The Cork Free Press was published between June 1910 and December 1916. It was founded by William O'Brien (1852-1928), a nationalist MP, as a mouthpiece for his All-for-Ireland League (1909-1918), and as successor to the short-lived Cork Accent. It was successively edited by John N. Herlihy (c.1863-1941), Hugh Art O'Grady (1874-1932) and Frank B. Gallagher (1893-1962). It was suppressed by the British authorities after Gallagher continued to publish articles about conditions of republican prisoners in the Welsh internment camp at Frongoch.
Bull, Philip. "William O'Brien (1852-1928)," Dictionary of Irish Biography.
Clifford, Brendan, The 'Cork Free Press' in the context of the Parnell split. Millstreet : Aubane Historical Society, 1997.
_______________ed. Reprints from the 'Cork Free Press', 1910-1916 : an account of Ireland's only democratic anti-partition movement. Belfast : Athol Books, 1984.
Maume, Patrick. "A nursery of editors : the Cork Free Press, 1910-16," History Ireland 15.2 (2007): 42-46.
O'Sullivan, David Richard. William O'Brien, the Irish People and the Cork Free Press: voices of conciliation and conflict. M.A. thesis, University College, Cork, 2009.
UCC Special Collections holds a collection of William O'Brien Papers, reference U.2.
A listing can be found in Bull, Philip. "The William O'Brien manuscripts in the library of University College, Cork," Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society 75 (1970): 129-141.
Special Collections holds bound volumes of the Cork Free Press covering the period June 1910 to December 1915, with some individual issues for 1916. In addition, there is a volume of the Weekly Free Press for July 1910 to October 1912. These volumes were donated to UCC Library in 1931 by William O'Brien's widow, Sophie Raffalovich O'Brien (1860–1960), who had helped fund the paper's production.
Other holdings
Runs of the Cork Free Press (1910-1916) are held by both the National Library of Ireland and the British Library. In addition, some issues for 1916 are held by Cork City and County Archives.
William O'Brien (1852-1928), proprietor of the Cork Free Press. Public domain image, c.1910
