It's been good to watch the BritishNewspaperArchive adding to its Irish collection this month. There have been a number of gaps filled in the holdings of several individual newspapers (blogposts here and here), a new addition (The Enniscorthy Echo, blogpost here) and in the last few days, another four brand-new additions.
The new titles are:
- Constabulary Gazette, 1897-1922
- Free Press (Wexford), 1905-1912, 1916
- Kerry Evening Star, 1913-1914
- Wexford and Kilkenny Express, 1875-1884, 1886-1896, 1903-1905, 1907
While most of this month's new titles have been local and regional papers, some of which also included items of national news, the Constabulary Gazette stands out as a specialist publication. It was the official organ of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) – Ireland's police force from 1822 to 1922 – and was launched in April 1897.
It was a weekly, published on Saturdays and costing tuppence (2d), and its audience consisted of some 13,000 men who made up Ireland's police force.
Each issue featured news of promotions and transfers, memorials to officers and/or their families, examples of cases involving grey areas of legal jurisdiction, portraits of RIC officers and letters from them, crime fiction short stories and jokes. There was also an educational section that aimed to improve its readers handwriting, and their understanding of English grammar, arithmatic and geography.
As always, Irish additions to the BNA automatically join the Irish Newspaper Collection of FindMyPast, the BNA's sister company.
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