After the republican movement split at the start of 1970, the faction that became known as Official Sinn Féin kept both the organisation’s headquarters at Gardiner Place in Dublin and its established titles. Its newspapers are gathered here, and together they track the Officials’ steady journey across the decade from traditional republicanism toward the Marxist, class-based politics that would eventually carry the party to the Workers’ Party.
At the centre stood The United Irishman, the movement’s monthly organ since 1948, which continued after the split as the Officials’ national paper until its final issue appeared in May 1980. Around it the movement published for different purposes and audiences: Eolas, an international newsletter aimed at supporters and contacts abroad; The Irish People, launched in 1973 and given over largely to housing, workers’ rights, and the politics of the twenty-six counties rather than the conflict in the North; and a Derry paper, also titled The Starry Plough, produced locally in the city. Several of these titles are shared with other movements and should not be confused with them: this Starry Plough is distinct from the later IRSP paper of the same name, and this Irish People from the New York newspaper of the Irish Northern Aid Committee.
Spanning 1970 to 1980, the collection offers an unusually continuous view of how the Officials presented themselves to their members and the wider public during the years of their transformation, from the immediate aftermath of the split to the eve of the party’s final break with its republican past.
1970 – The United Irishman
First published in May 1948, The United Irishman (An tÉireannach Aontaithe) was the monthly organ of the republican movement, sold by Sinn Féin members the length of the country. When the movement divided in 1970 the title stayed with the Officials, who continued it from their headquarters at Gardiner Place in Dublin until the final issue appeared in May 1980. As the movement’s paper of record it forms the backbone of this collection.
1971 – The United Irishman
1972 – The United Irishman
The Starry Plough
The Starry Plough was the paper of Official Sinn Féin in Derry, a local title that carried the movement’s politics in the city through the early 1970s. It was the inspiration for the newspaper of the same name published by the Irish Republican Socialist Party, which has its own section in this archive.
 The Starry Plough No 3 |  Vol 2, No 2 (2) |  Vol 2, No 4 (2) |
 Vol 2, No 8 (2) |  1972 (2) |  No 7, 1972 (2) |
 No 9, 1972 (2) |
1973 – The United Irishman
 January (1) |  February (1) |  March (1) |
 April (1) |  May (1) |  June (1) |
 July (1) |  August (1) |  September (1) |
 October (1) |  November (1) |  December (1) |
1973 – Eolas
Eolas, the Irish word for knowledge or information, was the international newsletter of Official Sinn Féin during the 1970s. Produced for supporters and contacts abroad, it set out the Official analysis of the conflict for a readership beyond Ireland.
 February (1) |  March (1) |  April (1) |
 May (1) |  June (1) |  August (1) |
 September (1) |  October (1) |  November (1) |
 December (1) |
1973 – The Irish People
First published in 1973, The Irish People was an Official Sinn Féin newspaper concerned chiefly with social and economic questions in the twenty-six counties, housing, workers’ rights, and the like, rather than with the conflict in the North. It shares its title with the New York paper of the Irish Northern Aid Committee, which is unrelated and held elsewhere in this archive.
1974 – The United Irishman
 January (1) |  February (1) |  March (1) |
 April (1) |  May (1) |  June (1) |
 August (1) |  September (1) |  October (1) |
 November (1) |  December (1) |
1974 – Eolas
 January (1) |  February (1) |  March (1) |
 April (1) |  May (1) |  June (1) |
 July (1) |  August (1) |  September (1) |
 October (1) |  Nov/Dec (1) |
1974 – The Irish People
1975 – The United Irishman
1975 – Eolas
1975 – The Irish People
1976 – The United Irishman
An Eochair
An Eochair, “the key,” was a bulletin of the Official republican prisoners held in Long Kesh, published in the middle years of the 1970s under the slogan “The Key to True Freedom – Socialism.” Its pages mixed prison news with the movement’s wider left-wing politics, international solidarity, and contributions from the prisoners themselves.
 An Eochair No 12 (1976) |  An Eochair No 1 (1977) |  An Eochair No 4 |
 An Eochair No 13 |  An Eochair (No 10) |  An Eochair (No 14) |
 An Eochair (No 9) |
1977 – The United Irishman
1978 – The United Irishman
 January |  September (1) |  October (1) |
 November (1) |  December (1) |
1979 – The United Irishman
1980 – The United Irishman
(1) Donated by @irish_republican_archive
(2) Donated by Brian Hanley
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