The Sinn Féin Printing & Publishing Company, Ltd. (1906–1914) was a Dublin-based enterprise founded by Arthur Griffith, chief propagandist of the nationalist Sinn Féin movement. It published, and for several years also printed, the influential weekly newspaper Sinn Féin. It also very briefly printed and published a daily paper. The company was close to bankruptcy in 1914 when it was closed down for sedition by the British authorities under the provisions of the Defence of the Realm Act.

Genesis of the Sinn Féin Printing & Publishing Company The history of the Sinn Féin Printing & Publishing Company (SFPP) begins in March 1906 when Arthur Griffith, editor of the nationalist propaganda newspaper the United Irishman, was sued for libel by a Limerick parish priest, Father Donor. The offending passage was the following: The Rev. Mr. Leslie, of Castlebellingham, who threatened the Gaelic league with his wrath for daring to hold a Feis on Sunday, has, we regret to say, found an imitator in a Catholic clergyman at the other side of Ireland – the Rev. Father Donor, of Shanagolden. This gentleman acted similarly towards the Gaelic League of Foynes, which proposed to hold its Feis on a Sunday, and to appease him the Feis was held on a week day, with the result that numbers of people were deprived from attending it. Although the Sunday fixture was abandoned to please him, neither Father Donor nor any of his curates attended the Feis.Quoted in the Irish Independent, March 10, 1906 The case against Griffith was weak but the judge found him far "too saucy in his attitude"Seán Ó Lúing, Art Ó Gríofa (Baile Átha Cliath: Sáirséal agus Dill, 1953), 158. and ordered him to pay £50 in damages to the priest and £253 3s. 9d. for court costs.Irish Independent, 10 March 1906 At this stage the company was already in financial straits and the board of directors did not have the necessary £300. Griffith and the Board had, however, anticipated such an outcome and when the court-appointed bailiffs called on the Fownes Street office of the United Irishman Ltd. to collect the money, they discovered that the company had just gone into liquidation and seized the only assets they could find: a table, a few chairs and some manuscripts.Ó Lúing, Op. Cit., pp158-9. Griffith took advantage of the court case to make a new start with what he hoped would be a more financially viable company, less dependent on funds from the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) in the British Isles and Clan na Gael in the United States,Mathew Staunton, 'The Nation Speaking to Itself: A History of the Sinn Féin Printing & Publish Co. Ltd. 1906–1914' in The Book in Ireland, J. Genet, S. Mikowski, F. Garcier [eds.] (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2006), p231. both of which had been behind the setting up of the United Irishman in 1899.

After the closure of the United Irishman Ltd., the directors did not waste any time and a draft prospectus appealing for investors was ready for inspection on 11 April 1906, the day the SFPP was set up.Minutes of the SFPP, ms. 2138, National Library of Ireland, 11 April 1906. This document announced the sale of 1,000 ordinary shares priced at £1 each and 2,000 debentures priced at £5 each for the purpose of financing a new weekly newspaper: A meeting held today to form company. Present Messrs. Arthur Griffith, Thomas Kelly, John O'Mahony, Joseph Hallinan and Henry Dixon. It was decided to form a company to be called the Sinn Féin Printing and Publishing Company Limited. Mr. P. Lavelle solicitor was instructed to make all arrangements for the registration of the company. A draft prospectus submitted was approved of. Mr. D. MacCarthy was appointed secretary. The following were appointed directors with powers to them to co-opt two others whenever they thought it advisable. Messrs W. L. Cole, Alderman Thomas Kelly, Henry Dixon and Arthur Griffith. The capital of the company to consist of £1000 in 1000 ordinary shares of £1 each. It was also arranged to raise money by debentures. Tenders were received from P. C. D. Warren Kilmainham and Messrs Fowler Crow St. for the printing etc. of Sinn Féin. It was decided to accept the tender of Messrs. Fowler. Mr. Lavelle solicitor was instructed to prepare debenturesManuscript 2138, April 11, 1906.

At a second meeting on 23 April it was reported that applications for 55 shares had already been received. Arthur Griffith was appointed managing director and Editor of Sinn Féin at a salary of £200 per year. Seumas McManus was also co-opted onto the board.Ibid. 23 April 1908 After many years of involvement in literary, cultural and political clubs, Griffith and the other board members were all well known in Dublin's nationalist circles. They were also influential personalities in their own right in their respective social and professional fields. Griffith was not only a pillar of the Irish-Ireland movement but also, thanks, to his father's leadership role in the printing trade and his own very substantial experience in the newspaper industry, a respected figure in Dublin's printing and typographical community.Ó Lúing: Op. Cit., p17. Both Thomas Kelly and the fruit trader Walter Cole were popular Dublin Corporation aldermen; John O'Mahony was a hotel proprietor; Henry Dixon was a lawyer and influential IRB veteran;Owen McGee: The IRB, The Irish Republican Brotherhood from the Land League to Sinn Féin (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2005), p. 146. and Seumas McManus, the nationalist novelist, already had a flourishing reputation on both sides of the Atlantic. From April 1906 onwards, this group actively sought a return on this social investment from their friends, family, neighbours, colleagues, and former classmates.see Staunton: Op. Cit., pp. 230-5

Financing the New Company Clearly not convinced of the viability of the venture, the public were not enthusiastic about investing in the new company and the response to the share offer was poor: in 2 years only 167 of the 1,000 shares were purchased.

Thanks to a handful of wealthy sympathisers, the sale of debentures was more successful but the identity of some of the debenture holders suggests that many of these were donations rather than true investments. The first 20 debentures were bought by Edward Martyn, president of Sinn Féin from 1905 to 1908 and patron of many of Griffith's enterprises. John Sweetman, second president of Sinn Féin bought debentures 21 to 70, and the third most important investor, holder of 50 debentures, was Roger Casement, also a patron of many nationalist organisations until his execution in the aftermath of the 1916 Rising.Minutes of the SFPP, ms. 2138, National Library of Ireland, 11 April 1906

In spite of this generosity, the ambition of the board to make the SFPP, as its name indicates, a printing company as well as a newspaper publishing company, could not yet be satisfied. The cost of fitting out a printshop was too high and therefore, after a call for tenders, the printing of Sinn Féin was subcontracted to Fowler & Co., a neighbour of the SFPP, which handled the printing of the newspaper until May 1908. From then until the autumn of 1910, the contract was given to An Cló Chumann, a Dublin company specialised in Irish language printing which Seumas McManus had helped to set up several years previously.Staunton: Op. Cit., p232

The Sinn Féin Daily The first step towards the internalisation of the printing of the newspaper was taken on 5 October 1908, approximately two years after the setting up of the company, when the board launched a subscription for a daily edition of Sinn Féin. In spite of the reluctance of his friends to take such a financial risk, the astute Griffith was aware of a shift in Irish reading habits and was convinced that there was a market for a new daily newspaper. At the same time, the weekly Sinn Féin was finding it difficult to defend itself against attacks from its daily competitors.

During the campaign for the North Leitrim by-election where Charles J. Dolan ran for the Sinn Féin party, this was perceived as a serious handicap.Ciarán Ó Duibhir, Sinn Féin: The First Election 1908 (Manorhamilton: Drumlin Publications, 1993) pp.89–101 Griffith decided to seize the moment. On 24 September 1908, 8,000 debentures at £1 each were put on sale. The reduced price was intended to allow as many supporters as possible to take part in the creation of the new newspaper. The promotional material accompanying the debenture application form explained why this was so important: No National newspaper exists in the daily Press of Ireland, and Irish affairs are therefore treated by the existing Press from the standpoints of rival English parties. A result of this denationalising attitude is political chaos and economic impoverishment. The directors are convinced that the time is ripe for the foundation of a daily organ in the Press of Ireland which, being free from the influence of any English party, will deal with the affairs of Ireland from the Irish standpoint, and whilst asserting the National distinctiveness and independence of Ireland will promote combination and agreement amongst all political sections in Ireland on the questions of Language, Land, Taxation, Industries, Transit, Poor Law.Sinn Féin, 14 November 1908, column 3, p4.

Supporters with limited budgets were allowed to pay in four instalments, but when a reader of the weekly newspaper, writing in the name of low-paid workers with large families, suggested the creation of savings clubs, Griffith encouraged the idea enthusiastically. The public response was more enthusiastic this time and by 7 May 1909, the Board had already received 3,386 applications. Ó Ceallaigh's minutes for this period reflect an atmosphere of general optimism: the SFPP was in contact with several suppliers of printing equipment, was recruiting personnel, and was actively looking for a new publishing office and a location for its printshop.Staunton: Op. Cit., p233-4. Griffith was a prudent businessman, however, and the SFPP negotiated simultaneously with the Linotype Machine Co. for the purchase of a Cox Duplex printing press, and the manager of the Ireland's Own Publishing Co., Mr. Walsh, for the printing of the newspaper. If the printshop failed once again to materialise, the SFPP would still have the option of subcontracting to Walsh. This time, Griffith's gamble paid off and he succeeded in establishing his printing works in Middle Abbey Street, across the street from the Freeman's Journal and the newspaper wholesalers Eason & Son. The financial health of the SFPP remained, however, extremely fragile as payments for debentures trickled in over a six-year period. These sums came in handy for petty cash and to pay small bills but could not be used for any long-term investment. Griffith was therefore forced to make the daily newspaper as attractive as possible for the greatest number of readers, what might be called "tabloidisation" today. In contrast with the austerity of Griffith's previous publications, the Sinn Féin Daily was abundantly illustrated with cartoons, photographs and maps. We find large tables of national statistics, articles on industry or the language movement, and extracts from the Resurrection of Hungary side by side with descriptions of the latest Paris fashions, serialised novels and sensational news gleaned from the international press. It is a measure of Griffith's understanding of the market and his skill as an editor that the circulation of the two newspapers reached 64,515 during the month which followed the launch of the daily.Mathew Staunton, 'The Nation Speaking to Itself: A History of the Sinn Féin Printing & Publishing Co Ltd.,1906–1914 in The Book in Ireland, J. Genet, S. Mikowski, F. Garcier [eds.] (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2006)

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