'', '' The Scotsman'', the ''Yorkshire Post'', the ''Falkirk Herald'', and Belfast's ''The News Letter ...

bought the Leinster Leader Group in 2005. The Leinster Leader Group, as well as publishing the Naas-based ''Leinster Leader'' also published The ''

Dundalk Democrat The ''Dundalk Democrat'' is a regional newspaper printed in Dundalk, Ireland. Established in 1849, it primarily serves County Louth as well as County Monaghan and parts of County Armagh, County Down, County Cavan and County Meath. It comes out e ...

'', '' Leinster Express'' (

Portlaoise Portlaoise ( ), or Port Laoise (), is the county town of County Laois, Ireland. It is located in the Midland Region, Ireland, South Midlands in the province of Leinster. The 2016 census shows that the town's population increased by 9.5% to 22,050 ...

), ''

Limerick Leader The ''Limerick Leader'' is a weekly local newspaper in Limerick, Ireland. It was founded in 1889. The newspaper is headquartered on Glentworth Street in the City. The broadsheet paper currently is distributed in three editions, City, County and ...

'', '' Offaly Express'', and the '' Tallaght Echo''. The paper is currently owned by

Iconic Newspapers Iconic Newspapers is an Irish newspaper company that publishes over 20 regional newspapers. Iconic Newspapers are owned by Mediaforce who are majority owned by Malcolm Denmark. Iconic Newspapers hold their newspaper assets in a subsidiary called F ...

, who acquired Johnston Press' titles in the Republic of Ireland in 2014.

History

The paper was founded 1880 in Naas, County Kildare, as the ''Leinster Leader and Central Counties Commercial and Agricultural Adviser'' by Patrick Cahill, LLB, who was its first editor in August 1880. Patrick Cahill was an Irish Nationalist,

Land League The Irish National Land League ( Irish: ''Conradh na Talún'') was an Irish political organisation of the late 19th century which sought to help poor tenant farmers. Its primary aim was to abolish landlordism in Ireland and enable tenant farme ...

Activist and supporter of Home Rule, he was jailed under the Coercion Act of 1881. One of the early majority shareholder of ''The Leader'' in its early days was the MP for North Kildare

James Laurence Carew James Laurence Carew (1853 – 31 August 1903) was an Irish nationalist politician and Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. A member of the Irish Parliamentary Party and later a Parnellite, he was MP for Nor ...

John Wyse Power John Wyse Power (1859-1926), was a County Waterford born, journalist, newspaper editor and Irish nationalist. He was founding member of the Gaelic Athletic Association, and served as secretary of the GAA (1884-1887). He was involved in setting up ...

, a supporter of nationalist causes and a founding member of the GAA, succeeded Cahill as the second editor of the paper for a year and a half. Another editor of the paper were Seumus and his brother Michael O'Kelly, both prominent Nationalists, Michael succeeded Seamus as Editor of the Leader, in 1912, but upon his arrest in 1916, Seamus resumed the editorship briefly. Recent editors have included Michael Sheeran (1997-2007) and Senator John Whelan.

Circulation

According to ABC, circulation declined to 5,738 for the period July 2012 to December 2012, this represented a fall of 12% on a year-on-year basis.

References

External links

*
Johnston Press Official website
1880 establishments in Ireland Mass media in County Kildare Naas Newspapers published in the Republic of Ireland Publications established in 1880 Weekly newspapers published in Ireland {{ireland-newspaper-stub