Censorship in the two Irelands 1922-1939

Abstract

This thesis was based on archival research in the repositories named in the bibliography. This was supplemented by secondary sources where primary sources were inadequate or unavailable. Archival research has been supplemented by statistical analysis. In the case of film censorship this has been compiled from the Record of films Censored, the Film Censor’s Notebooks and the Reserve Books in the National Archives of Ireland. In the case of book censorship a database was prepared of all the books banned by the Censorship of Publications Board between 1930 and 1939. Taking information from the 1940 Register of Prohibited Publications and Iris Oifigiuil for the period, a Microsoft Works database was created. This listed all the titles, authors, publishers, dates of prohibition, editions prohibited and causes of prohibition. These books were then looked up in the Times Literary Supplement, fhose books that had been reviewed were then given the following additional information: genre, review rating and controversy rating, rhe later figures were numerical assessments of the tone of the reviews and the extent to which the reviewers considered the books controversial. This database provides the basis for much of Chapter 7. Principal Findings -- 1) Extent of censorship in Northern Ireland This thesis shows that censorship in Northern Ireland was most extensive in regard to security matters. Republican, nationalist and socialist newspapers, meetings and displays were frequently suppressed when they were deemed seditious or likely to result in a breach of the peace. There was censorship of films by local authorities and this fitting in with contemporary British practice. There was little or no censorship of publications on moral grounds apart from a few seizures under the Obscene Publications Act, 1857. -- 2) The role of the Roman Catholic Church. While this thesis does conclude that the Roman Catholic Church was influential in the introduction of the censorship of films and publications in the Irish Free State, it emphasises the importance of intellectuals and lay people rather than the hierarchy.