New RTÉ Radio history series to feature attack on Westmeath Independent

The Westmeath Independent will feature heavily in the next episode of a new history series on RTÉ Radio.

On Sunday, August, 25, at 7.30pm, RTÉ Radio One will broadcast the latest episode of Fake News and Irish Freedom: a new series written and produced by Athlone-based historian Ian Kenneally. Across its eight episodes the series, which is presented by journalist Flor Mac Carthy, takes stories from the War of Independence and the Civil War and explores the ways in which news can be sourced, influenced and, sometimes, faked.

The forthcoming episode – the third in the series – explores violence against the media during the War of Independence. That conflict was a harrowing time for Irish journalists, a time when newspaper offices around the country were destroyed. In most instances, those attacks were carried out by elements of the British crown forces, often including members of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC).

In October and November 1920, the Athlone Print Works and the offices of the Westmeath Independent were attacked by the crown forces and the episode details that story, using eyewitness testimony from people caught up in those awful events. Ultimately, the Westmeath Independent’s offices were so badly damaged that it was put out of business until 1922.

The destruction of the Athlone Print Work was an attack on free speech and a brutal act of intimidation against Irish newspapers, as were similar occurrences in Leitrim, Kerry and Dublin, among other counties. The destruction of newspaper offices and print works meant that journalists had to remain aware that unfriendly eyes were watching each edition. Their words on a page could lead to masked men, incendiary bombs, and the destruction of livelihoods.

Included in the episode is Westmeath Independent editor Tadhg Carey, as well as actors John McGlynn and Nicola O’Sullivan, who bring life to documents and letters from those remarkable times.

Although that campaign of censorship through bombs and bullets partially succeeded, Irish newspapers challenged the system which sought to keep them quiet and compliant. Those editors, journalists, owners and staff, particularly in cases such as that of the Westmeath Independent, deserve credit for their bravery in the face of intimidation and violence.

The series also includes contributions by Moate-based historian John Gibney.

So far, the series has focussed on the period between 1919 and 1921, a time when Dáil Éireann attempted to gain international support for an Irish republic, while the British administration in Dublin Castle censored and shut down newspapers. The first episodes have discussed remarkable and often nefarious characters such as Frank Hardy, a British fraudster whose arrest in Athlone set him on the path to international infamy, and Hugh Pollard, an official based in Dublin Castle who created fake photos and news reports.

Episode Three of Fake News and Irish Freedom will be broadcast on RTÉ Radio One at 7.30pm on Sunday, August 25. All episodes can be found on the RTÉ player and rte.ie/radio/podcasts/.