Newspapers: The Cork Evening Post (1755-1807)

Special collections holds two bound volumes of The Cork Evening Post:

(i) containing issues from 9 January 1769 to 13 January 1772; and from 9 May 1782 to 1 January 1784.  These are as follows:

65 issues for 1769: 1 January, 19 January, 12 January; 2 February, 9 February, 13 February, 23 February; 2 March, 6 March, 13 March, 16 March, 20 March, 30 March; 3 April, 6 April, 10 April, 13 April, 17 April, 24 April, 27 April; 1 May, 4 May, 8 May, 15 May, 25 May, 29 May; 1 June, 5 June, 12 June, 19 June, 22 June, 29 June, 3 July, 10 July, 13 July, 20 July, 24 July, 27 July, 31 July; 3 August, 7 August, 10 August, 14 August, 17 August, 4 September, 7 September, 11 September, 14 September, 21 September (supplement only), 25 September, 28 September; 9 October, 12 October, 19 October (supplement only), 23 October, 26 October, 30 October; 2 November, 6 November, 9 November, 23 November, 30 November; 4 December, 14 December and 25 December.

41 issues for 1770: 4 January, 11 January, 22 January; 1 February, 5 February, 12 February, 19 February; 8 March, 15 March, 28 March (pp.1-2 only); 2 April, 4 April, 11 April, 16 April; 2 May, 7 May, 9 May, 11 May, 14 May, 18 May, 21 May, 23 May, 28 May; 1 June, 4 June, 18 June, 2 July, 5 July, 9 July; 20 August, 23 August; 3 September, 13 September; 22 October, 29 October; 1 November, 15 November; 17 December, 24 December, 27 December and 31 December.

45 issues for 1771: 3 January, 11 January, 14 January, 24 January, 28 January, 31 January; 4 February, 7 February, 21 February; 4 March, 21 March; 29 April; 16 May, 27 May, 30 May; 6 June, 10 June, 27 June; 4 July, 18 July, 22 July, 25 July; 5 August, 8 August, 12 August, 15 August, 19 August, 26 August, 29 August; 2 September, 5 September, 12 September, 16 September, 26 September, 30 September; 24 October, 28 October; 4 November, 18 November, 28 November; 2 December, 12 December, 16 December and 19 December.

1772: 2 January and 13 January 

1782: 9 May and 30 May 

7 issues for 1783: 16 June; 21 July; 28 August; 15 September, 25 September; 2 October; and 22 December.

1784: 1 January

(ii) a combined volume of papers from 1792 (also with issues from The Cork Gazette and The Hibernian Chronicle), running from 31 May 1792 to 24 Dec 1792, and containing 47 issues, as follows:

31 May; 

11 June, 21 June, 25 June, 28 June;

2 July, 5 July, 16 July, 19 July, 23 July, 26 July;

2 August, 6 August, 9 August, 13 August, 16 August, 20 August, 23 August, 27 August, 30 August;

3 September, 6 September, 10 September, 13 September, 24 September, 27 September;

1 October, 4 October, 8 October, 11 October, 15 October, 18 October, 22 October, 25 October, 29 October;

1 November, 5 November, 12 November, 15 November, 29 November;

3 December, 6 December, 10 December (pages 3 and 4 only), 13 December, 17 December, 20 December, 24 December.

This volume is also available online through the Irish Newspaper Archives database.

(iii) In addition, there are some 92 loose issues (some in poor condition) from the following years (click on highlighted dates to view a PDF):

1783: 30 January, 3 February, 6 March, 10 March, 13 March, 17 March, 7 April, 10 April, 14 April, 17 April, 21 April, 28 April, 5 May, 8 May and 19 May.

1786: 6 February, 23 March, 27 March, 3 April, 29 May, 29 June and 3 July.

1794: 2 January, 6 January, 9 January, 16 January, 17 February, 3 March, 5 June, 7 July, 31 July, 4 September, 6 October, 13 October, 23 October, 30 October, 3 November, 10 November, 13 November, 1 December and 4 December.

1795: 1 June, 11 June, 25 June, 29 June, 2 July, 13 July and 17 August.

1796: 14 January, 24 March, 26 May, 6 June, 4 July and 31 October.

1797: 2 January, 23 January and 30 January.

1798: 18 January, 22 January, 19 February, 5 March, 2 April, 12 April, 16 April, 25 June and 28 June.

1799: 4 March, 7 March, 25 March, 28 March, 25 April, 2 May, 30 May, 16 September, 11 November and 9 December.

1801: 13 July and 10 September.

1803: 19 May.

1804: 2 February and 1 November.

1805: 16 September.

1806: 12 May, 10 July, 15 September, 27 October and 20 November.

1807: 12 February, 2 March, 6 April, 5 November and 14 December.

Other holdings

The largest collection of this paper is held by the National Library of Ireland, (1757-1806), with additional issues held by Cork City Libraries (1765-70; 1797), Yale University (1778-80, some viewable online), Trinity College, Dublin (1786-1803) and some small holdings in the Royal Irish Academy.

A rival paper to The Corke Journal, published by the brothers Phineas Bagnell and George Bagnell (d. 1768), The Cork Evening Post first appeared in November 1755.  Unlike the moderate Swiney, the Bagnells ensured that their paper took a more hostile view of the Catholic interest in Cork.  It is also notable that the paper secured significantly more advertising business from Cork’s Protestant community.  After George Bagnell died in 1768, the paper continued to be produced by Phineas ("and Co.") until August 1781 when he entered into partnership with John and James Knight, later James and Henry Knight, who changed the title to The New Cork Evening Post in July 1791.  The paper continued until at least 1807, and was published on Mondays and Thursdays from a printing office in Castle Street.

A fuller list of the issues of The Cork Evening Post and The New Cork Evening Post held in Special Collections is available here:

Power, Thomas P. “Publishing and Sectarian Tension in South Munster in the 1760s,” Eighteenth-Century Ireland / Iris an Dá Chultúr 19 (2004): 75-110.