Episode 4 - Panel 1b - A proud Briton and Corkman: The life and career of Henry Lawrence Tivy (1848-1929) - Alan McCarthy

In his influential work Crisis and Decline, R.B. McDowell referred to Henry Lawrence Tivy as ‘an extremely proud and sensitive man.’ Born into a patrician family in Cork, Tivy was a merchant prince who acquired the Cork Constitution newspaper in 1882 and later launched the weekly edition, the Cork Weekly News. In 1915 he purchased the Dublin Evening Mail and Daily Express. These newspapers served as a vehicle for the espousal of Tivy’s unionist politics, of which this pugnacious proprietor remained an unshakeable proponent from the 1880s up to his retreat from public life in 1922.

While Tivy’s sensitivity was confined to a host of philanthropic endeavours in Cork City, his pride manifested itself in a range of political and social pursuits. Tivy served as the first president and financier of the Cork Constitution Rugby Club and served as a committee member for the Cork Industrial Exhibitions of 1883, 1902 and 1903. He was a committed supporter of the war effort during the Great War and a committed opponent of the suffragette movement, as well as the republican movement, resulting in extensive harassment by the latter during the War of Independence and the ultimate destruction of the offices of the Cork Constitution during the Civil War.

This research aims to trace Tivy’s life and career in broad terms, highlighting his extra-newspaper activities as a key component of the production processes of his newspaper group. It seeks to chart the uneasy transition of a unionist like Tivy into the new Free State, considering also his attempts to obtain compensation from the Irish Grants Commission for losses during the Civil War, and ultimately seeks to engage with the duality of Tivy’s public life as a proud citizen of Cork and dedicated supporter of the Act of Union between Britain and Ireland.

Alan McCarthy is Head Tutor and College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences PhD Scholar at the School of History, UCC. His research interests include media, censorship, sport, and labour history in 20th century Ireland, with a particular focus on Cork during 1912-1923. His doctoral thesis examines the experience of Cork’s nationalist and loyalist newspapers during the revolutionary period, and is being supervised by Dr Donal Ó Drisceoil. Alan has also served as a historical advisor to the Michael Collins House Museum project in Clonakilty, and Dunmanway’s forthcoming Sam Maguire mini-museum.