Launch of reprint of ancient newspaper

North Westmeath Historical Society

North Westmeath Historical Society launched the publication of a reprint of a very early copy of the first newspaper published in Westmeath, to mark the start of Heritage Week in the area.

The launch of the newspaper was preceded by a talk by Bill Ryan entitled ‘William Kidd and the Westmeath Journal 1782-1834’.

Before speaking about the history of the Journal, Bill thanked the staff at Castlepollard Library for their assistance with his research and with the PowerPoint presentation that accompanied his talk.

He also spoke briefly about the late Charles Kennedy, who was treasurer of the Historical Society for many years. He sympathised with Mary Boyhan, a member since the society was founded, on the recent death of her sister Kathleen Brady, and with the McLoughlin family on the death of Dermot.

In a wide ranging talk accompanied by slides, Bill discussed the history associated with the Kidd family and the Westmeath Journal from the time it began publishing from the main street in Mullingar in 1782.

The first proprietor was William Kidd, a native of Athlone, and following his death in 1821, his son Francis succeeded him. In 1823 Francis died and his older brother William Thomas became the proprietor, and ran the newspaper until 1830, when he sold it to Arthur G Murphy – at that time the owner of a newspaper called the Longford Journal, which he had established in 1828.

Murphy incorporated the Longford Journal into the Westmeath Journal in 1832 but within two years, in May 1834, the Westmeath Journal ceased publication.

Many of the slides shown during the talk were articles and notices published in the Journal between 1823 and 1834, the years for which there is a complete set of the newspaper available.

One of the earliest surviving issues of the Journal is dated August 15, 1795. That copy is located in Cambridge University Library, who kindly gave permission to the history society to print a limited edition of the newspaper.

The cost of the paper in August 1795 was two pence, half penny, but due to inflation over the last 230 years, the reproduction now costs €3.

William Kidd and the Westmeath Journal

William Kidd was born in Athlone c.1742, the son of Sackville Kidd, a periwig maker and town bailiff. He served his apprenticeship to the printing trade in Dublin under another native of Athlone, the well-known printer, bookseller and newspaper proprietor, James Potts.

Potts was the owner of the Dublin Courier, a newspaper that ran from 1760 until 1766, and it was likely on that paper that William Kidd learned the printing trade.

By the 1770s, William was married and self-employed. In 1773, he married Kitty Parker, a native of Limerick, and by 1775, was advertising books for sale at his premises at 29 Skinners Row, beside Dublin Castle.

In 1779, William sold the interest in his business and premises and relocated to Mullingar, where, in 1782, he began publishing the Westmeath Journal.

The earliest copy of the Journal we know about at present is dated August 15, 1795 and at that date, the paper was being printed “by William Kidd at his Printing Office in the main Street near the Post Office”. It is not clear where exactly the Post Office was located in Mullingar in 1795.

In 1821 William Kidd died, and it appears his youngest son Francis had already taken over the running of the newspaper some years earlier. William’s eldest son William Thomas had succeeded his father as stamp distributor for County Westmeath. The Stamp Office was next door to the newspaper and included a grocery shop whose main item for sale was tea.

In 1823, Francis died and William Thomas assumed ownership of the Journal, which he continued to run until 1830, when he sold it to Arthur Giffard Murphy. Little is known about AG Murphy except that in 1828 or 1829, he began publishing the Longford Journal, of which it appears not one issue now exists.

In 1831, Murphy closed the Longford Journal and amalgamated it into the Westmeath Journal. Later issues of the Westmeath Journal include urgent pleas from the proprietor for subscribers to pay their arrears and a marked deterioration became noticeable in the appearance of the newspaper.

In May 1834, The Westmeath Journal ceased publication, bringing to a close the first chapter in the history of the newspaper industry in the county.

This reproduction of the August 15, 1795 issue of the Westmeath Journal, which is slightly smaller in size than the original copy, was made possible by the kind permission of Cambridge University Library, where the original newspaper is housed.