The ''Leitrim Observer'' is the oldest newspaper in

County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim, County Leitr ...

, Ireland. It is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday and once competed with another newspaper called the '' Leitrim Post'' which closed in 2009.

History

The ''Leitrim Observer'' was founded by the Mulvey family in 1889. It was bought by Pat Dunne, for a rumoured sum of £150, some time before 1910. When the

Black and Tans The Black and Tans () were constables recruited into the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) as reinforcements during the Irish War of Independence. Recruitment began in Great Britain in January 1920, and about 10,000 men enlisted during the conflic ...

came to Carrick-on-Shannon during the War of Independence, they badly burned the newspaper's premises, destroying many of its early files. Historically, each paper was folded by hand, until the early 1950s when the first folding machine was introduced. By the latter part of the 20th century, the paper moved from hot metal printing to the use of linotype machines. The owners of the ''Observer'' later invested in an electronic photo-engraving machine, only the second of its kind in Ireland, which cost £5,000. Pat Dunne died in 1968 and his nephew, Greg, took over the running of the company, re-organising the paper and spending £10,000 on updated machinery. In later years, another Pat Dunne, son of Greg, took over as managing director. In September 1998,

Scottish Radio Holdings Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) was a Scottish media company which owned 22 radio stations, and around 30 local newspapers in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. History SRH had its origins in the 1970s when Glasgow was awarded the ...

purchased the ''Leitrim Observer'' for £1 million. UK-based group

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'' ...

later purchased the ''Leitrim Observer'' in June 2005. Since 2014, the paper has been owned by

Iconic Newspapers Iconic Newspapers is a British-owned newspaper company that publishes over 20 regional newspapers in Ireland. Iconic Newspapers are owned by Mediaforce who are majority owned by British businessman Malcolm Denmark. Iconic Newspapers hold their n ...

, which acquired Johnston Press's titles in Ireland in 2014.

Circulation

According to ABC, circulation declined to 6,273 for the period July 2012 to December 2012, this represented a fall of 9% on a year-on-year basis.

References

{{Authority control 1889 establishments in Ireland Carrick-on-Shannon Newspapers published in the Republic of Ireland Newspapers established in 1889 Weekly newspapers published in Ireland